John Carney at Breitbart unearthed some Fake News from Politico. Their original headline was "“Trump owes tens of millions to Bank of China.” Now it is “Trump owed tens of millions to Bank of China.” But that claim is still wrong. Trump never owed tens of millions to the Bank of China.
Politico reported Friday that Trump owes millions to the Bank of China for a loan financing a building located at 1290 Avenue of the Americas in Manhattan, which occupies the entire block between 51st and 52nd streets. The story said that the president would have to pay tens of millions of dollars to the communist-controlled banks because the loan was coming due shortly, which it hyped as “unprecedented.”
There's a big problem with this. President Trump is not the debtor and Bank of China is not the creditor on the loan. Trump is a minority partner in Vornado Realty Trust, which took out the loan, and is not liable for the repayment. The Bank of China was one of a consortium of lenders in 2012 that provided $950 million but sold its interest 22 days later.
Politico has updated its story, barely acknowledging its original story was a hot mess. It merely states "This article and headline were updated to include comment from the Bank of China and additional reporting.”
After the first version of this article was published, the Bank of China issued a statement Friday evening stating that it sold its debt on the building weeks after the 2012 loan on the property. Vornado Realty Trust owns 70 percent of the building.
“On November 7, 2012 several financial institutions including the Bank of China participated in a commercial mortgage loan of $950 million to Vornado Realty Trust,” said Peter Reisman, managing director and chief communications officer of Bank of China U.S.A. “Within 22 days, the loan was securitized and sold into the [commercial mortgage-backed securities] market, as is a common practice in the industry. Bank of China has not had any ownership interest in that loan since late November 2012.”
This story had political manipulation all over it, insisting Trump’s “financial dealings” with the Chinese bank undermined his claim that electing Joe Biden “would be a gift" to China. Politico's subhead was "The president's financial dealings with the state-owned bank complicate his attacks on Biden."
It seems designed as a rebuttal for Republican arguments that Hunter Biden has close financial arrangements with the Chinese, like a ten-percent of a private-equity firm called Bohai Harvest RST (Shanghai) Equity Investment Fund Management Co., also known as BHR Partners. Hunter Biden is one of nine partners.
The Wall Street Journal reported last year that "Mr. Trump has also drawn attention to the fact that BHR Partners was officially registered 12 days after Hunter Biden in December 2013 flew to Beijing aboard Air Force Two, while his father made an official visit as vice president."
It's not about talent, but about the name: China is "flush with private-equity firms that have adopted a famous-sounding name or tapped a politician’s relative to hold a stake or join a board, which executives say reflects an effort to stand out in a crowded industry."
