Trump took $17 million insurance claim for damage few remember

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Trump took $17 million insurance claim for damage few remember

By Jeff Horowitz and Terry Spencer Associated Press October 25, 2016

PALM BEACH, Fla. — Donald Trump says he received a $17 million insurance payment in 2005 for hurricane damage to Mar-a-Lago, his private club in Palm Beach. But The Associated Press has found little evidence of such large-scale damage.

Two years after a series of storms, the real estate tycoon said he didn’t know how much had been spent on repairs, but acknowledged he pocketed some of the money. He transferred funds into his personal accounts, saying that under the terms of his policy ‘‘you didn’t have to reinvest it.’’

‘‘Landscaping, roofing, walls, painting, leaks, artwork in the — you know, the great tapestries, tiles, Spanish tiles, the beach, the erosion,’’ he said of the storm damage. ‘‘It’s still not what it was.’’

Trump’s description of extensive damage does not match the versions of Mar-a-Lago members and even Trump loyalists. In an interview about Mar-a-Lago’s history, Trump’s longtime former butler, Anthony Senecal, recalled no catastrophic damage. He said Hurricane Wilma, the last of a string of storms which barreled through in 2004 and 2005, flattened trees behind the estate, but the house itself only lost some roof tiles.
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‘‘That house has never been seriously damaged,’’ said Senecal, discussing Mar-a-Lago’s luck with hurricanes. ‘‘I was there for all of them.’’

Despite continued difficulties with women and minorities, Trump refuses to soften his message in the campaign’s final days.

Just over two weeks after Wilma, Trump hosted 370 guests at Mar-a-Lago for the wedding of his son Donald Jr. Wedding photographs by Getty Images showed the house, pools, cabanas and landscaping seemingly in good repair.

Valuations for Mar-a-Lago are subjective, but Forbes estimated the 110,000-square-foot property’s value at $150 million in its most recent appraisal of Trump’s net worth. Tim Frank, Palm Beach’s planning administrator at the time of the hurricanes, said $17 million in work would have required ‘‘dozens, maybe scores of workers.’’

Palm Beach building department records showed no permits for construction on that scale after the storms. The only permits that appeared hurricane-related were $3,000 in repairs to storm-damaged outdoor lighting and the vacuuming of sand from the property’s beachfront pool. Likewise, records of the city’s Landmarks and Preservation Commission reflected no repair work conducted following the 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons.

The $17 million Mar-a-Lago insurance payment surfaced during a 2007 deposition in Trump’s unsuccessful libel lawsuit against journalist Tim O’Brien, who Trump accused of underestimating his wealth. As part of the case, O’Brien’s attorneys were permitted to review Trump’s financial records, including some from the Mar-a-Lago Club. They asked Trump to quantify the damage and explain why he had pocketed money instead of spending it on repairs.

Trump said he could not remember which hurricane had damaged Mar-a-Lago or when it hit.

‘‘We continue to spend the money because we continue to suffer the ravages of that hurricane,’’ Trump said.

The insurance adjustor who assessed the insurance claim, Hank Stein of VeriClaim Inc., said there had been damage to Trump’s golf course in West Palm Beach and damage to Mar-a-Lago’s roof and landscaping. Stein called his review ‘‘a thorough investigation’’ but could not remember details. Trump declined to provide the AP with records about the insurance claim or answer specific questions about damage at Mar-a-Lago.

Stein, who has since left VeriClaim for another firm, said he remembered water damage from rain after windows to an observation deck atop the mansion blew open. ‘‘I wish I could give you some more information on the breakdown,’’ he said.

Under local rules, major repairs would have required Trump to request a permit and pay permit fees. It is possible someone could perform such work without permits, avoiding as much as $450,000 in fees, but that would have likely been illegal.

The city’s former planning administrator said getting away with such extensive unpermitted work would have been unlikely. Frank cited both his own agency’s vigilance and wealthy Palm Beach residents’ habit of calling out each other’s code violations. Once, Trump’s neighbors hired lawyers to report suspicions that Trump improperly let guests sleep in poolside cabanas when they were at the club for a wedding.

