The Daily Grift: Apr 14, 2026

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The Daily Grift

Good morning. We’re on day two of The Receipts: How Russia Bought an American President in Ten Acts – ten sourced essays, one every morning at 8 AM Central. Today’s installment is about Trump Tower as a money laundering destination for the Russian mob, Baby Doc Duvalier, and shell company buyers BuzzFeed traced to .5 billion in suspicious purchases.

Yesterday’s essay – the one about the KGB recruitment checklist and Czech intelligence’s file on Trump dating to 1977 – is linked below if you missed it.

#2 The Test
Russia Receipts · Essay #2

#2 The Test: Trump Tower Was Open for Business and the Mob Came Shopping

Trump Tower opened in 1983 and immediately became a magnet for dirty money. Baby Doc Duvalier, Russian mob operative David Bogatin, and mob-connected gambling kingpin Robert Hopkins all bought condos with cash through shell companies. BuzzFeed found 1,300+ suspicious shell company purchases totaling \.5 billion across Trump properties. He never asked where the money came from.

Read Essay #2 →
#1 The Mark
Russia Receipts · Essay #1

#1 The Mark: The KGB Had a Checklist for Picking Targets and Trump Checked Every Box

The KGB literally wrote down what kind of person they were looking for – ambitious, egotistical, susceptible to flattery. Czech intelligence had been monitoring Trump since 1977 through his wife Ivana’s father, an StB informant. Roy Cohn connected him to the Russian mob. The recruitment profile was a perfect match.

Read Essay #1 →
The Full Series

Ten essays. Every morning at 8 AM Central. All the names, dates, and dollar amounts the TV coverage keeps leaving out.

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