type: timeline_event
Trump personally signed Letter of Intent for Trump Tower Moscow project valued at over $1 billion while publicly denying Russian business dealings during campaign. Michael Cohen told Mueller investigators that Trump viewed his campaign as a significant "infomercial" for Trump-branded properties. Financing involved attempts through VTB Group (state-owned Russian bank) and Genbank (owned by convicted fraudster Yevgeny Dvoskin operating in Russian-annexed Crimea). Felix Sater promised "I can get Putin to praise Trump's business acumen" and "We can own this election."