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TPM, Trump brought Cohen into the organization not because he was a lawyer but because he was a conduit for money from Russia and Ukraine.Cohen-ology Pays Off After All
By Josh Marshall | April 18, 2018 5:50 pm
Yesterday afternoon I had one of those epiphanies about a story I usually have no more than once every few years. It was partly triggered by details I put in this post about Michael Cohen. But it wasnt about that alone. It was the sum of a dozen developments since the raid on Cohens homes and office last Monday. Starting over a year ago we focused our resources tightly on Cohen, Sater and an assortment of lesser capos and goodfellas in the Trump syndicate.
...........
Now, whos Seth Hettana?
It turns out we at TPM have known and admired Seths work for years and years. He was one of the lead reporters I think with the AP on the Duke Cunningham scandal and wrote a book about it. A couple weeks ago I was emailed a press release announcing the imminent release of Seths new Trump/Russia book. I get a million press releases. But I had no idea he was even working on one. So I replied to the email and asked for a review copy which arrived a few days ago. I had not gotten around to looking at it yet. But in that excerpt, the reference to the El Caribe is followed by these two paragraphs
I spoke to two former federal investigators who told me Cohen was introduced to Donald Trump by his father-in-law, Fima Shusterman, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Ukraine who arrived in the U.S. in 1975. Shusterman was in the garment business and owned a fleet of taxicabs with his partners, Shalva Botier and Edward Zubok all three men were convicted of a money-laundering related offense in 1993. Fima may have been a (possibly silent) business partner with Trump, perhaps even used as a conduit for Russian investors in Trump properties and other ventures, a former federal investigator told me. Cohen, who married into the family, was given the job with the Trump Org as a favor to Shusterman. (Untrue, Cohen told me. Your source is creating fake news.)
Shusterman, who owned at least four New York taxi companies, also set his son-in-law up in the yellow cab business. Cohen once ran 260 yellow cabs with his Ukrainian-born partner, the taxi king Simon V. Garber, until their partnership ended acrimoniously in 2012. Glenn Simpson, the private investigator who was independently hired to examine Trumps Russia connections during the real estate moguls presidential run, testified before the House Intelligence Committee that Cohen had a lot of connections to the former Soviet Union, and that he seemed to have associations with organized crime figures in New York and Florida Russian organized crime figures, including Garber.
Now, when I saw this, my jaw dropped. Admittedly, the significance probably needs some deciphering and perhaps you need to be a bit obsessed. But it connects together and makes sense of a number of key questions Ive had. As Ive explained many times here at TPM, Trump brought Cohen into the organization not because he was a lawyer but because he was a conduit for money from Russia and Ukraine. Hed been on a buying spree in the year or so before he was hired, buying up apartment units for him and members of his Ukrainian immigrant family. Trump wanted access to that spigot and more. So what Seth describes here along with how Cohen got into the taxi business is basically in line with my understanding. But Id never realized Shusterman was such a critical player perhaps even already a source of cash for Trump and, if Seths source is right, the reason Cohen got his job.
This brings a lot together not least of which is fleshing out just what who Cohens money channel was based on. It also helps me understand, candidly, how a dope like Cohen got the gig. Quite apart from the money, its always been clear hes said as much that Cohen has worshiped Trump since he was a high schooler when Trump was king of the NYC tabs. It may not seem like much. But for us Cohen-ologists, its like the missing link, where the derp meets the wise guys and it all makes sense.
This all crystallized for me what I already knew or thought I knew and added another layer of knowledge and illumination. Ill explain more about why in subsequent posts. For now, I strongly recommend getting a copy of Hettanas book. Its actually called Trump/Russia: A Definitive History. I plan to dig into my copy tonight. Its apparently available for pre-order now and comes out in early May.
Lots of links & More Here:
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/cohen-ology-pays-off-after-all
The Velveteen Ocelot
(115,947 posts)marylandblue
(12,344 posts)Trump gave him a piece if the action. After all, a lot of the money laundering is through real estate deals.
Wellstone ruled
(34,661 posts)peggysue2
(10,848 posts)into place. Comey used the word 'mobster' to describe the Trumpster. That wasn't a mistake. And McCabe? The rage and vindictiveness that The Donald showed the man. What was that all about? Maybe it had something to do with the investigative work McCabe did early on in NYC, work that involved the Russian/American mobster network.
A coup run by mobsters, an international network of criminals. And the Trumpster? He's smack dad in the center of it, the Branding King, Money Launderer Extraordinaire, a grift that washes the blood money from the selling of illicit drugs, gun dealing, human trafficking, child exploitation, etc.
The sordid beat goes on.
And this is what's sitting in the White House.
Because who needs a fixer? Who needs a conduit to Russian/Ukraine money?
A criminal, that's who.
KPN
(15,673 posts)byronius
(7,407 posts)I trust his analysis more than almost any other journalist.
oasis
(49,454 posts)Tatiana
(14,167 posts)I have a dupe which I will delete.
This explains why not very many DOJ folks are trying to stand in the way of this investigation. And why Schneiderman is ready and waiting to step in, if necessary. New Yorkers know how dirty Cohen and Trump are.
The silver lining in all this is that Trump winning the Presidency is going to end up taking out so many corrupt individuals.
GusBob
(7,286 posts)Rolling Stone did a piece on Cohen and the Russians that got me thinking about this
Trump sucks up to Russians for their money. They are an asset to he. Trump admires Putin for his wealth