Report: Special Counsel Is Looking At A Slew Of Trump Business Transactions

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump (C) with son Eric Trump and wife Melania Trump cut the ribbon at the new Trump International Hotel October 26, 2016 in Washington, DC. Photo by Olivier Douliery/Abaca
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The special counsel investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election has expanded to look into business transactions of President Donald Trump and some of his associates, Bloomberg reported Thursday.

A single anonymous source familiar with the probe told Bloomberg that federal investigators are interested in financial dealings involving Trump, his son-in-law and White House adviser Jared Kushner, commerce secretary Wilbur Ross, and his former campaign chairman Paul Manafort.

The investigators are looking into several of the President’s business deals involving Russian partners, per Bloomberg:

FBI investigators and others are looking at Russian purchases of apartments in Trump buildings, Trump’s involvement in a controversial SoHo development with Russian associates, the 2013 Miss Universe pageant in Moscow and Trump’s sale of a Florida mansion to a Russian oligarch in 2008, the person said.

Kushner’s efforts to secure funding for certain properties owned by his family real estate business are also of interest, according to the report, as are dealings that touch on Ross’ tenure as vice chairman of the Bank of Cyprus.

The probe into Trump associates’ finances stems from a money-laundering investigation former U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara initiated last year, the anonymous source told Bloomberg, and since has been consolidated into special counsel Robert Mueller’s wide-ranging investigation. Trump fired Bharara in March after the prosecutor refused to step down voluntarily.

The President told the New York Times on Wednesday that it would be a “violation” of Mueller’s mandate to dig into finances involving him and his family.

“I mean, it’s possible there’s a condo or something, so, you know, I sell a lot of condo units, and somebody from Russia buys a condo, who knows?” Trump told the newspaper. “I don’t make money from Russia.”

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