Report on Trump company’s Cuba dealings could affect crucial Florida vote
In a development that could cost Donald Trump crucial Cuban-American votes, his casino company once violated the U.S. embargo of Cuba by secretly funding a business foray on the communist island, Newsweek reported this morning.
Trump’s casino company “funneled” at least $68,000 in late 1998 to a consulting firm that traveled to the island in search of business opportunities on Trump’s behalf, Newsweek reported in its cover story called “The Castro Connection.” The article alleges the consultant then billed Trump’s company and instructed his employees on how to make it look as if the trip had been connected to a Catholic charity.
If the consulting company secretly spent U.S. money in Cuba during a visit that was not licensed by the U.S. government or fully hosted by a non-U.S. entity or charity, the expenses would have violated the Cuban embargo, which is designed to starve the Castro regime of American currency.
Newsweek did not specify the exact nature of the trip or its precise date. Even if a crime occurred, the statute of limitations expired, Newsweek reported.
Hillary Clinton’s pounced on the Newsweek report.
“Trump’s business with Cuba appears to have broken the law, flouted U.S. foreign policy, and is in complete contradiction to Trump’s own repeated, public statements that he had been offered opportunities to invest in Cuba but passed them up," Clinton campaign senior adviser Jake Sullivan said in a statement. “This latest report shows once again that Trump will always put his own business interest ahead of the national interest — and has no trouble lying about it.”
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