The smoking gun: Don Trump Jr brags about the money that's been pouring in from Russia. [View all]

[pnwmom]

This was in 2008. And then in Feb. 2015, his brother Eric Trump says that Russian investment has been slowing because of the drop in oil prices.

So the Trumps haven't necessarily been investing money in Russia -- Russians have been pouring money into the Trump orgs.

And the Trump orgs need that Russian money to keep flowing.

http://www.eturbonews.com/5008/executive-talk-donald-trump-jr-bullish-russia-and-few-emerging-ma

"And in terms of high-end product influx into the US, Russians make up a pretty disproportionate cross-section of a lot of our assets; say in Dubai, and certainly with our project in SoHo and anywhere in New York. We see a lot of money pouring in from Russia. There's indeed a lot of money coming for new-builds and resale reflecting a trend in the Russian economy and, of course, the weak dollar versus the ruble," he said

http://www.cnbc.com/2015/02/18/eric-trump-oil-drop-slows-russian-nyc-investment.html

Feb. 2015

New York City real estate is hot, Eric Trump told CNBC on Wednesday, despite what he sees as somewhat slowing Russian investment due to the collapse in oil prices.

"There's a lot of foreign investment coming into the city. They feel very comfortable parking their money here," said the executive vice president of development and acquisitions for The Trump Organization. "Does that change with the oil prices and the lack of Russian funds coming in? I think we'll see a little bit of that."

THE BACKGROUND (Look how evasively Trump and Manafort answered these questions)

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/donald-trump-denies-he-has-any-ties-to-russia/

CBS4's Jim DeFede then asked Trump about whether Russian funds have flowed into his businesses and if Russian President Vladimir Putin is trying to control him as a result.

"Is that the theory? I haven't heard that at all," Trump said. "I mean I haven't heard that. But I have nothing to do with Russia, nothing to do, I never met Putin, I have nothing to do with Russia whatsoever."

Trump's campaign chairman Paul Manafort also denied on Wednesday that the GOP presidential nominee has any financial ties to Russia.

In an interview on "CBS This Morning," Manafort was asked directly to confirm that Trump has no financial relationship with Russian oligarchs.

"That's what he said. That's what... that's obviously what our position is," Manafort said. But don't look for Trump to release his taxes to prove it.