NYAG threw whole library at Trump

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Rideback
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Re: NYAG threw whole library at Trump

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The Week Ahead
September 25, 2022

Joyce Vance

The week ahead comes at you earlier on Sunday this week than usual, as we prepare to celebrate Rosh Hashanah. L’Shana Tova to all who celebrate!

More Mar-a-Lago ahead this week. There will also be a January 6 committee hearing (the last one?) on Wednesday.

The hearing isn’t in prime time, which makes me think it won’t be a barn burner. If this was a true coup de grâce, I think we’d see the networks prioritize it. And, there are rumors of committee staff already lining up their next jobs, even though the reports still need to be written. But these hearings have always delivered up until now, so I’ll remain cautiously optimistic.

I want to devote most of our time today to the civil lawsuit New York Attorney Leticia James filed last week. This one is a barn burner. James brought the receipts, alleging she would establish 200 incidents of fraud. The photo is the caption of the case. You can see that there are a number of defendants, both corporations and individuals. The lawsuit is so lengthy that it’s uploaded in two different segments, part one and part two. It’s over 800 pages including exhibits.

Even though this isn’t a criminal case, James can do significant damage to the former president’s business and financial stability—and if she proves her case, perhaps even to the myth of his business acumen. Sure, no one is going to jail, but because it’s a civil case, not a criminal one, the burden of proof is lower. While a criminal case requires proof beyond a reasonable doubt, in a civil case, a preponderance of the evidence suffices.

Trump took the 5th Amendment when he was questioned by James this summer. While that may have hurt the criminal investigation, in a civil case, it can be used as evidence against him. This is a big difference from a criminal case, where it can’t be mentioned in front of the jury. That’s going to be very helpful to James as the case proceeds, and there’s every sense it will. She turned down a settlement offer from Trump’s lawyers before it was filed.

The lawsuit alleges that from 2011-2021, Donald Trump, with the help of Don Jr., Ivanka, and Eric, as well as two senior executives, CFO Allen Weisselberg (who has already pleaded guilty to criminal charges), and some of his corporate entities falsely inflated Trump’s net worth by billions of dollars to induce banks to lend money to the Trump Organization on more favorable terms than they could have gotten if they’d been truthful. Then, they turned around and decreased the valuations to minimize tax obligations. There’s a lot more detail to it, but that’s the core of the allegations. Attorney General James’ lawsuit is brought under a New York state law that permits her to protect New Yorkers from companies that engage in “persistent fraud or illegality in the carrying on, conducting or transaction of business.”

If James’ lawsuit is successful, the results would be catastrophic for Trump. Although she’s not seeking a full on corporate death penalty like she did when she terminated Trump’s charitable foundation, she will ask the court to:

permanently bar Trump and the three adult children from his first marriage from serving as officers or directors in any New York business entity registered/licensed in New York state

bar Trump and the Trump Organization from entering into any New York real estate acquisitions for five years

order Trump to return his ill-gotten gains, which means Trump would have to pay the state close to $250 million

The Attorney General has also made criminal referrals to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for criminal investigation. Could DOJ consider another criminal investigation into Trump’s misconduct? Before we get too excited about this possibility, DOJ has known about this situation for some time and it’s not clear there’s anything new here that would light a fire under them if they haven’t already investigated and considered this matter for prosecution. Nonetheless, the complaint lays out a serious possible tax fraud case and if the evidence establishes that Trump willfully underpaid his taxes, there’s no reason he should get a break, even if prosecution comes a little late.

If I can sound petty for a moment, it constantly annoys me that three adults in their 30’s and 40’s with children of their own, are referred to as the former president’s “children.” It’s as though that somehow makes them less culpable for their misconduct. These are people who’ve made multi-million dollar business deals and in Ivanka’s case, served as a senior advisor to the president of the United States. They are not children. They should be held responsible for their own actions.

