Trump’s old buddy Felix by digby
From a GQ election night tick-tock of the Trump campaign:
11:55 P.M.—Among the well-wishers and Trump associates eager to join in the celebration is Felix Sater, a Russian-born entrepreneur and sometime business partner of Trump’s, who’s helped locate potential real estate deals in the former Soviet Union. (Since the election, Sater’s links to Russia have come under scrutiny as it’s been revealed that he offered, in 2015, to broker a relationship between Trump and Russian president Vladimir Putin—one that he said could win Trump the White House. “I will get Putin on this program and we will get Donald elected,” Mr. Sater wrote to Trump’s lawyer.)
Publicly, Trump has long sought to distance himself from Sater—even testifying in a 2013 deposition that he wouldn’t recognize Sater if the two men were in the same room together. On election night, they would have a chance to test that proposition.
From his home on Long Island, Sater orders a late-night ride from a car service. His destination: the invite-only victory party at the Midtown Hilton.
Driver (name withheld): I picked him up from his house on Long Island. And then, you know, I said, “Hi, how are you? And he said, “Do you know who I am?” And I said, “No, I don’t really know you.” He showed me his business card. I think, to show me that he’s VIP, an important person, and second, to tell me that he was happy that he won the election, because it’s unexpected.
So we talked about the election night. After that he just picked up his phone, and he talked all the way from Long Island to New York. He was talking to somebody in the Russian language.
Huh.
Obviously, Sater could have been talking to anyone so this proves absolutely nothing. Still… it’s a juicy little tidbit considering what Sater was trying to do.
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