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More Media B.S. — OMG, Trump Company Legally Rented Office Space to Iranian Bank!
Once again a story that Trump did nothing illegal is somehow front page news. His crime this time? Continuing to legally rent out office space to a bank already in a building he bought 18 years ago.
So the big news is that Donald Trump’s real estate organization rented space to an Iranian bank later linked to Iran’s nuclear program.
Bank Melli, one of Iran’s largest state-controlled banks, was already a tenant in 1998 when Trump purchased the General Motors Building, above, in Manhattan, but he kept them on for another five years, until 2003.
Quick summary:— There is no evidence and it is highly unlikely that Trump himself knew every one of the hundreds of tenants in a building he bought in 1998. In fact, the building occupies a full city block, with 1,774,000 net leasable square feet (the bank rented 8,000 square feet.)
— U.S. security authorities allowed Bank Melli to legally operate offices in the U.S., so renting to them is not a story.
— Bank Melli was prohibited from conducting bank transactions in the U.S., and did not conduct transactions, but kept an office in New York in hopes sanctions might one day be eased.
— Bank Melli operated fully in the open. The U.S. Department of the Treasury could have shut them down at any time, or sanctioned Trump for dealing with them if it wished. It did not.
— The bank itself (not Trump) was only sanctioned by Treasury in 2007, four years after it left Trump’s building. However, the Huffington Post helpfully notes (emphasis added) “[Unnamed] Experts told the Center for Public Integrity that the bank likely supported proliferation activity and Iran’s military years before the Treasury Department publicly condemned the bank,” something the owners of the rental building presumably should have been aware of somehow.
— The Center for Public Integrity reveals on its website that the Bank Melli “as being controlled by the Iranian government” since 1999. Actually in its own publically available history, the Bank notes it served as the nation’s central bank, issuing currency, from 1931.
While the media is enjoying this story, it ignores the broader picture. Despite sanctions and trade embargoes, over the past decade the United States government allowed American companies to do billions of dollars in business with Iran and other countries blacklisted as state sponsors of terrorism.
At the request of companies from Kraft Food and Pepsi to some of the nation’s largest banks, the Treasury Department across multiple administrations granted some 10,000 licenses for deals involving sanctioned countries.
The media is so full of sh*t on these stories their eyes are brown.
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Rich Bauer said...
1DICKHEAD Cheney told Trump to keep the lease so Halliburton could cash Iran’s checks.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/9/29/1575940/-Another-GOP-hypocrite-evaded-U-S-embargos-too-As-Halliburton-CEO-Cheney-did-it-in-Iran-Libya
10/3/16 12:09 PM | Comment Link
chuck said...
2Can’t wait for Truth from Assange and Co. ! The Post, Times etc. may not report it!
10/3/16 12:36 PM | Comment Link
chuck said...
3Terror Tuesday thoughts… Assange cancels balcony speech in 24 hours due to hacked info from Creech AFB that Obomber ordered drone would strike because he is “With Her”. Dems are thrilled. Assange announces release to be done from inside. Daylight begins.
10/3/16 12:42 PM | Comment Link
chuck said...
4Is sarcasm allowed here? Truth? Keep waging peas
10/3/16 12:43 PM | Comment Link
John Poole said...
5New NYTimes motto: All the news that fits our agenda of “Israel uber alles!”
10/3/16 2:38 PM | Comment Link
Mitch. said...
6Not to sound stupid….or…more like a smart ass…
It would appear that the mainstream media is not to be trusted. For any reason.
That can’t be!!!
They are not puppets of a grossly ineffective, out of control government!!!!
M
10/3/16 5:59 PM | Comment Link
John Poole said...
7Mitch- I think your premise is sound. The MSM is not reporting “all the news that’s fit to print” but instead news that fits their agenda of permanent war which benefits Israel.
10/3/16 7:38 PM | Comment Link
Mitch said...
8John,
At this moment, I’m in Brussels, Belgium.
It is quite amazing to learn what is really happening in the US by watching and listening to media and people outside the US.
Learned while we were first here that Deutsch Bank is on the verge of failure.
Not a word of it anywhere prior to leaving the US.
The damage that will be done if that occurs will make the wells Fargo fiasco look like a stubbed toe.
I also find it quite interesting, that with all of the focus on wells Fargo, BoA bought wells Fargo several years ago. If my memory is accurate.
The premise would be, exactly why is congress ranting at wells fargo’s CEO, when they should be chewing higher up the food chain.
I read the review of Snowden,
Interesting tibit here,
In 2002, a retired AT&T engineer went before congress, and explained exactly what was happening with the NSA and exactly how.
From a tech point of view, very exciting. It had never even considered that fiber-optics could be split and exact data could be copied to two locations. Which is exactly what is and has been occuring.
The wonderfully effective reporters over look this.
The congress persons who are so horrified at the information Snowden released.
The congress knew all along.
The Reporters and ‘media’ ENABLED the lie.
Two examples of…
Rinse and repeat.
M.
10/3/16 10:28 PM | Comment Link
teri said...
