GHOSTS OF BUSINESS PAST

Trump’s 2010 Latvia Venture With Putin Supporter Was Probed by FBI

Bureau looked into Trump’s Russian ventures far earlier than previously known.

In a previously unreported early Trump Russia investigation, the FBI was called in to probe the now-president’s role in a 2010 business venture for a luxury hotel property in Latvia with a group of businessmen and a wealthy Russian who supported Vladimir Putin, The Guardian reported. A Trump executive reportedly went out to scout locations in Riga, and the Russian, Igor Krutoy, allegedly spent hours at Trump Tower with Donald and Ivanka Trump discussing the matter. The “Trump Plaza Riga” venture was abandoned when Latvia’s anti-corruption bureau questioned Krutoy and another businessman as part of a criminal inquiry. As part of the probe, authorities reportedly heard Trump’s name mentioned by the suspect in secret recordings they obtained. At Latvia’s request in 2015, the FBI also looked into “Trump’s interactions.” The inquiry was officially closed in 2016 with no charges filed. Krutoy, who works as a composer in Russia, attended Trump’s infamous 2013 Miss Universe pageant in Moscow and has written music for Emin Agalarov—the same Agalarovs that met with senior campaign officials at Trump Tower offering “dirt” on Hillary Clinton in 2016.