PBS and NPR for Southwest Florida
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Senator Wants Records From Palm Beach Property Trump Sold To Russian

Photographed in 2005, Donald Trump stands in front of 515 N. County Rd., the estate he bought at auction for about $41 million, renovated and then sold in 2008 at a recorded $95 million.
Jeffrey Langlois
/
Palm Beach Daily News // via Miami Herald
Photographed in 2005, Donald Trump stands in front of 515 N. County Rd., the estate he bought at auction for about $41 million, renovated and then sold in 2008 at a recorded $95 million.

A U.S. senator wants the Treasury Department to turn over records of a lucrative Palm Beach real estate deal President Donald Trump made with a Russian oligarch a decade ago.

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon,  is asking for financial records of the deal between Trump and Russian fertilizer billionaire Dimitry Rybolovlev to be turned over to the Senate Finance Committee.

The committee is looking into Trump's ties to Russians.

“I paid $40 million. I sold it for $100 million,” Trump said at a 2014 National Press Club luncheon. “And I sold it to a Russian.”

Trump bought the 6.3-acre property at 515 N. County Rd/ in the town of Palm Beach in 2004 and sold it in 2008.

The Guardian newspaper called it "the most expensive residential sale ever recorded."

Wyden also sits on the Senate Intelligence Committee investigating alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.

He said in a letter to the Treasury Department that the transaction is being looked at by special counsel Robert Mueller.

Copyright 2020 WLRN 91.3 FM. To see more, visit WLRN 91.3 FM.

Peter Haden is an award-winning investigative reporter and photographer currently working with The Center for Investigative Reporting. His stories are featured in media outlets around the world including NPR, CNN en Español, ECTV Ukraine, USA Today, Qatar Gulf Times, and the Malaysia Star.