Daily Archives: July 14, 2017

What exactly is going on with Donald Trump Jr.? – Washington Post

Posted: July 14, 2017 at 5:43 am

President Trump spoke at a news conference in Paris on July 13 and defended Donald Trump Jr.'s meeting with a Russian lawyer. (The Washington Post)

In this occasional series, we will bring you up to speed on the biggest national security stories of the week.

Another bombshell in the growing scandal surrounding PresidentTrump and Russia landed earlythis week. On Tuesday, the presidents son Donald Trump Jr.released anemail exchange withhim and and a publicist who told him that a Russian lawyer could provide the Trump campaign with potentially damaging information about Hillary Clintonthatwas part of Russia and its governments support for Mr. Trump.

The New York Times first reported over the weekendthat Trump Jr. met with Natalia Veselnitskaya, a Russian lawyer, at Trump Tower in 2016. Then-campaign manager Paul Manafort and Trumps son-in-law, Jared Kushner, were present, as well. The president has defended his son, calling him a wonderful young man and a good boy.

Here is everything you need to know about this fast-moving story:

Who are thenew key players?

Rob Goldstone, a British music publicist for Russian pop star Emin Agalarov.Goldstone is encouraged by Agalarov to arrange a meeting between the Russian lawyer and Trump Jr., according to the emails. He sends an email to Trump Jr. in June 2016 saying that the information the Russian lawyer could provide would be interesting to Trump. The exact line in his email reads: This is obviously very high level and sensitive information but is part of Russia and its governments support for Mr. Trump.

Natalia Veselnitskaya, a Russian lawyer.Veselnitskaya was first described in Goldstones email as a Russian government lawyer. AlthoughVeselnitskaya worked in a local prosecutors office in Russia, she said she does not work for the Kremlin. In an interview with The Washington Post, Veselnitskaya defended herself by saying no one tasked her with meeting Trump Jr. and that the story is nonsense. She has also advocated for lifting economic sanctions against Russia imposed by Congress. The Kremlin has denied knowing her.

Emin Agalarov, the Russian pop star, son of real estate developerAras Agalarov. TheAgalarovsfirst met Trump in 2013, when they helped Trump bring the Miss Universe pageant to Moscow. Trump even appeared inone of the music videos by the younger Agalarov. His father tried to set up a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Trump, but it never transpired.

What was actually discussed in the meeting?

Trump Jr. said the meeting with the Russian lawyer didnt result in anything useful.

In his official statementconcerning the meeting, Trump Jr. saidVeselnitskaya made no sense and thatshe changed the topic to discuss the American adoptions of Russians and the Magnitsky Act, the piece of U.S. legislation she has been working to overturn. The law is seen as the firstgateway to lift what Moscow considers are punishingU.S. sanctions placed on Russia for its intervention in Ukraine.

Veselnitskaya told The Post that even from the start of the meeting, it was clear we were talking about two different things. In all, Trump said the meeting lasted about 20 to 30 minutes.

So why is this a big deal?

After months of speculation whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia to win the presidential race, the emails offera stark example of thecampaign seeming eager to receive information from the Kremlin about its political opponent.

Most ethics lawyers agree that it is very unusual that a foreign government would provide this kind of informationon a rival candidate.

Typically, the research comes from scrubbing public records andlegislative histories.

Did Trump Jr. break the law?

Not necessarily, because it depends whether what Trump was offered would be considered a thing of value. U.S. law states it isillegal for campaigns to solicit or accept contributions from foreign nationals or foreign governments. The Post's David A. Fahrenthold explains: What Trump Jr. was offered might be considered a thing of value, if the information he was seeking had cost someone money to produce or if it was something that a campaign might have paid for.

Trump Jr. maintains his meeting did not produce any value.

What could Trump Jr.have done instead?

Some say the campaign should have called the FBI. During the 2000 presidential debate,Vice President Al Gores staff received a package containing stolen materials fromGeorge W. Bushs campaign. The Gore campaign contacted the bureau.

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What exactly is going on with Donald Trump Jr.? - Washington Post

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Donald Trump is wrong. When Democrats were offered secret help by the Soviets, they refused. – Washington Post

Posted: at 5:43 am

By Richard A. Moss By Richard A. Moss July 13 at 11:47 AM

Donald Trump Jr. appeared on Fox News's "Hannity" on July 11 to defend his meeting with a Russian lawyer during the 2016 presidential campaign, and his father jumped to his defense on Twitter. (Amber Ferguson,Jenny Starrs/The Washington Post)

Yesterday, President Trump suggested in a Reuters interview that there wasnt anything surprising or wrong about his sons enthusiasm for learning secrets that he had been told were part of a Russian effort to help Trumps presidential campaign. He said:

I think many people would have held that meeting. Most of the phony politicians who are Democrats who I watched over the last couple of days most of those phonies that act holier-than-thou, if the same thing happened to them, they would have taken that meeting in a heartbeat.

Trump is right that foreign powers have tried to influence U.S. politicians in the past. Foreign powers have many ways to exercise influence in representative democracies. Some of these may be public, and others surreptitious. 2016 certainly wasnt the first time the Kremlin tried to influence a U.S. election, and Moscow is by no means alone in attempting to sway U.S. politics. However, these efforts have worked in complicated ways, andAmerican politicians have not been as quick to accept their help as Trump suggests.

Russia tried and failed to support the Democrats in 1968

In 1968, Moscow feared that the staunchly anti-communist Richard M. Nixon would be elected. To forestall that, the Kremlin decided to reach out to Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Hubert H. Humphrey. As Anatoly Dobrynin, the Soviet ambassador to the United States from John F. Kennedy to Ronald Reagan, revealed in his memoir,In Confidence, two decades ago: The top Soviet leaders took an extraordinary step, unprecedented in the history of Soviet-American relations, by secretly offering Humphrey any conceivable help in his election campaign including financial aid. Dobrynin explained:

I received a top-secret instruction to that effect from [Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei] Gromyko personally and did my utmost to dissuade him from embarking on such a dangerous venture, which if discovered certainly would have backfired and ensured Humphreys defeat, to say nothing of the real trouble it would have caused for Soviet-American relations. Gromyko answered laconically, There is a decision, you carry it out.

The opportunity soon arose for the well-connected ambassador at a breakfast at Humphreys home. Dobrynin subtly raised the issue of Humphreys campaign finances during a discussion of the election, but the vice president deflected the issue. Humphrey, I must say, Dobrynin wrote, was not only a very intelligent but also a very clever man. He knew at once what was going on. Humphrey told Dobrynin that it was more than enough for him to have Moscows good wishes which he highly appreciated. Dobrynin felt relieved that he had followed his orders and Humphrey had avoided the potentially explosive issue.

