Report: Trump Rented Space To Iranian Bank Later Linked To Terrorism

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at High Point University, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016, in High Point, N.C. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)
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Between 1998 and 2003, the Trump Organization rented office space to an Iranian bank that was later linked to a terrorist organization by U.S. officials, according to a report published Monday morning by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and the Center for Public Integrity (CPI).

When Trump purchased the General Motors Building in Manhattan, he inherited Bank Melli as a tenant, according to documents reviewed by ICIJ and CPI. The U.S. then designated Bank Melli as a Iranian state-controlled bank in 1999. Bank Melli’s rent to Trump may have been over half a million dollars per year, according to court documents obtained by ICIJ and CPI.

U.S. officials in 2007 alleged that Bank Melli was used for Iran to obtain sensitive materials for its nuclear program and that the bank was used from 2002 and 2006 to funnel money to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, which has sponsored terrorist acts, according to the ICIJ/CPI report.

It’s not clear that the Trump Organization did anything illegal, according to ICIJ and CPI. The U.S. did not allow American companies to do business with Iranian entities. But some Iranian groups were granted exemptions from the sanctions, and the Treasury Department does not disclose which groups are granted a license to carry out transactions in the U.S., according to the ICIJ/CPI report.

Read the full report from the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and the Center for Public Integrity here.

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  1. He’s a businessman and it’s what you do. And a fucking genius, no less.

    He’ll spin it and say he really put one over on those terrorists by charging them double, or some such bullshit.

  2. Oh, this ought to play well with his base.

    Tough negotiating?

    @skippykaos Actually, my guess is he doesn’t even respond to it. There are so many stories whirling around Trump right now that this one is probably way down on the priority list. Miss Universe feeding into “The Apprentice” story this morning, the Cuba deal, and of course, his tax leak.

    This however, is one of those stories his opponents in the primaries should have brought up, instead of cowering out of fear of upsetting the precious feelings of his supporters.

  3. Avatar for imkmu3 imkmu3 says:

    Iranian outreach!

  4. Tim Kaine is licking his chops in anticipation of a course of Skewered Pence :oden::oden::oden::oden::oden:

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