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Coincidence?
Today's thrill comes as a result of digging into the forthcoming Truth Social Deal to see what needs to happen for Trump to get a cash infusion. (Short answer—can't start until at least March 22, 2024.)
I followed the money to date and … BANG! Up pops Alexander Smirnov, who The Guardian reported is related to Anton Postolnikov, owner of an offshore bank called Paxum, that is reported to finance porn productions, and loaned Trump Media $8 million.
An Alexander Smirnov has been in the news this week. Short, short: he was an FBI informant who is under indictment and being held without bail for lying to the FBI about … wait for it—Hunter Biden/Burisma and is said to have freely admitted to contacts with Russian intelligence.
Alas
Smirnoff is a common Russian surname and the one guy is a Russian citizen in the Putin orbit and the other guy is an American/Israeli citizen who doesn't actually have a full-time job with a Russian maritime shipping outfit.
Drats.
But, is it a dead end or a secret passage?
Postolnikov is a figure in an insider trading criminal prosecution involving Digital World Acquisition Corp., a publicly traded "blank check" company on its way to closing the acqusition of Trump Media & Technology Group Corp., owner of Truth Social. He was the subject of a search warrant served in connection with the prosecution of three guys connected to DWAC, names of Michael Shvartsman, who, along with Gerald Shvartsman and Bruce Garelick, is alleged to have made $22 million by trading in DWAC just before its acqusition of TMTG was announced.
Follow the connections
Shvartsman is represented by Tai Park, and until recently, his address was on the same floor of 1140 Avenue of the America's as a law firm one of whose name partners is Alexandra A.E. Shapiro. She represents Bruce Garelick. Park and Shapiro worked together on another case that Justice Samuel Alito recently granted an extension of time to apply for a writ of certiorari to appeal the conviction of her client who was convicted of offenses connected with boosting his law scholl's U.S. News and World Report's law school ranking.
PSA interruption
This post is actually not a parody. It's the subject matter of real, serious stuff. When I make stuff up, I try to avoid being so over the top as this appears.
Back to the main event
In the case involving the writ, Park was representing an amicus party—Professor Steven Smith of the Notre Dame Law School, where Justice Amy Comey Barrett was his colleague during her tenure there. Professor Smith is big on eliminating criminal liability for corporations and clerked for Justice Clarence Thomas.
Meanwhile, Shapiro represented Steven Calk, the former CEO of The Federal Savings Bank in an unsuccessful Second Circuit appeal of bank bribery conviction arising from loans to Paul Manafort. Calk was alleged to have sought a senior appointment to the Trump cabinet as Under Secretary of the Army and was interviewed by the transition team at Trump Tower but was never nominated.
At the same address and floor as Shapiro and Park have/had offices, is Almanac Investors LLC, one of whose affiliate's former officers is Jennifer Cattier, who previously worked as Alternatives Legal for Deutsche Bank, which is probably the same unit that supported the private banking operation where Rosemary Vrablic arranged loans for the Trump Organization. Her boss, Thomas Bowers, killed himself shortly before he was due to be interviewed about financing he arranged for Jeffrey Epstein. One of Vrablic's other clients is Steven Ross, owner of the Miami Dolphins and Trump donor/fundraiser. As another atmospheric, Vrablic lives in the former apartment home of Phillip Bennett who was convicted of securities fraud.
What to make of this
The Big Apple is home to 8.8 million people, and many of them seem to know each other. It's like the factoid that Dwight Eisenhower was F. Scott Fitzgerald's basic training officer. Everybody who is famous seems to have been pals with everyone else who is famous before any of them were famous.
Perhaps it's a simple as that Donald Trump is a sort of human black hole sucking everyone into his orbit. I don't know. As far as the lawyers that I've mentioned, no adverse inference should be drawn. As much as it galls civilians, we are in the business of representing clients—it's not up to us to decide if they have or have not committed crimes. That's up to juries. It can require a high degree of skill and there can be good money in it. Sorry.
Mascot of the Day