Humphrey did not mention the Soviet election outreach or even Dobrynin in his 1991 memoir, The Education of a Public Man: My Life and Politics.

Russia had tried to hurt Nixons chances in 1960

Russian worries about Nixons anti-communism did not begin in 1968. At their first face-to-face meeting in Vienna, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev joked with the new U.S. president, John F. Kennedy, that the Soviet Union had cast the deciding ballot in [Kennedys] election to the Presidency over that son-of-a-bitch Richard Nixon, in 1960. When Kennedy asked for clarification, Khrushchev explained that he had waited until after the U.S. election to release Francis Gary Powers, a U-2 spy-plane pilot shot down over the Soviet Union on May 1, 1960, to undercut Nixons claim that he could work with the Soviets.

Khrushchev may have conflated Powerss release which didnt happen until 1962 with two American survivors of an RB-47H spy plane that was shot down in July 1960. Both Nixon and Kennedy had called upon the Soviet Union to release the American pilots. Nevertheless, as Adam Taylor previously wrote in The Washington Post:

Noting that the two candidates were at a stalemate, Khrushchev recalled saying that if Powers or the other Americans were released before the election, it could give Nixon a boost. It would be better to wait until after the election, the Soviet premier thought.

My comrades agreed, and we did not release Powers, he wrote. As it turned out, wed done the right thing. Kennedy won the election by a majority of only 200,000 or so votes, a negligible margin if you consider the huge population of the United States. The slightest nudge either way would have been decisive.

Even 57 years later, the consequences of Khrushchevs actions remain difficult to assess. However, the Soviet Unions activities apparently were indirect, and did not involve any quid-pro-quo.

China possibly tried to influence U.S. politics in 1996

Moscow isnt the only foreign power that has probably tried to influence U.S. politics. The China Lobby the efforts of the Republic of China (Taiwan) under the Kuomintang has been well-documented (for example) as soliciting political, economic and military support from the 1940s to the 1970s for Chiang Kai-shek and Taiwan in opposition to Mao Zedong and the Peoples Republic of China. In addition to Taiwans efforts, and possibly to counter them, the PRC may have been involved in U.S. congressional and presidential elections during the 1990s.

In February 1997, Bob Woodward of Watergate fame and Brian Duffy wrote of alleged efforts by the PRC to direct contributions from foreign sources to the Democratic National Committee before the 1996 presidential campaign. The 1996 U.S.campaign finance controversy resulted in congressional and FBI investigations but did not lead to the appointment of an independent counsel. The Peoples Republic of China consistently denied any involvement in the U.S. election campaign.

These are the games nations play

In his interview with Reuters, Trump also said: I am not a person who goes around trusting lots of people. But [Putins] the leader of Russia. It is the second most powerful nuclear power on earth. I am the leader of the United States. I love my country. He loves his country. It should come as no surprise that Russian leaders saw it in their interests to support him.

Trumps statement suggests that countries will pursue their interests when and where they can. This reflects the pragmatic realpolitik (devotion to interests above ideals) embodied by Lord Palmerstons famous quip in 1848: We have no eternal allies, and we have no perpetual enemies. Our interests are eternal and perpetual, and those interests it is our duty to follow.

In its influence campaign and possibly more direct efforts to shape the 2016 election, Russian leaders were almost certainly opposing a candidate, Hillary Clinton, who they saw as an impediment to their interests, much as the Kremlin opposed Richard Nixon in 1960 and 1968. One of the ironies of history is that the Soviet Union was able to achieve a relaxation of tensions dtente with the United States with the very person it had opposed, Nixon.

Other great powers have attempted to influence or have actually influenced elections including the United States in places like France and Italy in 1948, Latin America and elsewhere. Great powers will do so as long as it is in their interests and as long as they feel they can get away with it.

The problem is that if you are caught doing it, you, and the politicians you support, may face serious blowback, as Anatoly Dobrynin recognized in 1968 when he did his utmost to dissuade the Kremlin from attempting to support Hubert Humphrey.

Richard A. Moss is an associate research professor at the U.S.Naval War Colleges Center for Naval Warfare Studies. He is grateful to John B. Turner Jr. of Memphis for reminding him about the section of Dobrynins memoir on the 1968 election

Authors note: The views presented here are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of the Defense Department or its components.

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Donald Trump is wrong. When Democrats were offered secret help by the Soviets, they refused. - Washington Post

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Excerpts of transcripts between Trump and press on Air Force One – CNN

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________________________________________________________________

Internal Transcript

July 12, 2017

REMARKS BY PRESIDENT TRUMP

IN AN OFF-THE-RECORD CONVERSATION WITH PRESS

Aboard Air Force One

En Route Paris, France

9:15 P.M. EDT

On the visit to France:

Q When were you last in Paris? When were you last in France?

THE PRESIDENT: So I was asked to go by the President, who I get along with very well, despite a lot of fake news. You know, I actually have a very good relationship with all of the people at the G20. And he called me, he said, would you come, it's Bastille Day -- 100 years since World War I. And I said, that's big deal, 100 years since World War I. SO we're going to go, I think we're going to have a great time, and we're going to do something good. And he's doing a good job. He's doing a good job as President.

On North Korea, China, and trade:

THE PRESIDENT: A big thing we have with China was, if they could help us with North Korea, that would be great. They have pressures that are tough pressures, and I understand. And you know, don't forget, China, over the many years, has been at war with Korea -- you know, wars with Korea. It's not like, oh, gee, you just do whatever we say. They've had numerous wars with Korea.

They have an 8,000 year culture. So when they see 1776 -- to them, that's like a modern building. The White House was started -- was essentially built in 1799. To us, that's really old. To them, that's like a super modern building, right? So, you know, they've had tremendous conflict over many, many centuries with Korea. So it's not just like, you do this. But we're going to find out what happens.

Very important to me with China, we have to fix the trade. We have to fix the trade. And I've been going a little bit easier because I'd like to have their help. It's hard to go ***. But we have to fix the trade with China because it's very, very none-reciprocal.

Q Is that your bargaining chip with them to get on board with North Korea? Is, like, you want to --

THE PRESIDENT: Nobody has ever said it before. I say it all the time. Somebody said, what cards do you have? I said, very simple -- trade. We are being absolutely devastated by bad trade deals. We have the worst of all trade deals is with China.

