The housing crisis hit the entire nation very hard, but the effect on Phoenix was one of the deepest and darkest. And the number of foreclosures grew at an incredible rate.

For some, that offered unprecedented opportunity for investment and profit here and in markets like Los Angeles and Atlanta.

And one of those people is a close friend and adviser of President Trump. Thomas Barrack built an unprecedented real estate business by purchasing homes and increasing rents.

Barrack is the subject of a new report by Aaron Glantz, a senior reporter at Reveal from the Center for Investigative Reporting and PRX.

EDITOR'S NOTE: The story has been updated to include PRX.