Ok, so President Donald Trump’s latest “I’m pissed I post the 2020 Presidential Election to Joe Biden” act – aside from the completely racist and criminal move of ordering executions of innocent black prisoners on death row because African Americans didn’t vote for him in droves – is to sick his U.S. Justice Department on Hunter Biden, Joe’s son. And so, what does the public relations machine that calls itself the news do? Dutifully eat up the tax-related bad news about his businesses dealings in Ukraine, and spit out garbage posts. No one bothered to ask what they would get if they typed “Eric Trump” and “Ukraine” in Google Search. What year is this? What century?
The whole deal caused Hunter Biden to remark:
I learned yesterday for the first time that the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Delaware advised my legal counsel, also yesterday, that they are investigating my tax affairs. I take this matter very seriously but I am confident that a professional and objective review of these matters will demonstrate that I handled my affairs legally and appropriately, including with the benefit of professional tax advisors.
And Joe Biden and the Biden-Harris Transition Team said:
President-elect Biden is deeply proud of his son, who has fought through difficult challenges, including the vicious personal attacks of recent months, only to emerge stronger.
So, uh, let’s turn to Eric Trump and Ukraine – and that photo where he’s with some rather lovely women at what appears to be a judges table.
It belongs to Scott Dworkin, who’s the Co-Founder and Lead Investigator of the Democratic Coalition, and wrote over on Medium that:
I found this photo of Eric Trump in Kiev, Ukraine judging the Miss Universe Ukraine competition at Freedom Casino on 2/20/2009. Next time someone brings up investigating Hunter Biden, ask them when the investigation into Eric Trump will begin.
Scott wrote that a year ago, November 5, 2019. So, given that this is December 12th, 2020, there’s certainly more information on what Eric Trump was doing other than just in Kiev, Ukraine judging the Miss Universe Ukraine competition, right? Yep.
A search revealed the names of the judges:Sergei Tsiupko, Yaroslav Gres, Sergei Zhigunov, Svetlana Svetlichnaya, Alexandra Ruffin, Eric Trump.
So, who’s Alexandra Ruffin? She’s really Oleksandra Nikolayenko, who married the fabulously rich Las Vegas casino hotel developer Phil Ruffin. Now, get this; what name pops-up in a search about she, he, and the pageant? Donald Trump. Yep, our current President of The United States.
A Wikipedia entry about Phil Ruffin pivots to Trump rather quickly. In fact, there’s a heck of a whole subsection called “Relationship with Donald Trump”.
It reads like this:
Relationship with Donald Trump
Ruffin is a longtime friend and business partner of President Donald Trump, who was the best man at Ruffin’s third wedding in 2008.[26] “Few know Trump as well, or in as many capacities, as Ruffin,” reported the Associated Press in March 2017.[citation needed] They met at Trump Tower “in the early 2000s” when Ruffin was considering adding a Trump hotel to his Treasure Island casino. That idea did not pan out, but some time later, in Las Vegas, “Ruffin took Trump to a Nordstrom parking lot to show him a parcel of undeveloped land.” Ruffin said, “This is where you ought to be,” and Trump “instantly made a decision” to build there. Their wives are also good friends. Ruffin has described a Trump handshake as “better than any contract.” In June 2018, Trump gave the Ruffins a tour of Air Force One during a stop in Las Vegas.[27][28]
2013 Trump visit to Moscow
Ruffin may have become an important witness in the Trump-Russia Investigation and to disputed allegations in the related Steele dossier. Trump had flown on Ruffin’s private jet to Moscow in 2013 for the Trump-owned Miss Universe Pagaent.[29] At the time Ruffin himself was married to a former Miss Universe, Ukrainian supermodel, Oleksandra Nikolayenko. Trump has since been accused of having engaged with prostitutes at a hotel room during that trip in urolagna-related sexual activities, and that those activities were filmed by Russian agents intended for the blackmailing of Donald Trump (kompromat). Former British intelligence officer, Christopher Steele provided reports of such activities, although they have not been substantiated in any major media outlets. Trump has repeatedly denied having stayed overnight in Moscow for the pageant (and therefore didn’t require a hotel room) despite flight records indicating that Ruffin’s plane arrived in Moscow on a Friday morning and departed Sunday.[30]
On that same trip. Ruffin may also have attended a meeting with Trump, Trump’s bodyguard Keith Schiller, and local Russian officials regarding the development of a Trump Tower Moscow, another important aspect of the Trump-Russia Investigation.[31]
Trump Campaign
In 2015, Trump also mentioned Ruffin as a person that he would send as an envoy to China if elected president. Ruffin said later that the remark was a joke.[26] Ruffin loaned Trump his personal 737 BBJ jet to fly to Mexico City to meet with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto on August 31, 2016.[citation needed]
