NY Civil Lawsuit & Criminal Trial Against Donald Trump & Family

[TopHatter]

Trump dismissive as New York attorney general accuses him of inflating his net worth by $2 billion


Former President Donald Trump walks to speak with reporters before departure from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Thursday, Aug. 24, 2023, in Atlanta.

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump defended his real estate empire and his presidency in a face-to-face clash with the New York attorney general suing him for fraud, testifying at a closed-door grilling in April that his company is flush with cash — and claiming he saved “millions of lives” by deterring nuclear war when he was president.

Trump, in testimony made public Wednesday, said it was a “terrible thing” that Attorney General Letitia James was suing him over claims he made on annual financial statements about his net worth and the value of his skyscrapers, golf courses and other assets.

Trump's lawyers released Trump’s 479-page deposition transcript in a flurry of court filings ahead of a Sept. 22 hearing where a judge could resolve part or all of the lawsuit before it goes to trial in October. James said evidence shows Trump fraudulently inflated his net worth by up to 39%, or more than $2 billion, in some years.

Sitting across from James at her Manhattan office on April 13, Trump said, “you don’t have a case and you should drop this case.” Noting his contributions to the city’s skyline, Trump said “it’s a shame” that “now I have to come and justify myself to you.”

Interrogated about the truthfulness of financial statements he gave to banks, Trump repeatedly insisted that, legally speaking, it didn't matter whether they were accurate or not.

“I have a clause in there that says, ‘Don’t believe the statement. Go out and do your own work.’ This statement is ‘worthless.’ It means nothing,” Trump testified. Given the disclaimer, he said, “you’re supposed to pay no credence to what we say whatsoever.”

In a legal filing Wednesday, James urged Judge Arthur Engoron to grant summary judgment on one of seven claims in her lawsuit — that Trump and his company defrauded lenders, insurers and others by lying about his wealth and the value of his assets.

To rule, Engoron needs only to answer two questions, James’ office argued: whether Trump’s annual financial statements were false or misleading, and whether he and the Trump Organization used those statements while conducting business transactions.

“The answer to both questions is a resounding ‘yes’ based on the mountain of undisputed evidence” in the case, James’ special litigation counsel Andrew Amer said in a 100-page summary judgment motion.

Even if Engoron rules on the fraud claim, he would still preside over a non-jury trial on six other remaining claims in the lawsuit if it is not settled.

Trump’s lawyers are asking Engoron to dismiss the case entirely.

They argue that many of its allegations are barred by a statute of limitations and that James has no standing to sue because the entities Trump supposedly defrauded “have never complained, and indeed have profited from their business dealings" with him.

Trump, the front-runner for the Republican nomination in next year’s presidential election, has been indicted four times in the last five months — accused in Georgia and Washington, D.C., of plotting to overturn his 2020 election loss, in Florida of hoarding classified documents, and in Manhattan of falsifying business records related to hush money paid on his behalf. Some of Trump’s criminal trials are scheduled to overlap with the presidential primary season.

James sued Trump last September, alleging he inflated the value of assets like his Mar-a-Lago estate for at least a decade. Her lawsuit seeks $250 million in penalties and a ban on Trump doing business in New York.

Trump testified that he only had the financial statements made so he could see a list of his many properties and said he “never felt that these statements would be taken very seriously," but that financial institutions would occasionally ask for them. Some of the values listed were based on “guesstimates,” he conceded.

Trump answered questions with such verbosity at the April deposition — veering from evasiveness to bluster to filibuster at times — that one lawyer worried his seven hours of sworn testimony could go until midnight.

It was a reversal from a deposition last year, before James filed her lawsuit, in which Trump refused to answer all but a few procedural questions. At that earlier deposition, Trump invoked his Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination more than 400 times.

Trump testified in April that his company, the Trump Organization, has over $400 million in cash. He claimed Mar-a-Lago is worth $1.5 billion and a golf course he owns near Miami is worth $2 billion or $2.5 billion. He said he believes he could sell another golf course he owns in Scotland to the Saudi-backed LIV golf league “for a fortune.”

“Do you know the banks were fully paid? Do you know the banks made a lot of money?" Trump testified. "Do you know I don’t believe I ever got even a default notice, and even during COVID, the banks were all paid? And yet you’re suing on behalf of banks, I guess. It’s crazy. The whole case is crazy.”

Trump is not expected to testify in court if the case goes to trial, but video recordings of his depositions could be played.

In his deposition, Trump testified that once he became president, he stopped paying much attention to his business because he needed to focus on world affairs.

“I think you would have nuclear holocaust if I didn’t deal with North Korea,” Trump testified. “I think you would have a nuclear war, if I weren’t elected. And I think you might have a nuclear war now, if you want to know the truth.”
__

Just another day at the office...

[tbm3fan]

In his deposition, Trump testified that once he became president, he stopped paying much attention to his business because he needed to focus on world affairs.

“I think you would have nuclear holocaust if I didn’t deal with North Korea,” Trump testified. “I think you would have a nuclear war, if I weren’t elected. And I think you might have a nuclear war now, if you want to know the truth.”
__

Just another day at the office...

What are the odds that if I asked Trump what was the Manhattan Project he would start to talk about Trump Tower or any of his other buildings in Manhattan?

[TopHatter]

What are the odds that if I asked Trump what was the Manhattan Project he would start to talk about Trump Tower or any of his other buildings in Manhattan?

Well this was the same guy that, while standing on the USS Arizona memorial, asked his Chief of Staff: "Hey, John, what's this all about? What's this a tour of?"

So I'd say those odds are very much in your favor.

