Trump speaks after New York civil fraud verdict | Associated Press
NEW YORK CITY—Donald J Trump, his sons, business associates, and company was fined $355 million and barred from conducting business in New York for three years judge rules on Friday, February 16, in a civil business trial that spanned from October of 2023, through January of 2024. The ruling also restricts the 45th President of the United States, and his company, from taking out any bank loans for the duration of the ban.
New York City Judge Arthur F. Engoran, presiding over of the case, came to the conclusion that Trump was responsible for fraudulently submitting financial records to lenders contingent on statements of financial condition to borrow money at lower rates. Furthermore, when the defendants were confronted with the issue at hand, via trials which included statements, expert witnesses, and facts, they “denied reality” and “failed to accept responsibility” or “impose internal controls to prevent future recurrence,” court records state.
“Their complete lack of contrition and remorse borders on pathological. They are accused only of inflating asset values to make more money. The documents prove this over and over again. This is a venial sin, not a mortal sin. Defendants did not commit murder or arson. They did not rob a bank at gunpoint. Donald Trump is not Bernard Madoff. Yet, defendants are incapable of admitting the error of their ways,” Judge Engoron wrote.
Engoran also ordered an “installation of an internal Director of Compliance” and appointment of an “Independent Monitor,” a decision he felt necessary given the defendant’s attempt to blame their accountants. Trump says announced after the verdict that he plans to appeal.
Throughout the trial, Trump called Judge Engoran “deranged” and suggested that the judge’s principal law clerk was Schumer’s girlfriend by revealing on social media a picture of her with Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer. Judge Engoran responded with a gag order against Trump restricting him from speaking about his staff publicly.
An example of Trump, and his company’s, fraudulent claims, as stated by the court, was valuing his New York Trump Tower triplex home as being triple the actual size and value and including brand value of his golf courses to increase their value on his financial statements – which explicitly stated brand value should not be included.
New York Attorney General Letitia James also gave the example of Trump, and his company, valuing Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence and social club at $426 million to $612 million, from 2011 through 2021, although the Palm Beach County assessor appraised the property’s market value to be $18 million to $27 million, NBC news reported Friday. James also argued that Trump inflated the value by claiming it was a private residence despite signing an agreement it could only be used as a social club to lower his taxes. Trump argued that his property was actually worth more than a billion dollars in court.
Trumps former lawyer Michael Cohen testified to the House Oversight Committee that Trump would frequently inflate or shrink value to meet whatever his business needs were, which sparked James’ investigation onto him back in 2019.
However, many real estate and legal experts question the judges use of county tax assessor’s appraisal value for market value, used in the loans, for the valuation metric.
“Appraisal values and market values are just not the same thing. It’s a well-known fact,” Eli Beracha, chair of the school of real estate at Florida International University, told CNN in an interview. “That’s especially true for properties that are unique. And it’s very easy to argue this is a unique property.”
Trump took to social media to accuse New York Attorney General James of working closely with President Joe Biden in a conspiracy to interfere with the upcoming November election.
“It’s a very sad day for, in my opinion, the country,” said Donald Trump following the court’s decision, calling Judge Engoran as “crooked as you can get” and Attorney General James “corrupt.”
Trump continued to accuse Jude Engoran and Attorney General James as being biased towards him before the trial began, calling them “radical left Democrats and lunatics,” while claiming “there was no fraud,” the “banks got one hundred million dollars,” and he paid approximately $300 million in taxes as the “migrants come in and take over New York.”
“A crooked New York State Judge ruled that I have to pay a fine of $355 million for having built a perfect company,” said Trump. “This is Russia, this is China, it all comes down to the same game, it all comes out of the DOJ, it all comes down to Biden—it’s a witch hunt against his political opponent.”
This case is just one of several the former President, who is up for reelection this year, is facing including four criminal trials totaling 91 felony counts. These criminal cases include Trump’s alleged mishandling of classified documents at his Florida estate, an allegation that Trump attempted to overturn the results of the 2020 election through inciting a riot at the US Capitol building on January 6, falsifying business records in a hush money scheme, and violating the state of Georgia’s anti-racketeering law by attempting to persuade Georgia lawmakers to ignore voter’s decisions and appoint a new slate of Electoral College electors in Trump’s favor.
Based on the alleged insurrection of January 6, Trump was disqualified from the primary ballots in Colorado and Maine but challenges to these rulings still leave his name on those ballots. On Jan. 5, the United States Supreme Court agreed to review the Colorado Supreme Court’s ruling to determine if to disqualify the 45th President of the United States from the state’s primary ballot.
A total of 19 states nationwide has unresolved cases to do the same. These cases are based on an uncontested clause of a constitutional amendment enacted after the Civil War which disqualifies government officials for inciting insurrection or rebellion, relating to Trump’s involvement in the January 6 Capitol breach.
States with unresolved cases to remove Trump from the ballot, in addition to Washington, include: Alaska, Arizona, California, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.
Connecticut, Delaware, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Utah, and Wyoming have all either dismissed or rejected similar challenges.
Just last month Trump was hit with a $83.3 million verdict of a defamation case involving writer E. Jean Carroll. Trump also has plans to appeal this case. Forbes estimates Donald Trump’s net worth is $2.5 billion.
Author: Kienan Briscoe
