By Steve Neavling
Ticklethewire.com
The FBI has launched an inquiry into an international business deal involving President Trump’s daughter, Ivanka Trump, according to a new report.
Agents are focused on Ivanka Trump’s handing of negotiations and financing for Trump International Tower in Vancouver, a current U.S. official and former U.S. official familiar with the inquiry told CNN.
News of the investigation comes after numerous reports this week that the president, his son Donald Trump Jr. and his son-in-law Jared Kushner have become potential targets in the special counsel investigation that began over Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election. Among the reevaluations was that Robert Mueller’s legal team is scrutinizing business deals involving the president and Kushner, who is the husband of Ivanka Trump.
Kushner and Trump Jr. also are under investigation for a secret meeting with a Russian lawyer who offered “dirt” on Hillary Clinton during the presidential campaign.
The Vancouver development, featuring a trademarked Ivanka Trump spa, opened in February 2017, just a month after Trump’s inauguration.
The president’s attorneys are trying to prevent him from being interviewed by Mueller for fear that Trump will lie under oath and be charged with perjury.
Trump continues to call the investigation a “witch hunt.”
CNN wrote:
The Trump Organization does not own the building. Instead, like other Trump projects, it receives licensing and marketing fees from the developer, Joo Kim Tiah. A scion of one of Malaysia’s wealthiest families, Tiah runs his family’s Canada-based development company Holborn Group. President Trump’s June financial disclosure form said the Trump Organization made more than $5 million in royalties and $21,500 in management fees from the Vancouver property.The $360 million project, which features 147 guest rooms and 217 luxury residences, quickly became a magnet for foreign buyers.In the case of Vancouver, it’s not clear why investigators are examining this particular deal. The timing of the deal — as one of the few Trump-branded properties to open since Trump took office — could be of interest. The flow of foreign money, either from the developer or international condo buyers, could also be sparking scrutiny.