Here are five items that have caught my attention as I’ve read the complete. I’m flagging them here and we can see how they play out as the case proceeds:

1. Watch the alignment of defense counsel in this case. Trump is represented by a different set of lawyers than the “kids,” who are all represented by Allen Fuertas. Fuertas specializes in criminal defense work and white collar crime. Interesting aside, while in law school, he worked for Jay Goldberg, the lawyer who represented the former president in his first two divorces. Allen Weisselberg and Jeff McConney (the Trump Organization comptroller) are each represented separately, by two different law firms. The corporate entities share Trump lawyer Alina Habba, but are also represented by an additional law firm, shared by all three. Sometimes, we can learn a little bit about who is considering settling a case if changes are made in counsel. For instance, Don Jr., Ivanka, and Eric are all represented by the same lawyers right now, suggesting a commonality of interests. If one of them breaks ranks, that would be interesting. And still pending is the criminal trial for Trump Organization, scheduled for October. The judge in that case has signaled he is not interested in any delay. The evidence in that case might drive a wedge between the co-defendants here, which could surface in the form of changing lawyers. And, lurking in the background, Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg has been hinting that rumors of the demise of his criminal case may be premature.

2. Did Trump violate presidential commitments? The fraud spans ten years, from 2011 thru 2021 – including the years when Trump supposedly gave his sons complete and total control to avoid any conflict of interest. Yet the fraud continued throughout his term in office. It will be interesting to see whether any suggestion he violated his commitments surface. Keep in mind, what he agree to do to avoid a conflict of interest wouldn’t have passed muster win any other administration, where elected officials routinely use blind trusts to avoid even the appearance of impropriety. (Pg. 8/222 of the complaint).

3. Father of the Year. AG James names names, noting in the opening paragraphs of the complaint that Trump himself, Eric and “one of his trustees” signed off on false financial statements. This is very direct and seems to put Eric the most at risk of the three siblings. What kind of parent leaves his kids to certify what he knows is a false statement that could put them at risk of prosecution? (Pg. 10/222)

4. Calling all loans. Come in, loans. The type of material misrepresentations in Trump’s financial statements are defaults under the loans. If those, or similar loans are still being repaid, the complaint appears to put the loans in default. Will Deutsche Bank and other lenders assert their rights? Call the loans? Often, the default only has an effect if the lender gives notice, so I’m looking to see whether this happens. If it doesn’t, why not? It could be a calculated move designed to preserve Trump’s solvency so he can continue to make payments, but it would still be extraordinarily special treatment. (pg. 16/222)

5. Hiding in plain sight. Also of interest, James alleges that “even after almost two years of litigation it appears that it may still be the case that not all responsive documents were produced by Trump.” Echoes of Mar-a-Lago. Trump had his lawyer represent to the New York Attorney General that they had “diligently searched each and every room of Respondent’s private residence located at [wait for it….] Mar-a-Lago, including all desks, drawers, nightstands, dresser, closets, etc.,” but didn’t find any responsive documents.” I wonder if the lawyer saw any classified material while conducting the search for the New York AG? It mentions places the FBI ultimately recovered sensitive materials from. Seems strange. (pg. 205/222)
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Re: NYAG threw whole library at Trump

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A quick rundown of the 19 lawsuits and investigations pending against Trump. His new PAC paid for his latest hire in the MAL suit to the tune of $3 million up front. The RNC has also ponied up as well as the monies he makes online from MAGA contributors.

https://www.amny.com/politics/trump-legal-woes/

Rundown of how he's financing his legal defense

https://news.yahoo.com/trump-legal-bill ... 19571.html
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Re: NYAG threw whole library at Trump

Post by mister_coffee »

I think the real problem for Trump is that he is finding himself on the defensive in two (and possibly three if/when charges from the Grand Jury in Georgia come out) pretty large on complex cases in which he is in serious jeopardy. It is hard and expensive enough to defend yourself in any one case of this complexity, two or more quickly becomes very difficult. And he will probably find himself in situations where successfully defending himself against one of the cases makes his position worse in others.