We have a bad deal with South Korea. We're just starting negotiations with South Korea. South Korea, we protect, but we're losing $40 billion a year with South Korea on trade. We have a trade deficit of $40 billion. The deal just came up.

That was another Hillary Clinton beauty. Remember she said it was five-year deal, and now it's an extension period. She said this will put jobs in our country. She said we'll make money with it. Great. We're losing $40 billion a year. It's a horrible deal. So we're starting -- we started, as of yesterday, renegotiating the deal with South Korea. We have to.

But the biggest strength we have are these horrendous trade deals, like with China. That's our strength. But we're going to fix them. But in terms of North Korea, our strength is trade.

Q And do you think that's going to bring them around?

THE PRESIDENT: Well, yeah, when I say reciprocal -- you make reciprocal deals, you're talking about hundreds of billions of dollars. But before I did that, I wanted to give it a good shot. Let's see. And they helped us. I have a very good relationship with him. I think he's a tremendous guy. But don't forget. He's for China. I'm for the U.S. So that's always going to be.

So he could be a tremendous guy, but he's going to do what's good for China. And he doesn't want 50 million people pouring across his border. You know, there are a lot of things. I understand the other side. You always have to understand the other side.

Q What about steel?

THE PRESIDENT: Steel is a big problem. Steel is -- I mean, they're dumping steel. Not only China, but others. We're like a dumping ground, okay? They're dumping steel and destroying our steel industry, they've been doing it for decades, and I'm stopping it. It'll stop.

Q On tariffs?

THE PRESIDENT: There are two ways -- quotas and tariffs. Maybe I'll do both.

On healthcare:

THE PRESIDENT: No, I think, first, I want to do -- well, we have a few things. We have a thing called healthcare. I'm sure you haven't been reading about it too much. It is one of the -- I'd say the only thing more difficult than peace between Israel and the Palestinians is healthcare. It's like this narrow road that about a quarter of an inch wide. You get a couple here and you say, great, and then you find out you just lost four over here. Healthcare is tough.

But I think we're going to have something that's really good and that people are going to like. We're going to find out over the next -- you know, we just extended for two weeks. Which, that's a big --

On the border wall:

Q You were joking about solar, right?

THE PRESIDENT: No, not joking, no. There is a chance that we can do a solar wall. We have major companies looking at that. Look, there's no better place for solar than the Mexico border -- the southern border. And there is a very good chance we can do a solar wall, which would actually look good. But there is a very good chance we could do a solar wall.

One of the things with the wall is you need transparency. You have to be able to see through it. In other words, if you can't see through that wall -- so it could be a steel wall with openings, but you have to have openings because you have to see what's on the other side of the wall.

And I'll give you an example. As horrible as it sounds, when they throw the large sacks of drugs over, and if you have people on the other side of the wall, you don't see them -- they hit you on the head with 60 pounds of stuff? It's over. As crazy as that sounds, you need transparency through that wall. But we have some incredible designs.

But we are seriously looking at a solar wall. And remember this, it's a 2,000 mile border, but you don't need 2,000 miles of wall because you have a lot of natural barriers. You have mountains. You have some rivers that are violent and vicious. You have some areas that are so far away that you don't really have people crossing. So you don't need that. But you'll need anywhere from 700 to 900 miles.

Plus we have some wall that's already up that we're already fixing. You know, we've already started the wall because we're fixing large portions of wall right now. We're taking wall that was good but it's in very bad shape, and we're making it new. We're fixing it. It's already started. So we've actually, in the true sense -- you know, there's no reason to take it down or ***. So in a true sense, we've already started the wall.

On Donald Trump, Jr.:

THE PRESIDENT: Don is -- as many of you know Don -- he's a good boy. He's a good kid. And he had a meeting, nothing happened with the meeting. It was a short meeting as he told me -- because I only heard about it two or three days ago.

As he told me, the meeting went -- and it was attended by a couple of other people who -- one of them left after a few minutes -- which is Jared. The other one was playing with his iPhone. Don listened, out of politeness, and realized it wasn't . . . .

Honestly, in a world of politics, most people are going to take that meeting. If somebody called and said, hey -- and you're a Democrat -- and by the way, they have taken them -- hey, I have really some information on Donald Trump. You're running against Donald Trump. Can I see you? I mean, how many people are not going to take the meeting?

On President Putin and Russia:

Q Are you mad that Putin lied about the meeting that you had with him, especially about --

THE PRESIDENT: What meeting?

Q At the G20, when he said that you didn't -- you know, you accepted that the hacking wasn't real.

THE PRESIDENT: He didn't say that. No. He said, I think he accepted it, but you'd have to ask him. That's a big difference. So I said, very simply -- and the first 45 minutes, don't forget, most of the papers said I'd never bring it up. Had to be the first 20 to 25 minutes.

And I said to him, were you involved with the meddling in the election? He said, absolutely not. I was not involved. He was very strong on it. I then said to him again, in a totally different way, were you involved with the meddling. He said, I was not -- absolutely not.

Q Do you remember what the different way was that you asked --

THE PRESIDENT: Somebody said later to me, which was interesting. Said, let me tell you, if they were involved, you wouldn't have found out about it. Okay, which is a very interesting point.

Q But did you say, okay, I believe you, let's move on?

THE PRESIDENT: What I said, I asked him, were you involved? He said, very strongly -- said to him a second time -- totally different -- were you involved? Because we can't let that happen. And I mean whether it's Russia or anybody else, we can't let there be even a scintilla of doubt when it comes to an election. I mean, I'm very strong on that.

And I'm not saying it wasn't Russia. What I'm saying is that we have to protect ourselves no matter who it is. You know, China is very good at this. I hate to say it, North Korea is very good at this. Look what they did to Sony Studios. They were the ones that did the whole deal to Sony. You know, we're dealing with highly sophisticate people.

So, China is very good. You have many countries. And you have many individuals that are very good at this. But we can't have -- and I did say, we can't have a scintilla of doubt as our elections and going forward.

Q Have you told him that?

THE PRESIDENT: I told him. I said, look, we can't -- we can't have -- now, he said absolutely not twice. What do you do? End up in a fistfight with somebody, okay? Because then I brought up Syria, and I said --

Q Afterwards?

THE PRESIDENT: Very shortly there afterward. And I said, there's so much killing in Syria. We got to solve Syria. We've got to solve Ukraine. And you know, I've always said -- and I'm not just talking about Russia -- we're a lot better off -- like it's a good thing that I have a good relationship with President Xi. It's a good thing I have a good relationship with every one of them -- Modi -- you saw that. Every single one of them of all 19 -- there's 20 with us. All 19, I have a great relationship with.

