The Daily Grift: April 17, 2026

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The Daily Grift

Good morning. This week I published four essays in The Receipts: How Russia Bought an American President – ten sourced essays documenting the case that Russia’s relationship with Donald Trump didn’t start in 2016. It started in 1977.

I’m taking the weekend off. Essays resume Monday morning at 8 AM Central.

If you’re new to the series, all four published essays are below. Start with Essay #1 or hit the button at the bottom to read the introduction first.

#4 Brighton Beach

The Receipts · Essay #4

#4 Brighton Beach: How the Russian Mob Set Up Shop in Trump’s Buildings

The Jackson-Vanik Amendment opened American doors to 600,000 Soviet emigrants. It also let in the Russian mafia. By the 1980s, Brighton Beach was the headquarters of America’s most ruthless criminal organization – and Trump’s buildings were their preferred address. The FBI documented it.

Read Essay #4 →

#3 The Invitation

The Receipts · Essay #3

#3 The Invitation: How the Soviet Union Rolled Out the Red Carpet for Donald Trump

In July 1987, Trump flew to Moscow at the invitation of Soviet Ambassador Yuri Dubinin – via Intourist, a known KGB front. He came home and immediately spent $95,000 on newspaper ads attacking NATO, echoing Soviet talking points almost word for word. Two months later he was publicly mulling a presidential run.

Read Essay #3 →

#2 The Test

The 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 traced 1,300+ suspicious shell company purchases totaling $1.5 billion across Trump properties.

Read Essay #2 →

#1 The Mark

The 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.

Start from the Beginning

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