It was only eight months ago that the news of Ivana Trump’s death shocked the entire world. The death of such a prominent figure would have been a big deal no matter what, but it was her status as Donald Trump’s first wife that made her death and funeral such a production (in large part because of the legal troubles Donald was in at the time).
Still, after all these months, most of the media frenzy over Ivana’s death had died down until news broke earlier this week about Ivana Trump being investigated in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s by the FBI. What was she being investigated for, though, and how could this possibly tie into Donald Trump? Keep reading to discover the answers!
Ivana’s shocking death
It’s always shocking when famous people die, but the shock comes from suddenly finding out they are gone. In the case of Ivana Trump, the real shock came from the cause of her death: falling down the spiral staircase of her home.
According to CNN, authorities didn’t think her death was suspicious (more on this later), and EMS pronounced her dead as soon as they arrived. The specific cause of death after falling down the staircase was “blunt impact injuries,” but that didn’t keep the internet from having a field day speculating that there was more to this surprising story.
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Controversies and conspiracies surrounding her death
From the moment news of Ivana’s death broke, conspiracy-minded people began to make up exotic stories that something more nefarious had happened and was getting covered up. For example, the most explosive (and perhaps most common) theory was that Donald Trump somehow had something to do with his first wife’s death as a way of temporarily taking the media attention off of himself.
There is, of course, no substance to this speculation, but it didn’t help that Donald buried Ivana on one of his golf courses in Bedminster, New Jersey. Even to those who typically ignore conspiracy theories, this made another prevalent theory that Donald only buried Ivana there to get the golf course classified as a cemetery (which would lead to some big tax breaks) seem that much likelier.
All these months later and those rumors never really amounted to anything. Now, though, the conspiracy theorists are more excited than ever before because of the news that Ivana was investigated by the FBI in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s.
The mysterious FBI investigation into Ivana Trump
This week, the Bloomberg News revealed that they were able to use the Freedom of Information Act to dig up some pretty wild news about Ivana Trump getting investigated decades ago by the FBI. To this end, the FBI had a 900-page document related to Ivana, and Bloomberg was able to get 190 of those 900 pages.
What, though, was the FBI actually investigating her for? While this story is still developing, it looks like the Bureau was particularly interested in her journey from her home country of Czechoslovakia to the United States. And after getting some kind of unspecified dirt on Ivana from a confidential source, the FBI recommended beginning a preliminary inquiry (and yes, that “preliminary” paperwork took up all 900 pages).
Here’s where it gets a tad spicy, though: even at the time the FBI began their investigation, it was unclear whether Ivana had actually done anything shady or if she just had a really devoted hater ready to throw her under the bus!
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Is there more to this case than meets the eye?
What did the FBI have to say about this informant that recommended the Bureau investigate Ivana Trump? According to Bloomberg News, when the FBI opened the file on Ivana in 1989, they seemed a tad skeptical about the allegations from the informant. “It is unknown if the allegations stem from jealousies of her wealth and fame,” the Bureau wrote. “Investigation continuing.”
Because Bloomberg only retrieved a highly-redacted version of that 900-page inquiry, we still don’t know what the allegations could have been, but that hasn’t kept the internet from speculating. For example, some think Ivana might have been a secret Czech spy back in the day, which sounds crazy but might not be: we do know the investigation somehow involved the FBI’s counterintelligence division. Others think Ivana might have been helping her husband to launder Russian mob cash through his casinos at the time.
While it’s fun to speculate about Ivana being either a secret agent or a mob-connected femme fatale, there has been no evidence to substantiate any of the rampant speculations. And it looks like the FBI might put an end to such speculation in the near future: the Bureau claims it will release more documents related to this investigation in the next month or so. Whether they release all pertinent info, though, and whether more revelations will put an end to all this speculation remains to be seen.