{"id":34633,"date":"2017-05-12T16:54:25","date_gmt":"2017-05-12T23:54:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=34633"},"modified":"2017-05-12T16:54:25","modified_gmt":"2017-05-12T23:54:25","slug":"the-lawyers-trump-used-to-clear-him-of-russian-ties-were-the-russian-law-firm-of-2016","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=34633","title":{"rendered":"The Lawyers Trump Used to Clear Him of Russian Ties Were the ‘Russian Law Firm of 2016’"},"content":{"rendered":"

File in the “You Can’t Make This Shit Up”<\/em> file. Friday morning Donald Trump released a letter<\/a><\/strong> from his attorneys that purported to absolve him of any conflicts of interest stemming from dealings with Russia. The letter stated that the lawyers had reviewed ten years of Trump’s tax returns and affirm that he has had no income from Russian sources “with a few exceptions.”<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Trump\/Putin\"<\/p>\n

Another way of saying that is that Trump did have some income from Russian sources. However, the larger problem with this letter is that there is no way to confirm any of its claims. What’s more, the way that Trump plays with the truth, they could be saying that he has not received any income personally from Russia, but his businesses might still have extensive financial ties.<\/p>\n

But what makes this self-serving dispatch all the more peculiar is that the law firm representing Trump in this matter, Morgan, Lewis, has deep ties to Russia itself. ABC News reports<\/a><\/strong> that:<\/p>\n

“In 2016, however, Chambers & Partners, a London-based legal research publication, named the firm ‘Russia Law Firm of the Year’ at its annual awards dinner. The firm celebrated the ‘prestigious honor’ in a press release on its website, noting that the award is ‘the latest honor for the high-profile work performed by the lawyers in Morgan Lewis\u2019 Moscow office.'”<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Needless to say, the optics of this are atrocious. Couldn’t Trump have found a purely American law firm to attest to his patriotic business dealings? Does everyone with whom he associates have hidden connections to Russia? Is Vladimir Putin handling his PR?<\/p>\n

The honor bestowed upon this law firm may not be particularly significant. They have an office in Moscow and do considerable business there. And the award is from a private entity, not the Russian government. So it may all be an innocent coincidence. But there have been an awful lot of those erupting around Trump & Co. Plus, the law firm’s website<\/a><\/strong> makes note of their specialties. Some of them seem especially well-suited to Trump’s organization, including real estate property transactions:<\/p>\n

“Our Moscow office includes more than 40 lawyers and staff who have been working together for many years. Our lawyers are well known in the Russian market, and have deep familiarity with the local legislation, practices, and key players.” […]<\/strong><\/p>\n

“We are particularly adept at advising our clients about compliance and sanction matters.”<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Well, that’s not suspicious at all, is it? For Trump to send this firm out to sweep away any unsavory speculation was astonishingly inept, at best. At worst it is evidence of his steel-trap embrace of all things Russian. And it makes it all the more imperative that he release all of his tax returns for himself and his businesses. Without access to that information all the American people have is the word of a severely compromised and untrustworthy charlatan.<\/p>\n

\n

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
\nFox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.<\/a>
\nAvailable now at Amazon.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

File in the “You Can’t Make This Shit Up” file. Friday morning Donald Trump released a letter from his attorneys that purported to absolve him of any conflicts of interest stemming from dealings with Russia. The letter stated that the lawyers had reviewed ten years of Trump’s tax returns and affirm that he has had […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":32464,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1,1200,13],"tags":[554,1211],"class_list":["post-34633","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","category-politics","category-scandalous","tag-donald-trump","tag-russia"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/trump-putin2-e1501701494865.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4Ijg-90B","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":32696,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=32696","url_meta":{"origin":34633,"position":0},"title":"Hillary Clinton Has Some Urgent Questions For Trump About His ‘Bizarre Relationship With Russia’","author":"Mark NC","date":"9\/23\/2016","format":false,"excerpt":"In the past few weeks there have been some shocking stories about Donald Trump's connections to foreign politicians and financiers. 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The latest bombshell to roil the campaign comes out of the intelligence community and casts a dire shadow over Donald Trump. A former spy has divulged what he learned about Russia's engagement with Trump to David Corn of Mother Jones. 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