Trump Tower Moscow: Active Negotiations During 2016 Campaign, Covered Up

Overview

While running for president on a platform that was conspicuously soft on Russia, Trump and his attorney were negotiating with the Kremlin to build the biggest project of Trump's career. Trump repeatedly told voters and journalists he had no Russian business dealings. His attorney lied to Congress about when negotiations ended. The truth came out in a guilty plea.

The Project

Trump Tower Moscow was not a peripheral project. It was intended to be the largest Trump-branded development ever built: a 100-story tower in central Moscow. The letter of intent Trump signed in October 2015 was followed by months of negotiations involving Felix Sater — a developer who had previously pleaded guilty to securities fraud and was a longstanding FBI informant with Russian connections — and communications with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov's office.

One proposed element of the deal: a $50 million penthouse offered to Putin, either as a gift or as marketing. The idea was that Putin's association with the building would validate it and drive sales.

The Denials

During the same period, Trump made approximately 140 statements favorable to Russia and repeatedly denied any Russian business dealings. On multiple occasions during the campaign, he said: "I have nothing to do with Russia. No deals, no loans, no nothing."

The denials were false at the time he made them.

Cohen's Lie

When Cohen testified to the Senate Intelligence Committee in 2017, he said negotiations ended in January 2016 — the implication being that the project had been abandoned before Trump became the presumptive Republican nominee. This framing allowed Trump to argue there was no meaningful conflict of interest during the campaign.

Cohen lied. Negotiations continued through June 2016. He pleaded guilty to that lie in November 2018.

The Conflict

The Mueller Report drew the conflict of interest plainly: Trump stood to benefit personally from Russian government approval while simultaneously taking public positions — including opposition to Russian sanctions — that would benefit the Russian government. Whether the sequence was coordinated or merely convenient, the financial interest existed and was hidden from voters.

A candidate who needs Kremlin cooperation to close the biggest deal of his life has leverage the Kremlin understands.