More on the Visit to France and Trade:

So we're doing well. I mean, we're doing well and we're having a good time. Now what we'll do is we'll go celebrate with the President of France -- we have a good relationship -- open up a little trade with them. But it's got to be fair trade. I mean, every deal we have is bad. It's got to be fair trade.

I mean, the European Union, as an example -- I'm all for the European Union, but we have things that we can barely sell into the European Union. They're very protectionist. And we're not. And you have to be reciprocal.

To me, the word reciprocal is a beautiful word. Because people can say, we don't like a border tax or we don't like this or we don't like that. But what they can't say is that, if you're selling a motorcycle and they're coming into your country and not paying tax, and they're going into another country and paying 100 percent tax, people understand that's not fair. So we say we make it reciprocal.

More on President Putin and Russia, and on energy:

Q Do you think you'll invite Putin to the White House?

THE PRESIDENT: I would say yes, yeah. At the right time. I don't think this is the right time, but the answer is yes I would. Look, it's very easy for me to say absolutely, I won't. That's the easy thing for me to do, but that's the stupid thing to do. Let's be the smart people not the stupid people. The easiest thing for me to tell you is that I would never invite him. We will never ever talk to Russia. That all of my friends in Congress will say, oh he's so wonderful, he's so wonderful. Folks, we have perhaps the second most powerful nuclear country in the world. If you don't have dialogue, you have to be fools. Fools. It would be the easiest thing for me to say to Maggie and all of you, I will never speak to him, and everybody would love me. But I have to do what's right.

And, by the way, I only want to make great deals with Russia. Remember this, I have built up -- we're getting $57 billion more for the military. Hillary was going to cut the military. I'm a tremendous fracker, coal, natural gas, alternate energy, wind -- everything, right? But I'm going to produce much much more energy than anyone else who was ever running for office. Ever. We're going to have clean coal, and Hillary wasn't. Hillary was going to stop fracking. She was going to stop coal totally. Hey, in West Virginia I beat her by 42 points. Remember, she went and sat with the miners and they said get the hell out of here. So, I was going to -- if Hillary got in, your energy prices right now would be double. You'd be doing no fracking. You'd be doing practically no fossil fuels.

So Putin, everything I do is the exact opposite. I don't believe -- in fact, the one question that I didn't ask him that I wish I did -- but we had so many other things going, and really the ceasefire was a very complicated talk, it was a very important talk to me because I wanted to see if we could start a ceasefire.

***

Now, why does that affect Russia? Because Russia makes its money through selling of oil, and we've got underneath us more oil than anybody, and nobody knew it until five years ago. And I want to use it. And I don't want that taken away by the Paris Accord. I don't want them to say all of that wealth that the United States has under its feet, but that China doesn't have and that other countries don't have, we can't use. So now we no longer have the advantage. We have a tremendous advantage. We have more natural resources under our feet than any other country. That's a pretty big statement. Ten years ago, five years ago even, you couldn't make that statement. We're blessed. I don't want to give it up. I don't want to say oh, okay, we won't use it. But think of it. So, if Hillary is there, you're going to have a far less amount of fuel. Therefore, energy prices will be much, much higher. That's great for Russia.

So, the next time I'm with Putin, I'm going to ask him: who were you really for? Because I can't believe that he would have been for me. Me. Strong military, strong borders -- but he cares less about the borders -- but strong military, tremendous. We're going to be an exporter of fuel this year. We're going to be exporting. What was the first thing I signed when I got in? The Keystone Pipeline, and the Keystone Pipeline goes from Canada all the way through our country right into the Gulf, and the ships are there to take it all over and compete with Russia.

More on Energy:

The first thing I signed, the first day, was the Keystone Pipeline. That first * was the Keystone and the Dakota Access Pipeline -- also Dakota Access. Now, what does that mean? Dakota Access takes it to the Pacific. Who do they compete with? Russia. Hillary would have never signed -- that was with the reservation -- she would have never signed it. I was given great credit for that one. That was a tough one. First day. It's also 48,000 jobs between both of them. The other one I signed, that was the Keystone. That was dead. That was dead for two years. It was never going to happen. I revived it on day one. You know, you'll check, please check it. I have to be exactly accurate. They'll say, oh I wasn't totally accurate. But that goes to the Gulf, right? Competes with Russia.

More on Energy and Russia:

THE PRESIDENT: So now oil is getting to be record low -- and gas -- because we're producing so much. That means Russia -- and you know Russia *** is having a little hard time because it has come down so much.

On Russia sanctions:

Q But you wouldn't sign a new sanctions bill if it passes the House?

THE PRESIDENT: Well, I'm not talking about new, I'm talking about the old sanctions. Wait, we got to get this right. Ready? I think I said it right but just in case. We have very heavy sanctions on Russia right now. I would not and have never even thought about taking them off. Somebody said, Donald Trump wants to -- I don't want to take them off.

Q Putin didn't raise that with you?

THE PRESIDENT: He never raised it. We did, I think, talk about the sanctions that Congress wants to pass, but it was very brief. Much of it was talked about Ukraine. Look, we talked about the elections. We talked about Ukraine and Syria. Not in that order. We talked about Syria and Ukraine. But I will just tell you, I didn't say this to him. We didn't talk about this aspect of it. I would never take the sanctions off until something is worked out to our satisfaction and everybody's satisfaction in Syria and in Ukraine.

I saw a report and I read a report that Trump wants to take off the sanctions. I've made a lot of money. I've made great deals. That's what I do. Why would I take sanctions off without getting anything?

On allegations of collusion with Russia:

THE PRESIDENT: What pressure? I didn't -- I did nothing. Hey, now it's shown there's no collusion, there's no obstruction, there's no nothing. Honestly, the whole thing, it is really a media witch hunt. It's been a media witch hunt. And it's bad for the country. You know, when you talk about Russia, if Russia actually did whatever they want to do, they got to be laughing, because look at what happens -- how much time. . . .

They feel it's a witch hunt, the people. There are a lot of people. And those people vote. They don't stay home because it's drizzling. We proved that. But every single party chairman said that my base is substantially stronger than it was in November. That's a big compliment. That's a big compliment. And I feel it.

And I think what's happening is, as usual, the Democrats have played their card too hard on the Russia thing, because people aren't believing it. It's a witch hunt and they understand that. When they say "treason" -- you know what treason is? That's Julius and Ethel Rosenberg for giving the atomic bomb, okay? But what about all the congressmen, where I see the woman sitting there surrounded by -- in Congress.

