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Eric Trump Bragged In 2014, ‘We Have All The Funding We Need Out Of Russia,’ Journalist Claims

By JohnThomas Didymus
Published on: 00:31 PST, May 8, 2017

A journalist and golf writer claims that Eric Trump, the second son of President Donald Trump, told him in 2014 that his father’s golf resorts in the U.S. were being funded “from out of Russia.” James Dodson recalled in an interview with Boston radio station WBUR on Friday that while visiting Trump’s golf course in North Carolina in 2014, Eric told him that the family did not rely on American banks for funding because they were receiving funds from Russian investors “who love golf” and were funding the family’s golf resorts “all the time.”

According to Dodson, a golf writer who co-wrote the biography of the esteemed golfer Arnold Palmer, he met Trump and his sons three years ago when he was invited to tour and play golf at the new Trump National Golf Club Charlotte in North Carolina. While playing golf with Donald Trump, he asked him how he had secured funding for the golf resort. Trump, according to Dodson, “sort of tossed off that he had access to $100 million.”

Later in the day while riding in a golf cart with Trump’s son Eric, Dodson sought further clarification about how the family was able to secure funding in 2012 when banks had suspended funding golf projects due to the economic recession.

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“Eric, who’s funding? I know no banks — because of the recession, the Great Recession — have touched a golf course,” Dodson recalled he asked Eric. “You know, no one’s funding any kind of golf construction. It’s dead in the water the last four or five years.”

Eric, according to Dodson, revealed that the funding for the family’s golf projects came from “out of Russia.”

“Well, we don’t rely on American banks,” Eric said. “We have all the funding we need out of Russia.”

“Really?” Dodson queried.

“Oh, yeah. We’ve got some guys that really, really love golf, and they’re really invested in our programs,” Eric continued, according to Dodson. “We just go there all the time.”

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Eric is not the first of Trump’s sons to have bragged about the family’s easy access to Russian funds. His first son Donald Trump Jr. told E Turbo News in 2008 that the family business was receiving a disproportionate amount of funding from Russia.

“In terms of high-end product influx into the US, Russians make up a pretty disproportionate cross-section of a lot of our assets,” Donald Trump Jr. said. “We see a lot of money pouring in from Russia.”

The latest revelation comes amid an ongoing congressional investigation into allegations of inappropriate ties between Trump and Russia. It was also alleged that the Trump campaign colluded with Russian operatives who interfered in the 2016 general election by hacking into the computer systems of Democratic Party institutions and the Clinton campaign to steal documents and emails.

But Trump has repeatedly and vehemently denied all allegations of financial, business, and political ties to Russia. He has repeatedly denied allegations of financial and business connections with Russian investors, the Kremlin and President Vladimir Putin of Russia. He also denied allegations that Russian agents interfered in the general election to boost his chances of winning.

“Russia has never tried to use leverage over me,” Trump tweeted last January. “I have nothing to do with Russia — no deals, no loans, no nothing!”

He also asked in a recent tweet why the “fake media” was not asking questions about links between the Democrats and the Russians.

“When will the Fake Media ask about the Dems dealings with Russia… why the DNC wouldn’t allow the FBI to check their server or investigate?”

Despite Trump’s strident denials, critics and opponents have pointed to previous statements by Trump in which he lavished praises on Putin, saying he was a “stronger” leader than President Barack Obama and that he would like to “get along” with him. Critics have also pointed out that Trump could easily clarify the issues being raised about his links with Russia by releasing his tax returns.

But Trump has refused to cave in to pressure to make his tax returns public.

The pressure on Trump to come clean about his links with Russia has been a source of constant trouble for his administration. Michael Flynn, Trump’s first national security adviser, was forced to resign after it emerged that he had tried to conceal the truth about his contacts with Russia. It was found that he lied about phone calls to the Russian ambassador during which he discussed the Obama administration’s sanctions in violation of regulations.

Trump’s attorney general Jeff Sessions was also forced to recuse himself from future investigations into links between the Trump campaign and Russian operatives.

Earlier in March, FBI Director James Comey confirmed that his agency was investigating the allegations of Trump’s links with Russia. He said that he would reveal the details of the findings after the investigations were concluded.

[Featured Image by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images]

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