Cogito Ergo Non Serviam
NY AG Sues Trump Organization, Ex-President, His Kids
Yesterday was a big news day. The West reacted to Mr. Putin\'s call-up of reservists to fight his losing war in Ukraine. Yet that was not the most important story because he probably cannot get them to report in sufficient numbers. The Federal Reserve increased interest rates, but that was not the story of the day because the whole world knew it was going to happen. No, the big story was New York State Attorney General Leticia "Tish" James suing the Trump Organization, Donald Trump and his three oldest children for numerous civil infractions. She also made a criminal referral to both the Southern District of New York and the Criminal Investigations Division of the IRS. This could end the political career of Donald Trump permanently.
Politico.com reported, "The attorney general\'s civil suit alleges more than a decade of deception, including billions of dollars in falsified net worth, as part of an effort by Trump to minimize his companies’ tax bills while winning favorable terms from banks and insurance companies."
Part of the AG\'s press release read, "The Trump Organization received a bank-ordered appraisal for the commercial property at 40 Wall Street that calculated a value for the property of $220 million as of November 1, 2012. Yet in the statement that year and the next year (2013), 40 Wall Street was valued at $527 million and $530 million—more than twice the value calculated by the independent, professional appraisers. Even more egregiously, those increased valuations were attributed to information obtained from the same professional appraiser who valued the building at just over $200 million."
A more egregious and foolish example was his three-floor apartment at Trump Tower. He said it was 30,000 square feet, and given the square footage, it was the most expensive apartment in New York City. The trouble is the apartment measures 11,000 square feet. That is hardly a simple mistake.
The AG is asking the court to: make the Trump Organization pay $250 million in lost tax revenue; Bar the ex-president, Eric, Donald Jr. and Ivanka Trump from serving on any board of any corporation in New York; bar the ex-president and the Trump Organization from buying commercial real estate in New York for 5 years; create an independent monitor to supervise the Trump Organization for at least 5 years; and prevent the Trump Organization and the ex-president from applying for a loan from any bank that is licensed in the State of New York. The latter covers most of the banks in the world.
This could ruin the Trump Organization and the Trump family. If a borrow violates terms of a loan, in most cases, the lender can demand immediate repayment. Lying about values is a pretty solid trigger. The bank covenants violated need not result in the loan being called, but what banker would not at least consider it? And the first bank to call a loan will spark a run against the Trumps. If that happens, the whole house of cards will fall.
Naturally, there are supporters who claim this is all a political witch-hunt, but that is utter nonsense. The Trump Organization has offered a settlement which Ms. James refused. That means they are out of ideas for a defense. This is a documents case, not a witness case. The papers are all there, and they tell the story of fictions and deceit. There are over 200 examples in the filing, and the former CFO of the Trump Organization, Allen Weiselberg, has alread pled guilty to criminal charges directly related to this.
In a civil case, the state must prove guilt based on a preponderance of the evidence rather than beyond reasonable doubt. Mr. Trump took the Fifth dozens of times when he was deposed on this. A jury in a civil case is allowed to assume the worst. Mr. Trump is in deep trouble.
© Copyright 2022 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Ubuntu Linux.
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