Congress asks whether Russian money funded Trump golf courses in UK and Ireland - Independent

21/1/2018

Congress asks whether Russian money funded Trump golf courses in UK and Ireland

'If you're familiar with Donald Trump's finances and the litigation over whether he's really a billionaire, you know, there's good reason to believe he doesn't have enough money to do this and that he would have had to have outside financial support for these things'

Lucinda Cameron

The President resigned as director of his British and Irish resorts before his inauguration last year

US Congress has been questioning whether Russian money could have been used to fund Donald Trump's golf courses in the UK and Ireland.

It emerged after the permanent select committee on intelligence at the US House of Representatives released a transcript of the sworn testimony of former Wall Street Journal reporter Glenn Simpson.

Mr Simpson, who works for consulting firm Fusion GPS, was asked to research then presidential candidate Donald Trump in 2015/16.

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He told the committee that he looked at the Trump golf courses in Scotland and Ireland as part of his research.

Asked whether he saw Russian money involved with them he replied: "Well, we had – you know, we saw what Eric Trump said about Russian money being available for his golf – for the golf course projects, making remarks about having unlimited sums available.

"And, you know, because Mr Trump's companies are generally not publicly traded and don't do a lot of public disclosure, we can only look - have a limited look into the financing of those projects.

"But because the Irish courses and the Scottish courses are under UK, you know, Anglo corporate law, they have - they file financial statements.

"So we were able to get the financial statements. And they don't, on their face, show Russian involvement, but what they do show is enormous amounts of capital flowing into these projects from unknown sources and - or at least on paper it says it's from The Trump Organisation, but it's hundreds of millions of dollars.

"And these golf courses are just, you know, they're sinks. They don't actually make any money.

"So, you know, if you're familiar with Donald Trump's finances and the litigation over whether he's really a billionaire, you know, there's good reason to believe he doesn't have enough money to do this and that he would have had to have outside financial support for these things."

Mr Simpson said that he is mostly working off public records.

He said: "A lot of what I do is analyse whether things make sense and whether they can be explained.

"And that didn't make sense to me, doesn't make sense to me to this day."

The Trump golf resorts in Scotland are at Turnberry in Ayrshire and the Menie Estate in Aberdeenshire, while in Ireland there is Trump Doonbeg.

Donald Trump resigned as director of the family's Scottish and Irish golf courses just before his inauguration as President in January last year.

Women's March: thousands of Australians rally in solidarity - Associated Press

Women's March: thousands of Australians rally in solidarity

Demonstrators join hands in Sydney and Melbourne as protests sweep US and around the world a year after Donald Trump’s inauguration

Anne Davies and agencies

@annefdavies

Sun 21 Jan 2018 16.51 AEDT First published on Sun 21 Jan 2018 13.50 AEDT

The Women’s March in Sydney’s Hyde Park on Sunday drew an estimated 800 people.

Thousands of Australian women rallied in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne on Sunday to express their solidarity with the international Women’s March movement calling for reform of sexual assault laws and a change of culture.

As thousands marched across the United States and Europe, the Women’s March in Sydney saw around 1,000 people gather in Hyde Park. It was attended by a diverse range of women and some men, with younger women dominating the crowd.

The international protests in 2017 were sparked by the election of Donald Trump as US president, but since then other grassroots campaigns such as the #MeToo movement have broadened the concerns by exposing systemic harassment and discrimination against women.

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Instead of marching on the American consulate, as originally intended, the organisers in Sydney asked the crowd to join hands to ring Hyde Park in a show of solidarity.

The Hyde Park crowd join hands in a show of solidarity.

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The Hyde Park crowd join hands in a show of solidarity.

One of the speakers, the founder of On Purpose Hub, Karen James, told the crowd that 2017 had been a watershed year in campaigning for systemic change.

But she said consistent action was needed to change entrenched attitudes: “We need to be unbroken all the time. We need to show up and take action all the time.”

Founder of the Sydney march, Kate Taylor, said joining hands was a symbol of solidarity and determination to keep forcing change.

“2017 was our generation’s floodgate moment. We refused to keep quiet. 2018 will be the year where we say we have weathered the backlash and emerged unbroken to say: we want a safer world.”

The Greens NSW MP Mehreen Faruqi, who was in of the crowd, said: “Women bear most of the brunt of racism, discrimination and inequality and it’s time to fight back and do it in solidarity.”

The Greens senator Lee Rhiannon described the atmosphere of the Sydney march under warm blue skies as “delightful”.

“Women are very upbeat and very inspired especially by what’s going on at marches in New York and Texas,” she said.

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Some people had travelled to Sydney to take part. The Illawarra Knitting Nanna’s against Greed – Cherry Hardaker, Anne Dillon and Annie Marlow – said they were now turning their attention to Adani, coalmining and Donald Trump after winning their battle against coal-seam gas.

The Illawarra Knitting Nannas Against Greed (L to R): Annie Marlow, Anne Dillon and Cherry Hardaker.

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The Illawarra Knitting Nannas Against Greed (L to R): Annie Marlow, Anne Dillon and Cherry Hardaker. Photograph: Anne Davies

Marches in Melbourne and Brisbane also attracted hundreds of supporters. Those in Melbourne marched from Alexandra Gardens and formed a human chain across the banks of the Yarra.

“I think last year was that watershed moment of President Trump’s election,” Melbourne organiser Melissa Goffin said. “This is mainstream, this is everyone. It’s a new era of feminism.”

Hundreds also took part in Brisbane’s CBD carrying signs and chanting.

The Women’s March organisation started in Washington in response to Donald Trump’s presidential win. The group sought to turn protests into political action by encouraging women to run for office and exercise their right to vote and influence elections.

Tens of thousands turned out to March on Saturday in Washington, New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and hundreds of other cities across the US and the world. Many women wore pink knit “pussy hats”, an enduring symbol of the Women’s March and the so-called “resistance” to Trump.

Australian Associated Press contributed to this report