Also, the fact that these cases are even being brought poses an existential threat to Trump & co, since his access to credit is likely going to be profoundly limited (investors aren't likely to get paid back if the guy guaranteeing the loan is already in jail or has their assets seized). That likely puts even more pressure on him.

Note that his situation is likely to get even worse if any other criminal cases, e.g. from the referrals made by NYAG or with respect to Jan. 6th, pop out of the woodwork.

I am not saying that he can't beat all of this. He has shown a remarkable ability to run through a rainstorm and not get wet. But he has never been this deep in the yogurt before so you can't really make a meaningful prediction.
:arrow: David Bonn :idea:
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Re: NYAG threw whole library at Trump

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Doubts, like opinions become obsolete in the face of facts. In the cases that are pending against Trump, and this one in particular, they are cases based on documents, recorded phone calls and possession of stolen items that endanger national security. And in the midst of all that liability Trump goes on tv and admits to taking the stolen documents to MAL. Meanwhile, Special Master Dearie has ordered the Trump team to put up or shut up. They must file with the court an affidavit with proof if they are to claim, like Trump is in public, that the FBI planted documents. Each lawyer knows that their own legal career is in jeopardy if they lie to the court.
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Re: NYAG threw whole library at Trump

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Yes, ‘the walls are closing in’! Always wrong, never in doubt.
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Re: NYAG threw whole library at Trump

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I'd point out two things:

1. The statute of limitations (normally ten years) on bank fraud starts ticking when the bank fraud is discovered.
2. Donald Trump's businesses have filed for bankruptcy six times, so far.

This is obviously just the tip of an iceberg. Just do the math.
:arrow: David Bonn :idea:
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Re: NYAG threw whole library at Trump

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Come back after you've read the complaint. Loans were given based on false statements, false financials, properties were over valued in huge amounts in order to get the loans then undervalued when filing tax returns. You're looking like a fool without reading the articles or the complaint itself. When understating values of properties for tax basis, the taxpayers were left without the tax revenue that Trump owed.
dorankj
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Re: NYAG threw whole library at Trump

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No fruitloop, loans are paid back, banks made lots of money, no-one is harmed. You’re just a complete partisan hack! (Like the ridiculous ‘prosecutor’)
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Re: NYAG threw whole library at Trump

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I'm truly sorry you don't get what is happening. That the documentation is in place to prove that Trump swindled literally billions of $ in a case where there is no he said/she said but instead actual tax returns, loan applications, appraisals & insurance documentation of Trump's fraudulent business practices over the last decade is pretty much something that no one can have an opinion about. Instead, this is a reckoning based on facts that can't be spun. The suit sets a baseline of $250 million, BASE LINE, so it will only go up from there.
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Re: NYAG threw whole library at Trump

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Funny, that’s the response to this whole angle!
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Re: NYAG threw whole library at Trump

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Ken, that's all ya got?
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Re: NYAG threw whole library at Trump

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Haha, you’re such clowns!
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Re: NYAG threw whole library at Trump

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That's not in her wheelhouse, she stays in her lane.
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Re: NYAG threw whole library at Trump

Post by Jingles »

Maybe the NYAG also needs to look at all members of Congress and how they become millionaires once in office, especially those that have been there for several terms, i.e. Schumer, Schiff, Pelosi, Murray, McConnell both parties are so corrupt we need to completely start over.
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NYAG threw whole library at Trump

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In a civil lawsuit filed today, the AG lays out in a 280 page complaint the mind boggling fraud that Trump, Ivanka, Don & Trump Org perpetrated by falsly misstating valuations of their real estate. Listening to the charges at the presser was jaw dropping and as part of what the AG is requesting is that the Trump's be cut off from financing by any NY bank, which if you think about it means that Trump will not be able to access $ anywhere. The suit will have to come before the courts so likely won't be set for trial until '23 but the suit does state that it is referring to several entities for criminal charges to be brought. Reporting is thin right now because it just takes awhile to get through the sheer number and complexity of the charges.

https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/ ... index.html
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