TRUMP ORGANIZATION ASKING PANAMA PRESIDENT TO STOP ITS EVICTION FROM HOTEL IS CLEAR CONFLICT OF INTE

[Judi Lynn]

2. Warning of repercussions, Trump company lawyers seek Panama presidents help

In this March 5, 2018, file photo, a man removes the word Trump off a marquee outside the Trump Ocean Club International Hotel and Tower in Panama City after an arbitrator declined to reinstate the Trump management team. (Arnulfo Franco/AP)

By Ana Cerrud and David A. Fahrenthold April 9 at 5:56 PM

PANAMA CITY — Lawyers representing President Trump’s company last month wrote directly to the president of Panama, asking him to intervene in a legal fight over the Trump International Hotel in the nation’s capital — and warning that the case could have “repercussions” for Panama’s reputation.

The law firm, Panama-based Britton and Iglesias, wrote in Spanish to President Juan Carlos Varela on March 22 to “urgently request your influence in relation to a commercial dispute regarding the Trump hotel.”

At the time, the majority owner of the Trump hotel — Cypriot-born investor Orestes Fintiklis — had kicked out the Trump Organization as the hotel’s manager, after a ruling from a low-level Panamanian judge. The president’s company was seeking to retake control.

The request was extraordinary: The U.S. president’s company was asking the leader of a U.S. ally to intercede on its behalf, disregarding Panama’s separation of powers.

More:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/warning-of-repercussions-trump-company-lawyers-seek-panama-presidents-help/2018/04/09/9e3fbb8e-3c2f-11e8-8d53-eba0ed2371cc_story.html