Money Makes The Don Go Down

The Don and his lawyers are doing everything they can to stonewall Congress from getting the information they seek. I call it the Five D’s: Dismiss, Distract, Distort, Delay and Deny.

And let’s not forget the L word. Lying to everyone, at any moment, every day. After blowing up the Impeachment, oh, I mean Infrastructure meeting with Nancy and Chuck, he claimed that he was the “most transparent president” ever, ever, ever. He added: “ I don’t do cover-ups,” referring to Pelosi’s early comment about his actions. That one made me laugh. Sorry to tell you Don, but your entire life is one giant charade and cover-up.On a daily basis The Don trumpets his refrain of “totally exonerated.” Didn’t you just love the “No Collusion, “No Obstruction” signs behind him at the press event? That’s like Raskolnikov, the tortured murderer in Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment, wearing a t-shirt saying: “I didn’t do it!” Whose idea was that? I say fire the communications director.

 Then we have the Wag the Dog drums of war with Iran as another option for distracting the American people from the criminality of this administration.

And let’s not forget about the fabulous July 4^th extravaganza the Don is planning. Usually, July 4^th is about the celebration of our liberation from the British Monarchy; in The Don’s case, it is about The Don’s celebration of liberating himself from the rule of law and his coronation.

Now we find out that even more children have been heinously separated from their families. There are rumors that The Don and his crew will create a national scavenger hunt in which people win everything from a stay at Mar-a-Lago to a flight on Air Force One; but let’s not forget the special bonus prize for finding twins: an account at Deutsche Bank. A real feel good event that will bring Americans together and hopefully distract them from the truth about The Don

 So what are any of us, who are seeking the truth about this immoral, corrupt and dangerous man, to do? How do we bring him to his knees and show him that he is not above the law?

My wife Nancy is a fan of NCIS. And as an avid viewer of this crime drama, she knows that the key to catching the bad guy often comes down to following the money.

In our crime drama, TIAC (Trump Is a Criminal), the good guys are following a number of leads. So let’s return to Deutsche Bank.

What we know.

Here’s a little reminder about The Don’s relationship with Deutsche bank to put it in perspective.

In the 2006, Wall Street banks had stopped doing business with him after his repeated defaults. Deutsche Bank, feeling sorry for The Don, lent Mr. Trump and his companies a total of more than $2.5 billion. Projects financed through the private-banking division include Mr. Trump’s Doral golf resort near Miami and his transformation of Washington’s Old Post Office Building into a luxury hotel.

When he became president, he owed Deutsche Bank over $300 million.

In the past few years, United States and European authorities have punished Deutsche Bank for helping clients, including wealthy Russians, launder funds and for moving money into countries like Iran in violation of American sanctions. The bank has paid hundreds of millions of dollars in penalties and is operating under a Federal Reserve order that requires it to do more to stop illicit activities.

Recent revelations about Deutsche Bank.

Anti-money-laundering specialists at Deutsche Bank recommended in 2016 and 2017 that multiple transactions involving legal entities controlled by Donald J. Trump and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, be reported to a federal financial-crimes watchdog.

The transactions, some of which involved Mr. Trump’s many LLC’s and now-defunct foundation (which was shut down because of its sketchy operations) set off alerts in a computer system designed to detect illicit activity, according to five current and former bank employees.

Suspicious activity reports were prepared by staff, which after review, are supposed to be sent to a unit of the Treasury Department that polices financial crimes.

Executives at Deutsche Bank rejected their employees’ advice. The reports were never filed with the government. Aren’t you just so surprised by that?

One of the whistle blowers, Tammy McFadden, said her superiors had reduced the number of transactions she was assigned to review after she voiced her concerns. Her employment at Deutsche Bank was ultimately terminated. Two former managers said they perceived her termination as an act of retaliation.

Cover up? Me smell a rat. And you?

So let’s keep talking about the money.

A judge ruled that The Don’s accounting firm, Mazars USA, must turn over his financial records to Congress — rejecting his lawyers’ argument that lawmakers had no legitimate power to demand the files.

New York State passed a law that requires the Treasury Department to hand over The Don’s state taxes, which will include a significant portion of his federal taxes.

Deutsche Bank has started handing over documents to New York State’s Attorney General.

TD Bank and Wells Fargo have handed over documents to one of the Congressional Committees and seven more banks will follow.

And let’s not forget about what other information Michael Cohen and Allen Weisselberg (The Don’s life long CFO) have revealed to the Southern District of New York and the New York state Attorney General. Tax fraud? Money laundering? Insurance Fraud?

So let’s all sing the “Money, Money” song from Cabaret but with a little twist:

“Money makes the world go around,

world go around,

world go around”

and ‘money will make The Don go down,

it will make The Don go down!”