So far this afternoon it looks like Trump will actually show up for the debate. I’ll believe it’s going to happen when I see him take the stage. In the meantime there’s news from Scotland that will be bugging the hell out of Trump. It’s bad enough that as a convicted felon he can’t hop across the Atlantic to play golf at one of his clubs in Scotland. However, the legal bullet he dodged regarding Scottish authorities digging into his finances has been reloaded. A lot has changed since the last time a push was made to allow an actual investigation into Trump’s UK business dealings.
The Intelligencer published and article today saying Scotland’s Green Party has renewed it’s push for an investigation into Trump’s finances/business dealings in their country. They cite Trump’s legal setbacks over here in the U.S. in particular his civil fraud trial loss in among other reasons it’s time for their own government to act. In his letter to First Minister John Swinney Green Party co-leader Patrick Harvie questions why, since in the U.S. Trump is finally being held to account there is no indication efforts are underway to do so in Scotland. In noting that Scotland’s Civil Recovery Unit is still saying what they did back in 2021, that they can’t confirm or deny an investigation is even taking place it’s understandable why Harvie wants to ratchet up the pressure.
Harvie’s letter renews demands for the govt. to issue an Unexplained Wealth Order (UWO) to force Trump to open his books. What’s a UWO? Well, it’s a finding/investigatory order “placed on a respondent whose assets appear disproportionate to their income to explain the origins of their wealth” and was first introduced under the Criminal Finances Act 2017. The linked article notes additional reforms have been passed since then:
In response to the outbreak of Russia’s war in Ukraine in February 2022, Britain’s Conservative government brought forward new legislative reforms to empower the National Crime Agency to use UWO’s to target suspicious individuals in order to crack down on Russian money-laundering in the UK.
It’s worth keeping in mind there have always been questions about how a financially struggling Trump came up with the huge sums of money to purchase properties in Scotland and elsewhere in the UK. U.S. banks didn’t want to do business with Trump and with the sketchy Deustche Bank being the only one overseas that seemed to be willing to loan Trump money it was fair to raise questions. Then we have comments from Trump’s idiot sons to golf writers about the Trump Org. getting all the money we needed out of Russia. Hmmmmm. Well, a lot has happened since those changes in the law happened in 2022.
In particular Trump’s legal problems include a massive civil fraud judgement in a lengthy trial in NY state. Cooking the books. Not to mention all those other legal losses including him now being a convicted felon due in part to having committed business fraud. Trump might (and does) have some rich and powerful friends in the UK but overall he’s not at all well regarded, especially in Scotland. It’s easy to see why Harvie has decided to ratchet up the pressure on Trump:
In his letter to the Scottish government, Harvie noted: “We now have indisputable and independent evidence in the public domain that Trump’s business dealings, including those in Scotland, were linked to fraud.
“Yet while Trump is finally being held to account by the legal system in the US, Scotland’s Civil Recovery Unit have provided the same comment that they provided in 2021, that they cannot ‘confirm or deny’ whether a civil recovery investigation has commenced.”
My guess is that authorities in the UK are afraid Trump might be re-elected. They’d rather not get on his sh*t list, at least right now. So sadly, don’t expect anything to happen from this. However, if Trump goes down in November I predict it will be a different story. Come 2025 he’s going to be looking at the loss of a big chunk of his golf empire. And while he’s got dumbass supporters in the UK he doesn’t have out and out MAGAs over there!
In the meantime we have a Presidential debate in less than two hours. I still say until Trump actually walks out on stage all bets are off. However, if he does this news won’t be sitting well with him. Also, if President Biden wants to let Dark Brandon out for a little romp flipping out a comment over Trump’s business dealings in the UK on top of his legal losses here at home will cause more than a mild show of fireworks. If Biden really wants to twist the knife he could suggest a foreign policy debate on actual foreign soil of our staunchest ally. Say nine holes of golf at one of Trump’s courses over there with just the two of them walking along with the cameras rolling questioning each other on foreign policy. And then Biden could say Oh wait. Now that you’re a convicted felon you can’t gain entry into the UK!
Hey, I’ll take my entertainment where I can get it and this would make for quite the show!
Thank you for this, Denis, I was wondering what was going on in Scotland.
What an excellent concept the Unexplained Wealth Order is! I’m sure the FBI would appreciate the added power of UWOs in their armoury too. When Democrats retake the US House majority in November, they should put UWOs on their To-Do list for new legislation in 2025.