‘‘If there were $17 million dollars of damage, we sure as hell would have known about that,’’ said Frank. ‘‘I would have known if there was anything in the magnitude of $100,000.’’

The Republican mayor of Palm Beach at the time — and Mar-a-Lago member — Jack McDonald, agreed: ‘‘I am unable to comprehend $17 million in reimbursable damage.’’

Jane Day, the city’s former historical preservation consultant, also was mystified. ‘‘This is the first I’m hearing of it.’’

Frank said the commission would have granted immediate approval to simple repairs, but Trump or his contractors would still have needed to file for permits.

‘‘If they changed the doorknobs I was supposed to review it,’’ Frank said.

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@bobsal u1553115,

When the election is over what will you do? If you want me to read any of this, your going to have to use "sound bites" and summaries. This is too much about nothing. Maybe you could write your own article and not just post other people's work. Candlelight8

1 Reply

@Candlelight8,

Sock, I don't give a **** whether you read this or not. If you cant get through a simple article of significantly less than 1000 words without skimming it yourself I seriously doubt you're able to grasp the significance of the information at any rate.

Pull your socks up.

1 Reply

@bobsal u1553115,

Why do you insist other post links yet fail to do so yourself? It's not hard to do. You just copy and paste it with the rest of the drivel.

1 Reply

@McGentrix,

Hey dingbat, this is a news story, it had its source listed: By Jeff Horowitz and Terry Spencer Associated Press October 25, 2016

And if you were trying to catch me at something, try a little trick I use before asking for the link: copy the first sentence or two and search it. If I can't find the source link THEN I ask you blog flogging RW sourced for the link.

Because you seem mentally unable to figure this out, here, just for the low watt-ed among us - specifically you: (Even Fox covered it, dummy.)

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1 Reply

@bobsal u1553115,

Straight to the "name calling" is it?It is my understanding that the term sock or sockpuppet is someone who uses a false identity for a deceptive purpose. You have only described yourself and not I. Your just running adds here. I don't like commercials. Even your written "1000 words" appears dreadfully long. If you responded to my response that tells me you care quite deeply about whether or not I read your hate blogs on this site. Free Speech isn't just for YOU even if you insist that it is! Candlelight8

1 Reply

@bobsal u1553115,

You are an excellent copy and paster, When you do so, copy and paste the link with the story. Otherwise you are not crediting the source and you are basically stealing from someone. When you paste the source, you are crediting the source and therefore not stealing or infringing on any copyright violations.

I don't know why this is such a sore subject for you.

1 Reply

@McGentrix,

McGentrix wrote:

You are an excellent copy and paster, When you do so, copy and paste the link with the story. Otherwise you are not crediting the source and you are basically stealing from someone. When you paste the source, you are crediting the source and therefore not stealing or infringing on any copyright violations.

I don't think you understand copyright.

Copyright infringement is not theft, ever.

Proper attribution does not protect you against claims of copyright infringement.

1 Reply

@DrewDad,

Are you guys all related or something? I ask DrewDad a question and 3 others all chime in to answer like they know your mind. I ask Bobsal about something and now you chime in. It's like some kind of crazy hippie commune.

Do you guys always answer each others questions? I mean I'd be a bit peeved if someone jumped in and started answering questions that were asked of me. But, I don't suppose it takes a village to be a Conservative, but it does to be a Liberal on A2K.

1 Reply

@McGentrix,

It's all related, but the common thread seems to be debunking your ridiculousness.

1 Reply

@DrewDad,

But you've yet to do that.

(I am still waiting for your specific evidence... So far you and your village have given vague connections with tenuous "could be's")

1 Reply

@McGentrix,

Specific evidence about copyright? Go read Techdirt for a few months; you'll get the hang of it.

Specific evidence on that other thread? I've already told you that I'm done with your idiocy there, too, and why.

0 Replies

@Candlelight8,

Hate blog? Associated Press? Fox? ABC, CBS, NBC?

Hahahahahahahahahahaahhaahhahahhahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaahahahahahahahahahahahaahaha-hahahahahahahahhahahahahahhahahahhaahahahahahhhahahhahahahahhahahaahhahahahahahahahaha!

http://able2know.org/topic/350549-1#post-6291636

0 Replies

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