9How ’bout that? They managed to put “Trump” and “Iran” in the same headline. We’ve already got him on China. (“Oh, look, this Trump tie is made in China,” – Hillary said two months ago, to an audience whose entire wardrobes, in including shoes, were… made in China. As were the I-Shits they were snapping photos of themselves at the event were.) We’ve already got him on Russia (too many references to even begin enumerating). Now Iran. That’s your trifecta right there.
Surely next week, we will “discover” he has ties to Kim Jong Un, Boko Haram, and Beelzebub (why not go for broke?). As if there isn’t enough real stuff to go after Trump on – like his policies. Such as they are. Anyone looked at his freaking tax “plan”?
God forbid we talk about fracking, GMOS/Monsanto, wealth disparity, homelessness, consolidation of the big corporations into monopolies, funding of terror groups, illegal warfare, the use of mercenaries and drones, jobs, QE infinity, jobs, climate change, the Fed, jobs, the big banks, loss of the commons, governmental subsidies to energy, banking and ag cartels, jobs…..
If we talked about those things, we might find out Trump has no measurable brain activity. So why not press these issues with him? Because if we talked about those things, we might find out how Clinton actually stands on these same topics. And they can’t let that happen.
10/4/16 4:54 AM | Comment Link
bloodypitchfork said...
10teri said:
” Because if we talked about those things, we might find out how Clinton actually stands on these same topics. ”
Topics? We don nee no stinkin topics. All we nee is to drone thees aaswhole…like Assange
quote“Can’t we just drone this guy?” Clinton openly inquired, offering a simple remedy to silence Assange and smother Wikileaks via a planned military drone strike, according to State Department sources.”unquote
http://truepundit.com/under-intense-pressure-to-silence-wikileaks-secretary-of-state-hillary-clinton-proposed-drone-strike-on-julian-assange/
ut oh. I’ve got $10 that says Clinton’s head is exploding about now. And another $10 that says today is gonna be a baaaaaaaaaaaaad day for her.
Assassinating a private citizen.. for JOURNALISM???
No wonder Assange is out to destroy her. And he’s about to do it too. Given this latest bombshell, I’d submit Clinton’s going to get a “expose’ ” MSM buttfuck pretty quick. They can’t possibly squelch what is coming. It’s too big.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-ecuador-sweden-assange-idUSKCN1240UG
Imagine what this stinking cunt would do if she were President. Not that Trump is any better. Either way… we’re all fucked.
I know this though. I’ve got $1k that says some IC schmuck, like Clapper, suggested that Obama DRONE Snowden. If they considered it for Assange, Snowden is a no brainer.
Folks..what this says is.. the USG considered assassinating a private citizen.. for something totally outside of the bounds of the WOT. In this case.. they considered MURDER.
They..meaning..CLINTON. If this doesn’t burn her entire campaign to the ground.. nothing will.
10/4/16 8:18 AM | Comment Link
teri said...
11Pitch,
That’s quite a shocking article.
“If this doesn’t burn her entire campaign to the ground.. nothing will.”
Feh. One way or another, she’s the queen. They always have the Diebold machines if all else fails.
Well, unless something happens that lets Obama stay in office; a possibility I still think as likely as anything else. Which stills leaves us fucked.
10/4/16 9:23 AM | Comment Link
Mitch said...
12Pitch and Teri,
Yep, you get it.
However, it could be worse than a drone.
A couple years ago, a very quite story leaked.
Man was snatched in Malta. US citizen. Natural born.
CIA rendetion program. Supervision supplied by FBI.
Suspected terrorist.
Guy was a dental college student.
Man was taken to the black site in Poland. For 18 months.
Had some pretty hedious things done to him.
18 months. Opps, were sorry, your not a terrorist ( bet he is now though), released back into the US. Down the street from his house.
He is however kept on the watch list, and terror list, and the no-fly list.
He takes it to federal court.
Two years later he gets his ruling.
Federal judge agrees that his civil rights have been violated, however,
the violations happened out side the US,
So therefore he has no case against the FBI, CIA, NSA, Atty general, or anyone else.
And, yes, Killary oversaw it.
Personally, I think I would have Prefered the drone rather than what these “people” are doing, not just to ‘terrorists’, but foreign nationals, US citizens, and as it appears, anyone else the want.
And, yes, I can’t wait for Assange to open his can of whoop ass either.
M
10/4/16 9:38 AM | Comment Link
bloodypitchfork said...
13teri said
“Well, unless something happens that lets Obama stay in office; a possibility I still think as likely as anything else. Which stills leaves us fucked.”
Indeed. As for Obama’s third term.. that old axiom..
death and taxes.. just might give it to him. And yes, it still leaves us fucked.
Speaking of a murderer..Obama’s now claiming he’s “trying” to make it harder for a future POTUS’ to Drone murder around the entire planet.
https://theintercept.com/2016/10/03/obama-worries-future-presidents-will-wage-perpetual-covert-drone-war/#comment-290563
Worry. right. Says the posterchild of INCINERATION-R-US. Meanwhile, he’s shilling for the very wannabe Drone murderer who might take his place.
sheeezusHchrist.. you can’t make this shit up.
10/4/16 9:50 AM | Comment Link