Ahead of hearing at 2nd Circuit tmrw, Manhattan DA says they are investigating why “between 2004-2014, Trump faced billions in liabilities and yet somehow had money to purchase ‘five houses, eight golf courses and a winery,’ including land in Scotland, for $400 million in cash.”

More: in motion supporting its investigation, DA points to public reports that Trump’s money spree was “facilitated by ‘unconventional’ borrowing beginning in 2012.” This is for the second round of Trump’s appeal to block the DA from obtaining his tax and accounting records.

“Reports allege that in 2012, Trump Org entities paid $48 million in satisfaction of $130 million debt related to Trump Tower Chicago. The Trump Org *claimed publicly* it purchased the rest of the debt and that it remains on Trump books as a debt from one subsidiary to another.”

Note that DA wrote Trump Org “claimed publicly” it bought rest of the debt. This debt has long been the source of scrutiny by news outlets and other financial experts. It made no sense. Did something else happen behind closed doors?

Manhattan DA has gone to great lengths to maintain secrecy of its probe. It subpoenaed Deutsche Bank docs a year ago—no one knew until August 2020. In motion, it points to specific public reporting to explain and justify its work in order to avoid revealing anything. And yet...

There are hundreds—if not thousands—of reports about Trump’s finances. The ones the DA is choosing to cite directly to support its investigation aren’t random. They are breadcrumbs.

DA showing what the investigation is targeting without breaking secrecy or revealing its hand.

DA is pointing to 8 reports about specific instances of possible Trump financial crimes.

Want to understand better? Read my piece from May explaining what might be hiding in Trump’s Deutsche Bank records (which NYT reports Manhattan DA *already has*). https://forensicnews.net/2020/05/08/what-congress-might-find-in-trumps-deutsche-bank-records/

Safe to say DA is focused on tax fraud, bank fraud, and other types of financial crimes. But revealing those crimes may include *finally* unraveling how Donald Trump secured $2 billion in loans from Deutsche Bank—the world’s Russian laundromat—when no other bank would touch him.