I think the biggest problem with the Moscow Tower deal was
the funding. Sater was lining up banks that were under sanction. He claimed that it wouldn't be problematic because the loans would be being made to the developers, who were Russian.
Trump today, before boarding his helicopter, kept saying that:
1) *he* stopped the deal (grandiose much?) OK, technically he did--in the sense that when he tweeted that he had no business in Russia, Sater stopped pursuing it--but there was no firm indication on the Russian end that it was really going to happen;
2) that, even if he *hadn't* stopped the deal, it would've been perfectly fine for him to do, because he was a businessman and only a candidate at the time; and
3) he claimed that the reason he *stopped* it was that he wanted to focus on his campaign.
So: if Trump *ever* tries to claim (as he actually already did today) that the Moscow Tower deal was something that he barely had anything to do with--distancing himself from it--then how did it impinge on his time so much that he cancelled it so he could focus on his campaign? Can't really have it both ways. Either he was fully immersed in it, to the point of distraction from his campaign; or, his participation was trivial, in which case there would be no need to cancel it, especially given how long he has wanted the project done.
I'm thinking that they realized that, with the "sudden" focus of everybody's attention to Russia, the sanction violation loophole would not escape notice. I suspect that had more to do with why the deal and his campaign could not simultaneously exist.
= new reply since forum marked as read