Ruffin gave $1 million in 2015 to the Make America Great Again PAC, a super PAC supporting the Trump’s campaign for the presidency.[26] Ruffin’s contribution made up more than half of all of the contributions received by the super PAC ($1.74 million).[26] The super PAC shut down and refunded Ruffin’s money after the Washington Post reported on its close association with Trump’s campaign.[26] At an event in January 2016, Trump praised Ruffin for making a $1 million donation to veterans’ groups.[26]
In April 2017, Ruffin said that he talks with Trump every fortnight or so. “If something comes up, I’ll call him,” Ruffin stated. “They’ll always put me through. But I don’t call unless it’s something important.” In May 2017, he lamented that the news media had “a vendetta” against Trump. “I don’t know how he can stand it,” Ruffin said. “Every day it’s something new. If he says good morning, they find something wrong with that.” He added that Trump was “not used to that level of criticism. He gave up a lot – the most luxurious life you can imagine, and he did it to try to help the country.” Ruffin told Sheldon Adelson’s Las Vegas Review-Journal in February 2018 that he was “thrilled to death” with Trump’s tax cuts.[7][32][14]
Trump University settlement paymentIn February 2019, during a meeting of the US House Committee on Oversight and Reform, Congresswoman Jackie Speier suggested “a Kansan”, later revealed to be Ruffin, had paid $25 million to satisfy Trump’s liability in the Trump University judgement. Ruffin admitted to paying Trump $28 million in 2018, but claimed it was for “back-fees” related to Trump International Hotel Las Vegas and unrelated to the Trump University case.[33]
Donald Trump Owned The Miss Universe Pageant, Which Included The Miss Universe Ukraine Competition, As Far Back At 2004. Eric Trump was Executive Vice President of his Dad’s firm.
The Trump Company owned The Miss Universe Pageant between 1996 and 2015. In the case of the 2009 Miss Universe Ukraine Competition, a local publication reported that Eric Trump was not paid for his work during the event. But that answer came from a question brought by an unsophisticated journalist.
The Trump Company owned the damn event, so they didn’t get paid in the worker / boss sense of the word – they collected the profit from the venture, and were about to benefit from its eventual sale. So, the wrong questions were asked about Eric Trump’s involvement. He’s part of the family, a visible one, and so gets the luxury of the owners draw of cash – if he’s allowed to get it – if he asks for it. Eric Trump’s title is Executive Vice President for the Trump Organization – so he did get paid, but via his role in his father’s firm, and as steward of the Miss Universe Pageant the firm owned.
On that, and from financial disclosures related to his political campaign, President Trump said Miss Universe was worth between $5 million and $25 million, and had $3.4 million in revenue. He sold Miss Universe to WME-IMG in late 2015. But more research reveals he may be low-balling his earnings. Trump reportedly was paid $20 million just to bring the Miss Universe Pageant to Russia, and by Aras Agalarov, billionaire owner of the Crocus Group corporation. His son, the singer Emin Agalarov, said Trump’s organisation seemed to be in need of the money that Moscow could offer. A Trump representative named Paula Shugart said “We have a lot of debts,” according to Emin Agalarov.
In other words, Eric Trump got a lot out of the Miss Universe Pageant, including a lover. Singer Aubrey Morgan O’Day, Donald Trump Jr.’s ex-girlfriend (note that Don, Jr., was married), claims that Eric Trump cheated on his wife, Lara, with a Miss Universe. “Eric f*ked miss universe on The Apprentice board room table while with his now wife,” she said, adding a GIF of someone saying, “I have the receipts” to stress that she’s telling the truth.
“The pageant was financed by a Russian billionaire (Aras Agalarov) who is close to Putin,” now-former Senator Al Franken of Minnesota told a congressional hearing. Then Franken said “The Russians have a history of using financial investments to gain leverage over influential people and then later calling in favors. We know that.”
Indeed, The Trump Organization has a pattern of establishing relationships with ultra-high-net-worth Russian business people. The organization uses its businesses to draw investors and leverage relationships. This was done with The Miss Universe Pageant and with the golf courses the firm owned in Russia. On the firm’s access to $100 million in Russia, Eric Trump was once said to have remarked ‘Well, we don’t rely on American banks. We have all the funding we need out of Russia..We’ve got some guys that really, really love golf, and they’re really invested in our programs. We just go there all the time.”
And its those relationships that opened the door to the next chapter in the Trump – Russia Story, and that one involves the relationship with Russian President Putin.
So, now, I hope you see how small Hunter Biden’s businesses dealings in the Ukraine are compared to what Eric Trump and his siblings and their father Donald Trump were doing. And Trump only paid $750 in federal taxes.
Wow.
Stay tuned.