So I think it's a good thing. When Hillary Clinton spent her ads -- you know, she spent almost 100 percent of her ads on anti-Donald Trump ads. You know that. Every ad was an anti ad. When the election came, nobody knew what she stood for.

I heard tonight, and I saw tonight, and I read tonight that they're making a big mistake. And I a lot of the Democrats feel -- they say, we're putting all our money into this Russia stuff and it's making Trump stronger. Because my people and the people that support me, who are incredible people, those people are angry because they feel it's being unfair and a witch hunt.

***

END

10:15 P.M. EDT

On Don Jr, POTUS was asked if as a father he supported Don Jr. being willing to testify.

"I think if he wants to," Trump said. He mentioned that h had seen something about her being in congress recently talking to members. "She had meetings with various people. So it's the same thing."

He said the press had been unfair and said of the meeting that "they talked about the adoption stuff which was actually a big thing at the time but nothing happened." He addd, "In fact maybe it was mentioned at some point," but then when asked if he had been told that it was about Hillary Clinton and dirt against her he said no.

POTUS was asked about Kelly suggesting to CHC that DoJ has say on what happens to DACA.

"It's a decision that I make and it's a decision that's very very hard to make. I really understand the situation now," POTUS said. "I understand the situation very well. What I'd like to do is a comprehensive immigration plan. But our country and political forces are not ready yet."

He added, "There are two sides of a story. It's always tough."

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Excerpts of transcripts between Trump and press on Air Force One - CNN

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Twitter users sue Donald Trump for excluding them – The Economist (blog)

Posted: at 5:43 am

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Twitter users sue Donald Trump for excluding them - The Economist (blog)

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Leader of Bryan Cave’s bankruptcy group dies – Kansas City Business Journal

Posted: at 5:43 am


Kansas City Business Journal
Leader of Bryan Cave's bankruptcy group dies
Kansas City Business Journal
Mark Stingley, a partner and the global head of Bryan Cave LLP's Bankruptcy, Restructuring & Creditors' Rights Client Service Group, died Sunday at age 65. Stingley, a 40-year veteran of the practice, joined Bryan Cave in 1995 as a partner in the ...

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Leader of Bryan Cave's bankruptcy group dies - Kansas City Business Journal

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As Bronin Seeks Givebacks From Bondholders, Averting Bankruptcy … – Hartford Courant

Posted: at 5:43 am

It shouldn't come as a surprise that the two largest Wall Street debt rating agencies have now classified Hartford's bonds as junk.

Downgrades of that sort are exactly what we should expect when the mayor signals he's about to open talks with bondholders, asking them to accept less money. And he's not just signaling it, he's shouting it.

The problem is not the downgrades, it's what comes next an ugly process that doesn't usually lead investors to give back money when cities attempt it, several experts said Wednesday.

Still, Mayor Luke Bronin will give it the old college try. As he sees it, investors who hold more than $700 million in city bonds must be "part of the solution." The New York law firm he hired last week has a specialty in precisely that restructuring municipal debt.

Bronin's hiring of Greenberg Traurig to assess the city's options appears to have been a catalyst that led Standard & Poor's to lower Hartford's bond rating to BB, from BBB- late Tuesday, landing the city in the purgatory of credit quality known as "non-investment grade," or speculative.

In plain English, junk bonds.

Moody's Investors Service reached the same conclusion last fall, and both agencies still have Hartford on a negative watch for even more downgrades.

That means the city for all practical purposes can't borrow money these days. Bronin said he had no plans to do so anyway, but he could find himself in a nasty bind if state money doesn't come through by fall.

JENNA CARLESSO

The chart below shows a year-by-year breakdown of the citys debt service payments. There is a drop in fiscal year 2015 that reflects the citys move to restructure its debt, which pushed payments into the future. Those payments begin to rise significantly in fiscal years 2017 and 2018. The chart...

The chart below shows a year-by-year breakdown of the citys debt service payments. There is a drop in fiscal year 2015 that reflects the citys move to restructure its debt, which pushed payments into the future. Those payments begin to rise significantly in fiscal years 2017 and 2018. The chart... (JENNA CARLESSO)

If these ratings had been in place two years ago, Hartford would not have been able to borrow $66 million to build Dunkin' Donuts Park for the Yard Goats, certainly not at the low rates the city paid. The stadium authority's bonds are rated even lower than general city bonds.

Other than more embarrassment, none of this is bad news for the city, at least not in the sense of a new blow. On the contrary, it reflects bad news we already knew because Bronin has been screaming it from the rooftops of every building in Hartford County: Without a combination of new state money, city spending cuts and union concessions, Hartford won't be able to pay its bills starting later this year.

Now, Bronin is adding bondholders to the list of people who have to give something back.

All of this could ultimately help Hartford homeowners, residents and businesses, if it leads to a stable city. It's more likely to lead to lower taxes than higher taxes if it results in a break in the $44 million in bond debt payments the city owes this year, rising to $75 million in four years.

And that's what has Wall Street nervous. Investors are real people, some of them middle-class holders of tax-free bond funds. If they don't chip in, Bronin will tell them, the city could end up in bankruptcy where no one wins.

The trouble is, extracting givebacks from bond investors is like herding cats, then asking those felines to agree to walk away from their food and go hungry a couple of days every week.

"When you have municipalities that reach out to their debt-holdersoftentimes what each party believes is fair and reasonable is very far apart," said Tim Heaney, senior portfolio manager for municipal bonds at Newfleet Asset Management in Hartford, an affiliate of Virtus Investment Partners with $12 billion under management.

"It's unlikely that bondholders are going to come to the table and say 'OK, we'll take a 25 percent haircut,'" said Heaney, who was speaking generally about bondholder talks, and whose company does not hold Hartford debt.

More likely: Everyone trudges into bankruptcy court if the only way to avoid it is a voluntary haircut by bondholders, Heaney and others said.

"The divide between what creditors would be willing to accept ... and what the municipality wants is often much too wide for any agreement to occur outside of the courts," Heaney said.

Consider that the list of bonds downgraded by S&P goes on for several pages, showing a total of 21 debt issues ranging from $6.5 million to $172 million, each with multiple tranches of maturity dates.

"Do you know how difficult it is to track the owners of bonds? I just don't know how they would do this," said one person familiar with municipal debt issues.

And if you could get everyone together, the person said, "How would you convince a bondholder to take a haircut if the unions aren't taking a haircut? Good luck with that ... You go into bankruptcy to have these discussions because then you have all the players at the table."

In or out of bankruptcy, Heaney said, "You need all sides of the table to come together."

