The company controlled by the family of the White House adviser Jared Kushner is close to receiving a bailout of its financially troubled flagship building by a company with ties to the government of Qatar, according to executives briefed on the deal.
.. Mr. Kushner and his son Jared, President Trump’s son-in-law and one of his key advisers, bought the office tower, which is between 52nd and 53rd Streets, 11 years ago for a record-setting $1.8 billion. But the building today only generates about half its annual mortgage payment, and 30 percent of the 41-story tower is vacant.
In late 2016, Mr. Kushner and his son were close to a much different kind of deal with Anbang, a giant Chinese insurance company with ties to the country’s ruling elite, and with a billionaire from Qatar, Hamad bin Jassim Al-Thani. That plan involved demolishing the existing building at 666 Fifth and erecting a $7.5 billion luxury super tower.
.. Although he resigned as chief executive of the company when he joined the White House in January 2017, Mr. Kushner retained most of his stake in the firm. He shed some of the assets — including his stake in 666 Fifth Avenue — by selling them to a trust controlled by his mother.
Michael Cohen’s Attorney May Be an Even Worse Lawyer Than He Is
From his assertion that marital rape is legal to his insistence that a $130,000 preelection payment to Stormy Daniels doesn’t violate campaign finance laws because he paid it himself (which might actually be a bigger campaign finance violation), President Trump’s attorney Michael Cohen has offered up ample evidence that he’s not the sharpest legal mind. That makes sense, as Cohen was hired years ago to be Trump’s ultraloyal “fixer,” not an expert in litigation involving the president.
However, that doesn’t explain why Cohen’s attorney and spokesperson, David Schwartz, is doing such a poor job defending his client in the media — unless he was hired to be Trump’s fixer’s fixer, not someone with a good grasp on the law.
.. Cohen has been vague about Trump’s knowledge of the negotiations, which took place in the final weeks of the 2016 campaign. But Schwartz stated very clearly Cohen drew up the agreement without informing Trump, and that’s why his signature isn’t on the document.
“The president was not aware of the agreement. At least, Michael Cohen never told him about the agreement,” Schwartz said. “Michael Cohen left the option open. That’s why he left that signature line, the option open to go to him. He chose not to. He chose to bind the LLC, EC LLC and Stormy Daniels into the contract.”Michael Cohen’s attorney just claimed on @OutFrontCNN that Trump was not aware of the Stormy Daniels agreement or the payment, which means that there was no contract between Trump and Daniels, and Daniels can release the materials. Why would he admit this on national television?
— Renato Mariotti (@renato_mariotti) March 28, 2018
The contract only lists remedies available to DD (Trump), not to the LLC. https://t.co/ERspigoVcn
— Renato Mariotti (@renato_mariotti) March 29, 2018
Under the terms of the agreement itself, only “DD” can enforce it. If Cohen’s position is that Trump is not DD, then unless someone else comes forward as “DD,” it is unenforceable and Stormy Daniels can release the materials. https://t.co/pIquaTzwX1
— Renato Mariotti (@renato_mariotti) March 29, 2018
“Each Party acknowledges that [Stormy] is executing this Agreement in reliance” on *Trump* releasing certain claims he has against Stormy.
Michael Cohen can’t offer that. EC LLC can’t offer that either. Only Trump can.
So if Trump ain’t in the agreement, THERE IS NO AGREEMENT.
— Susan Simpson (@TheViewFromLL2) March 29, 2018
Incidentally, there is no proof for this beyond the fact it’s completely fucking obvious from the contract, but the major promise being offered in the contract here is that Trump was to agree not to initiate a criminal prosecution against Stormy under revenge porn laws.
— Susan Simpson (@TheViewFromLL2) March 29, 2018
“Each Party acknowledges that [Stormy] is executing this Agreement in reliance” on *Trump* releasing certain claims he has against Stormy.
Michael Cohen can’t offer that. EC LLC can’t offer that either. Only Trump can.
So if Trump ain’t in the agreement, THERE IS NO AGREEMENT.
— Susan Simpson (@TheViewFromLL2) March 29, 2018
Why might that have been the case? If anyone’s taking bets on this, put mine down on the source of Stormy’s fear being her attorney, Keith Davidson.
Nothing we’ve seen about him so far inspires confidence that it was his clients’ interests that Davidson was advancing.
— Susan Simpson (@TheViewFromLL2) March 29, 2018
Davidson represented Karen McDougal too, who Trump also had an affair with. And as alleged in McDougal’s complaint, Davidson was colluding Cohen – across multiple cases – to pressure McDougal and other women into signing agreements by misrepresenting to them the material terms. pic.twitter.com/zTRGsJ82uf
— Susan Simpson (@TheViewFromLL2) March 29, 2018
And if there was any room for doubt about what’s really going on here, just look at what Cohen has to say about Davidson.
Cohen, who threatens violence against reporters who merely call up with questions, speaks GLOWINGLY about an attorney who repeatedly threatened to sue Trump. pic.twitter.com/gqsutByQvp
— Susan Simpson (@TheViewFromLL2) March 29, 2018
For all of Cohen’s truly idiotic legal claims, repeated ethical breaches, & wannabe mobster ways, his sins here are the lesser ones. No one can say he wasn’t zealously advocating for his client. But if Davidson did what the women allege he did, he can’t be disbarred fast enough.
— Susan Simpson (@TheViewFromLL2) March 29, 2018
Another potential laws she could have violated, which Trump agreed not to initiate a criminal prosecution, is secretly recording video or audio as California is a two-consent state.
— Michael Abromowitz (@FootballExpert) March 29, 2018
In another blow to Trump’s efforts to combat Russia probe, diGenova will no longer join legal team
Trump had hoped diGenova could serve as a surrogate in television interviews and play the role of attack dog in criticizing the Mueller probe.
Sekulow approached diGenova two weeks ago about joining the team, but it turned out that he and his wife run a law firm that represents clients with interests that would conflict with those of the president.
.. One is Mark Corallo, a former spokesman for Trump’s legal team and a witness in the Mueller investigation. He resigned in the wake of a dispute over the president’s role in a misleading statement about his campaign aides’ meeting with a Russian lawyer offering “dirt” on 2016 opponent Hillary Clinton.