Trump released the letter, saying it had been sent to Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S. C., who said he hadn\u2019 t sought the Russia information.<\/b>
\nPresident Donald Trump collected at least $100 million from Russian people or organizations between 2008 and this March, according to a personal letter from his tax counsels that he released Friday in response to a senator\u2019s unofficial query.
The amount could be higher. The letter notes that money from sales of condominiums or other products would \u201cnot have been separately identified as \u2018Russian\u2019 in your books.\u201d The letter goes on to state that regarding such income, \u201cthe amounts are immaterial.\u201d
Also Friday, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein\u2019s office confirmed that he \u201cwill come to brief the full Senate next week, \u201d according to Matt House, a spokesman for Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who made the request this week. \u201cThe time and date are still being worked out.\u201d
Trump released the letter, saying it had been sent to Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S. C., who had asked former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper in a recent Senate hearing if he had ever seen \u201ca situation where a Trump business interest in Russia caused him concern.\u201d Clapper\u2019s answer appeared to be less than a wholesale no \u2013 he said he\u2019 d seen nothing to concern him in the investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 election, but that he couldn\u2019 t answer beyond that because it could interfere with an investigation.
That answer left Graham raising the matter in interviews after the hearing. But, his staff confirmed, he had not yet made an official request for an explanation from Trump.
The letter that Trump released was signed by Sheri Dillon and William Nelson and was dated March 8,2017. In it, the authors explain that they have served as tax counsel for Trump and The Trump Organization since 2005. It offers no explanation for why they were writing Trump. At the time, Trump\u2019s possible business ties to Russia had been the subject of numerous news stories.
The letter states: \u201cWith a few exceptions . your tax returns do not reflect . any income of any type from Russian sources.\u201d
It then goes on to define those exceptions. The first was \u201cin 2013, the Miss Universe pageant was held in Moscow and of the $12.2 million of foreign income that it earned that year, a substantial portion of it was attributable to the Moscow event.\u201d
The second exception stated that \u201cin 2008, Trump Properties LLC sold an estate in Florida, that it had acquired in 2005 for approximately $41 million, to a Russian billionaire for $95 million.\u201d
And the third explained \u201cover the years, it is likely that TTO or third-party entities engaged in ordinary course sales of goods or services to Russians or Russian entities, such as sales, rental, fees for condominiums, hotel rooms, grounds of golf, books or Trump-licensed products (e.g. ties, mattresses, wine, etc.) that could have produced income attributable to Russian sources (such income would not have been separately identified as \u2018Russian\u2019 in your books and records and therefore not separately reflected on your tax returns) . With respect to this last exception, the amounts are immaterial.\u201d
The third exception appears to leave the question of Russia-related income unanswered. In 2008, Trump\u2019s son Donald Trump Jr. claimed at a real estate conference that \u201cRussians make up a pretty disproportionate cross-section of a lot of our assets, \u201d when talking about who was buying property, such as condominiums. \u201cWe see a lot of money pouring in from Russia.\u201d
The letter also is at odds with a recent Boston public radio station report in which golf writer James Dodson talked about a conversation he allegedly had with another Trump son, Eric. Eric Trump has denied that the conversation took place.
Dodson said in 2014 he and Eric Trump were talking about how President Trump had secured a $100 million investment in golf courses, when Eric Trump told him \u201cWe don\u2019 t rely on American banks. We have all the funding we need out of Russia.\u201d
Later, he said, Trump added, \u201cOh, yeah. We\u2019 ve got some guys that really, really love golf, and they\u2019 re really invested in our programs. We just go there all the time.\u201d
The letter states that Trump holds interest in or owns more than 500 \u201cseparate entities .\u201d The letter also notes that because of the structure of his organization, his personal income tax returns would reflect the income of these \u201cseparate entities.\u201d
Outside of the exceptions, the letter states \u201cyour tax returns do not reflect . any income of any type from Russian sources . any debt owed by you or TTO to Russian lenders or any interest paid by you to or TTO by Russian lenders . any equity investments by Russian persons or entities in entities controlled by you or TTO or . any equity of debt investments by you or TTO in Russian entities.\u201d<\/p>\n

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