That describes the challenge Bronin, city corporation counsel Howard Rifkin and Nancy Mitchell, the partner from Greenberg Traurig on the case, will face in the coming weeks. It explains why Bronin must extract concessions from the police and city hall unions, as he did from the firefighters.

"The absence of a state budget ... increases the urgency and the severity of what we face," Bronin said.

Even if Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and lawmakers come up with $40 million or $50 million in new money for Hartford, Bronin said Wednesday, "We will still have to have conversations with our bondholders ... There has to be some debt restructuring because our objective is not just to buy a year or two."

Mitchell is co-chairwoman of a restructuring practice at Greenberg Traurig that has worked on both sides of many public bond restructuring deals outside of bankruptcy, Bronin said. "They have extensive experience in bondholder negotiations."

So the team is assembled. The challenge of averting bankruptcy is steep. And with a possible default looming as soon as this year, the starting bell has rung.

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As Bronin Seeks Givebacks From Bondholders, Averting Bankruptcy ... - Hartford Courant

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Dressless brides in Texas are freaking out about Alfred Angelo’s sudden bankruptcy – Chron.com

Posted: at 5:43 am

By Fernando Ramirez, Chron.com / Houston Chronicle

Wedding panic

Brides across the nation are concerned about bridal shop Alfred Angelo's sudden bankruptcy.

Click through to seewedding trends happening in 2017.

@Tina_Braz: Was standing in my future wedding dress, tears in my eyes, saying yes, when I was told #AlfredAngelo has shut down & I can't order the dress

Wedding panic

Brides across the nation are concerned about bridal shop Alfred Angelo's sudden bankruptcy.

Click through to seewedding trends happening in 2017.

@Tina_Braz: Was standing in my future wedding

@DanielSurman: So @AlfredAngelo is declaring bankruptcy. In crappy fashion, they told employees this morning and close doors tomorrow.

@DanielSurman: So @AlfredAngelo is declaring bankruptcy. In crappy fashion, they told employees this morning and close doors tomorrow.

@xtinedanielle: We want & deserve answers, @AlfredAngelo!! Refunds or dresses! How do you just completely IGNORE your paid customers?! @AAngeloCustCare

@xtinedanielle: We want & deserve answers, @AlfredAngelo!! Refunds or dresses! How do you just completely IGNORE your paid customers?! @AAngeloCustCare

@xtinedanielle: One store location did answer the phone. Sales rep said "we're all basically screwed" & gave me Attorney's office to contact. #alfredangelo

@xtinedanielle: One store location did answer the phone. Sales rep said "we're all basically screwed" & gave me Attorney's office to contact. #alfredangelo

@cslade93: @AAngeloCustCare WHAT IS GOING ON. I AM A MONTH AWAY FROM MY WEDDING&STILL NEED 1 MORE BM DRESS. SOMEONE NEEDS TO GET IN TOUCH WITH ME NOW!

@cslade93: @AAngeloCustCare WHAT IS GOING ON. I AM A MONTH AWAY FROM MY WEDDING&STILL NEED 1 MORE BM DRESS. SOMEONE NEEDS TO GET IN TOUCH WITH ME NOW!

@jao5053: @AlfredAngelo seriously your closing and half my bridal party doesn't have their dresses. #banruptcy fml

@jao5053: @AlfredAngelo seriously your closing and half my bridal party doesn't have their dresses. #banruptcy fml

The brides show-off the latest in Whataburger swag. Tenenbaum Jewelers, Abrahams Oriental Rugs, and Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams furnishings shown throughout.

The brides show-off the latest in Whataburger swag. Tenenbaum Jewelers, Abrahams Oriental Rugs, and Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams furnishings shown throughout.

Bridal fashion Tuesday, June 6, 2017 in Houston.

Bridal fashion Tuesday, June 6, 2017 in Houston.

Bridal fashion Tuesday, June 6, 2017 in Houston.

Bridal fashion Tuesday, June 6, 2017 in Houston.

Kirstin Drenon, Mari Trevino, and Kimberly Falgout. Tenenbaum Jewelers, Abrahams Oriental Rugs, and Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams furnishings shown throughout.

Kirstin Drenon, Mari Trevino, and Kimberly Falgout. Tenenbaum Jewelers, Abrahams Oriental Rugs, and Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams furnishings shown throughout.

Mari Trevino models a Marchesa gown from Joan Pillow Bridal Salon. Tenenbaum Jewelers, Abrahams Oriental Rugs, and Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams furnishings shown throughout.

Mari Trevino models a Marchesa gown from Joan Pillow Bridal Salon. Tenenbaum Jewelers, Abrahams Oriental Rugs, and Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams furnishings shown throughout.

Kimberly Falgout models a Pronovias gown from Mia Bridal. Tenenbaum Jewelers, Abrahams Oriental Rugs, and Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams furnishings shown throughout.

Kimberly Falgout models a Pronovias gown from Mia Bridal. Tenenbaum Jewelers, Abrahams Oriental Rugs, and Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams furnishings shown throughout.

Kirstin Drenon models a Vera Wang gown from Casa de Novia Bridal Couture. Tenenbaum Jewelers, Abrahams Oriental Rugs, and Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams furnishings shown throughout.

Kirstin Drenon models a Vera Wang gown from Casa de Novia Bridal Couture. Tenenbaum Jewelers, Abrahams Oriental Rugs, and Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams furnishings shown throughout.

Kirstin Drenon, Mari Trevino, and Kimberly Falgout. Tenenbaum Jewelers, Abrahams Oriental Rugs, and Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams furnishings shown throughout.

Kirstin Drenon, Mari Trevino, and Kimberly Falgout. Tenenbaum Jewelers, Abrahams Oriental Rugs, and Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams furnishings shown throughout.

Kimberly Falgout models a Pronovias gown from Casa de Novia Bridal Couture and an H-E-B flower crown. Tenenbaum Jewelers, Abrahams Oriental Rugs, and Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams furnishings shown throughout.

Kimberly Falgout models a Pronovias gown from Casa de Novia Bridal Couture and an H-E-B flower crown. Tenenbaum Jewelers, Abrahams Oriental Rugs, and Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams furnishings shown throughout.

Whataburger WhatAWedding swag

Whataburger WhatAWedding swag

Whataburger WhatAWedding swag

Whataburger WhatAWedding swag

Wedding Cakes by Tammy Allen cupcakes

Wedding Cakes by Tammy Allen cupcakes

Bulgari "Diva Dreams" emerald necklace

Bulgari "Diva Dreams" emerald necklace

Tote ($70) and Bali tassel ($30) COLORES by Wed to White

Tote ($70) and Bali tassel ($30) COLORES by Wed to White

"Jeans Mrs." Edie Parker clutch ($1,125) at Tootsies

"Jeans Mrs." Edie Parker clutch ($1,125) at Tootsies

Bride's Cake and Groom's Cake Ice Cream by Blue Bell Ice Cream

Bride's Cake and Groom's Cake Ice Cream by Blue Bell Ice Cream

Conservatory at the Bryan Museum

Conservatory at the Bryan Museum

Eberjey "Kiss the Bride" bralet ($69) at Top Drawer Lingerie

Eberjey "Kiss the Bride" bralet ($69) at Top Drawer Lingerie

Eberjey "Kiss the Bride" ruffle thong ($36) at Top Drawer Lingerie

Eberjey "Kiss the Bride" ruffle thong ($36) at Top Drawer Lingerie

Rose gold wedding band ($495) Robbins Brothers

Rose gold wedding band ($495) Robbins Brothers

Floral archway by Richard Flowers

Floral archway by Richard Flowers

Wool tuxedo ($639) at Suit Supply

Wool tuxedo ($639) at Suit Supply

"Butterfly Garden" Versace setting at Kuhl-Linscomb

"Butterfly Garden" Versace setting at Kuhl-Linscomb

Vinglace cooler (from $79.95) at Bering's

Vinglace cooler (from $79.95) at Bering's

Nudistsong Sandal ($398) at Stuart Weitzman

Nudistsong Sandal ($398) at Stuart Weitzman

Limited-edition Yeti cooler ($299) at Kuhl-Linscomb

Limited-edition Yeti cooler ($299) at Kuhl-Linscomb

Dressless brides in Texas are freaking out about Alfred Angelo's sudden bankruptcy

Houston's fourAlfred Angelo bridal shops may soon be shutting down.

Dozens of locations around the nation have abruptly closed their doors amid reports of bankruptcy.

Hundreds of brides expecting orders from Alfred Angelo's 62 nationwide stores took to Twitter, voicing concerns about whether they would get their dresses from pending orders.

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Many have pointed outAlfred Angelo's corporate silence or lack of official statement. According to the Palm Beach Post, employees were seen leaving the business's corporate headquarters "en masse" carrying personal belongings.

One Texas bride told theSan Antonio Express-News that an Alfred Angelo manager called to inform her that she needed to pick up her dress by the end of the night. Another bride told the paper that one location told her "we're all basically screwed."

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As of Thursday night,Alfred Angelo has not released a public statement concerning their reported, abrupt bankruptcy.

Click through above to see the wedding trends of 2017.

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Dressless brides in Texas are freaking out about Alfred Angelo's sudden bankruptcy - Chron.com

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Oil woes are still spilling into bankruptcy courts – Houston Chronicle

Posted: at 5:43 am

The number of Texas companies seeking to restructure their debt and reorganize under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code hit a record high during the first six months of 2017. So did the number of bankruptcy filings in Houston.

Bankruptcy data show that 649 businesses sought protection in Texas federal courts from creditors and lenders during the first half of 2017 - a 44 percent increase over the same period a year ago and 12 percent more than in 2009 when bankruptcies peaked during the Great Recession, according to new research conducted by Androvett Legal Media.

Federal bankruptcy courts in the Southern District of Texas, which includes Houston, saw a surge of new filings by small and midsized oil and gas service companies, pipeline owners and businesses involved in offshore drilling operations, including Azure Midstream, GenOn Energy, Vanguard Natural Resources and Allpoints Oilfield Services.

As a result, 314 companies filed for bankruptcy during the first six months of this year in the Southern District - a jump of 58 percent from 2016, which was the previous high, according to the Androvett data.

"A lot of these companies in the oil and gas sector took on a lot of debt when commodity prices were $80 to $100, and then they struggled to stay afloat when the price dropped during the past three years," says Jackson Walker bankruptcy partner Matt Cavenaugh in Houston.

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"But now with prices mostly stabilized, these companies don't want to be caught over-leveraged because many of their competitors went through Chapter 11 during the past two years and are now leaner and meaner without all that debt," says Cavenaugh, whose law firm represented Houston-based Linn Energy and Oklahoma-based Midstates Petroleum in their restructurings.

Bankruptcy data show that companies in the health care and energy sectors comprise more than half of all the Chapter 11 restructurings filed in Texas so far this year and nearly two-thirds of all business bankruptcy filed in the Southern District.

"Many of these companies thought they saw light at the end of the tunnel when it came to oil prices, but the revenues just have not been there," says Thompson & Knight bankruptcy partner Randy Williams in Houston. "They are filing for bankruptcy now (because) they have exhausted all their other options."

Court records show that there also has been a significant increase in bankruptcy filings by retailers and restaurant chains, including Luke's Locker, Ben Hogan Golf Equipment Co., Joe's Crab Shack and Texas Land and Cattle.

Legal experts say the statistics can be somewhat deceiving because scores of the businesses that filed for bankruptcy this year in Dallas and Houston are related corporate entities whose cases likely will be consolidated by the courts.

"A handful of cases spawned several other filings," Williams says.

For example, Singapore-based offshore drilling engineering firm Emas Chiyoda Subsea filed for bankruptcy in Houston on Feb. 27. The same day, 14 of its affiliated companies also sought Chapter 11 protection.

Many oil and gas industry businesses knew they needed to file for bankruptcy in 2016 because of their crushing debt load, but they held off until oil prices climbed into the $40 to $50 range because it would give the companies more options in their efforts to restructure, says Jeremy Fielding, a bankruptcy litigator at Lynn Pinker Cox & Hurst in Dallas.

"Companies are in a much better position if they are cash-flow positive headed into bankruptcy, because then the whole issue is dealing with the crushing debt and not restructuring the entire operation," Fielding says. "If companies are losing money and have unbearable debt going into a bankruptcy, then the companies are at the total mercy of the banks and lenders.

"I think that is a big part of what we are seeing today," he says.

For a longer version of this article, please visit TexasLawbook.net.

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Oil woes are still spilling into bankruptcy courts - Houston Chronicle

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First Test of India’s New Bankruptcy Law Offers Cautionary Tale – New York Times

Posted: at 5:43 am

That system left India's Debt Recovery Tribunals vastly overstretched, with court buildings strewn with ever-rising pillars of dusty files, gumming up the flow of credit in the economy and discouraging new investment.

The World Bank estimated it took 4.3 years on average in India to resolve insolvency under the old laws, more than twice as long as in China. And average recoveries were just 25.7 cents on the dollar, one of the worst among similar sized economies.

The new regime aims to significantly boost recoveries and put a firm timeline around case resolution in the hope that this will help clean-up bank balance sheets and spur lending.

India's central bank, the Reserve Bank of India has already told banks to push 12 of the largest defaulters into insolvency, but experts worry the framework is largely untested and hampered by a shortage of experienced bankruptcy professionals.

"I completely understand why they want resolution for large defaulters quickly because the balance sheets have to be cleaned up," said Ashish Chhawchharia, a partner at accounting and consulting firm Grant Thornton. "You cannot really push too hard, however, because if things go wrong people will start losing faith in the new code."

FLOOD OF CASES

Defaulters identified by the RBI are already being taken to the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), the forum now empowered to rule on these cases. Only a few dozen cases have been taken on by the NCLT so far, but a deluge could be in the offing.

"We estimate at least 20,000 to 25,000 bankruptcy cases will come to the NCLT, if not more," said Nikhil Shah, a managing director at restructuring experts Alvarez & Marsal. "And at that point it would get crushed under the workload."

The new law mandates a 180-day deadline to resolve cases, but the Innoventive case, in which creditors are seeking to recover about $200 million, has already faced multiple delays.

Innoventive initially sought to block the matter under a six-decade old state law, and launched appeals in the High Court and an appellate tribunal, while creditors were divided on the terms of an interim financing deal, according to two sources close to the case.

The company could appeal all the way to the Supreme Court, forcing lenders to seek an extension and jeopardising the resolution deadline, the sources said.

Chandu Chavan, the main backer of Innoventive, could not be reached for comments despite repeated attempts.

With loan syndicates in India typically comprising a dozen or more state-run and private banks, forging agreement between creditors is not easy.

For Innoventive, it was harder to get the 21 lenders in the room to agree on an interim financing package for the firm to operate during the insolvency process than to find a party willing to actually provide the funds, one of the sources said.

Bankers often lack authority to take decisions on writedowns and have to revert to their boards for approval, causing further delays, the source added.

VALUE EROSION

Under the new system lenders are mandated to initiate liquidation proceedings if a case cannot be resolved within the 180-day deadline, with a 90-day extension granted only in exceptional circumstances.

Such an outcome could result not only in job losses at companies that were still going concerns, but also steep losses for banks that have to sell assets piecemeal.

"We've already been in touch with all possible suitors," said one senior banker, describing the situation lenders often found themselves in when they tried to offload assets from liquidated firms. "It's not like you have a lot people waiting for these assets."

Despite these concerns, M.S. Sahoo, chairman of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India, the government body set up to supervise the new code, said he was confident buyers would emerge under the new system.

"Nothing develops in a vacuum." said Sahoo. "Only when something is available will the market develop."

The NCLT would not be hit with a tsunami of cases, he added, as only large defaults will be handed to it.

Those involved in cases are also concerned by the lack of experienced insolvency resolution professionals - a domain in its infancy in India and dominated by mom-and-pop firms.

Dinkar Venkatasubramanian, a partner at EY, says a lack of professional indemnity insurance for insolvency professionals was a major deterrent for big accounting firms to take up the task.

"The risk is significant," he said. "There exists litigation and reputational risk and the indemnity for IPs in the code is very generic."

(Additional reporting by Aditya Kalra; Editing by Alex Richardson)

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First Test of India's New Bankruptcy Law Offers Cautionary Tale - New York Times

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UES Retailer Peter Elliot’s Madison Avenue Shop Heads Into Bankruptcy – Commercial Observer

Posted: at 5:43 am

The owner of the Upper East Side Peter Elliot specialty shopswhichThe New York Timeshas called a temple of navy blazers and sherbet-colored sweaters,has filed a bankruptcy petition for his store at 1071 Madison Avenue, home to Peter Elliot Women, court documents indicate.

On July 7, Peter Elliot owner EliotRabin filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the Southern District of New York for the store on Madison Avenue between East 80th and East 81st Streets, under company name Women by Peter Elliott, Ltd. He put his estimated number of creditors at over 50, with liabilities exceeding $1 million. The largest sum owed is $115,400 to family clothing stores business Belvest USA on East 57th Street. (According toNew York Magazine, Peter Elliot Women has done trunk shoes for Belvest.)

In addition to the 1071 Madison Avenue store, Rabin has shops at 1034A Lexington Avenue, home to Peter Elliot Blue Woman, and 996 Lexington Avenue, home to Peter Elliot Blue and Peter Elliot Blue Boys.

Rabins attorney, Lawrence Morrison of Morrison Tenenbaum, didnt respond to requests for comment. Rabin didnt respond to inquiries seeking comment, although someone who identified themselves as an accountant for Peter Elliotdenied there was a bankruptcy filing.

This isnt the first bankruptcy filing for Rabin this year. On April 27, he filed a Chapter 13 bankruptcy petition, but that was dismissed on June 6, court records indicate.

Adam D. Stein-Sapir of Pioneer Funding Group, which specializes in analyzing and investing in bankruptcy cases, and who is not involved in the case, speculated that three factors contributed to the filing: one, distraction and expenses caused by lawsuits, two, the difficult retail environment and three, operating stores in high-rent areas.

RFR Holdings, led by Aby Rosen, sued Rabin in 2015 for $1.3 million over space he leased for Peter Elliot Blue at the landlords 150 East 72nd Street at Lexington Avenue. RFR declined to comment via a spokeswoman, but the representative noted Rabin is not a tenant in the building.

Rosen bought the 4,000-square-foot ground-floor space and 900-square-foot basement space in February 2014 for $19.9 million and gave Rabin a 15-year lease.Former landlord Harry Macklowe sued Rabin that May forover $100,000for allegedly not paying four months of rent in the space, according toThe New York Postat the time.Rabin then filed a summons with notice charging that Macklowes workmen caused his store in excess of$600,000in damages, court documents indicate, but he never filed an actual suit. Macklowe couldnt be reached for comment, according to a spokeswoman.

The court ruled in Macklowes favor last August in terms of liability, and said Rabins counterclaim must be dismissed. A trial with respect to the damages is pending.

Retail bankruptcy filings have been cropping up at a fast clip as of late. More than 300 retailers have filed for bankruptcy so far this year, according to data from BankruptcyData.com cited by CNN Money last month, representing a31 percent uptick year-over-year. The bulk of this years filings have been for mom-and-pop-type retail operators.

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UES Retailer Peter Elliot's Madison Avenue Shop Heads Into Bankruptcy - Commercial Observer

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