[TopHatter]

Trump rambled so much in a NY fraud-case deposition, a lawyer griped, 'we're going to be here until midnight'

• Trump gave long-winded answers while being deposed in NY AG Letitia James' financial-fraud lawsuit.
• He went on and on about his "beautiful" and "tremendous" golf courses, a new transcript shows.
• "We're going to be here until midnight," one of the AG's lawyers worried out loud.

The first time Donald Trump was deposed by New York Attorney General Letitia James – who's spent more than two years calling him an inveterate fraudster – the former president pleaded the Fifth repeatedly.

But in a second deposition held this past April, the AG's office couldn't get him to shut up, including about the "beautiful" marble bathrooms in his "tremendous" properties, a newly-released transcript shows.

In a seven-hour grilling that's a prelude to Trump's October 2, $250 million civil fraud trial, his answers were so long-winded, that one of James' lawyers worried aloud that if he didn't speed it up, everyone in the room would "be here until midnight."

Trump's deposition transcript was released late Wednesday by the attorney general's office, which alleges that the former president, his two eldest sons, and two of his former top executives routinely inflated his net worth in financial fillings made on behalf of the Trump Organization, his international real-estate and golf-resort company.

The "fraudulent" math helped Trump trick banks into extending lower-cost loans that saved him hundreds of millions of dollars in interest, James alleges.

During the April deposition, lawyers for both sides broke out in bickering.

"We're going to be here until midnight if you keep asking questions that are all over the map," Trump's lawyer Chris Kise complained early on to one of James' top lawyers on the fraud case, Kevin Wallace.

"Chris," Wallace responded, "we're going to be here until midnight if your client answers every question with an eight-minute speech."

Trump had just launched into a stem-winder about his "brand" when the tiff broke out.

"If I wanted to build a big statement just for the sake of a statement, I would go out and I would value the brand and — which is much more than the $3 billion," Trump said. "And as I said once before today, I became President of the United States because of my brand."

Wallace attempted to get Trump back on track.

"I just want to go back to a couple of things you said," Wallace said. "The first is, you said, 'I didn't need banks for the most part.'"

"So why did you use banks?" he asked.

"Because you do it. It's better tax wise," Trump said. "You do it."

Trump told the lawyer he paid off all the loans that he took out from banks to pay for his properties.

"Politics hurt. When I get sued by you — fortunately, I don't need banks," Trump continued. "I mean, paid off all that stuff that you used to talk about. I paid it off."

He went on to claim that "prior to [getting] sued by the Attorney General of the State of New York, banks wanted to do business with me so badly."

Wallace then tried to hone in on Trump's business practices before he took office.

"What would your considerations be when you're deciding whether or not I'm going to use a bank or I'm going to borrow money for this project?" Wallace asked.

But Trump's lawyer, Kise, objected to the question, saying that "before he was president covers from the 1950s all the way to 2017."

"Chris, I believe the question was clear until you decided to mess it up," Wallace said.

Kise replied: "No, it wasn't."

"He understood it and was able to answer it," Wallace said. "So, if you want to object, say object. Don't sit — don't try to make the question more complicated."

Eventually, Wallace accused Kise of straying from New York's rules of civil procedure and the two lawyers began blaming each other's side for dragging things out, potentially, until midnight.

In other ramblings, Trump launched into a soliloquy about the beauty of the marble bathrooms at his Miami golf resort, Trump National Doral Golf Club.

"In the case of the villas, 800 rooms, they were gutted out down to the steel and rebuilt and they're incredible," he said of his renovation of the property.

"I could have done what I called a paint and wallpaper job. You just paint and wallpaper it. But it was time — it was tired," he said.

"I started using marble instead of carpet," he added, continuing a line of thought that was irrelevant.

"They're all marble bathrooms. I mean, they're beautiful."
_____________

Please. Keep. TALKING.

[TopHatter]

Judge peppers lawyers in prelude to trial of New York's business fraud lawsuit against Trump


Former President Donald Trump greets supporters at the Treehouse Pub & Eatery, Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2023, in Bettendorf, Iowa.

NEW YORK (AP) — A New York judge peppered Donald Trump's lawyers with questions Friday — sometimes admonishing them — as they tried to persuade the court to throw out a civil lawsuit brought by New York’s attorney general accusing the former president and his company of deceiving banks, insurers and others by exaggerating his wealth.

At times, Judge Arthur Engoron argued with Trump attorney Christopher Kise. In one case the judge ended a back-and-forth by simply saying, “Disagree.”

Later, the judge pounded his fist on the top of his bench in disagreement with Kise’s interpretation of one law, opining the intent of that law is, “You cannot make false statements.”

The hearing ended without any rulings, and arguments will resume Wednesday. Regardless, Friday's court proceedings served as prelude to a trial that could begin as soon as Oct. 2.

A lawyer for New York Attorney General Letitia James also tried to persuade Engoron to hand down a summary judgment on the lawsuit's most significant claim — that Trump committed fraud by inflating property values and exaggerating his net worth by as much as $3.6 billion on annual financial statements used by him and his company to secure financing.

The judge also questioned the state's lawyer, Assistant New York Attorney General Andrew Amer, but his tone was less combative.

At one point, Engoron reminded those in the packed courtroom that he was trying to be fair to both sides, suggesting that the tenor of his questioning shouldn't be seen as an indication of how he will ultimately rule.

Last week, Trump’s attorneys filed a lawsuit accusing Engoron of abusing his authority, one of several lawsuits Trump has filed against the judges overseeing his various trials.

A state appellate court is weighing whether the suit against Engoron will proceed. If so, it could push back a trial date.

Trump's lawyers had previously sought a delay, but Engoron turned them down, and the judge Friday rebuffed some of their arguments — including one that asserted that the attorney general has no legal standing to bring the former president to court.

If the trial proceeds, the attorney general's office could call to the witness stand Trump's former lawyer, Michael Cohen, and his former chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg. Trump is also on the government's witness list, as are his two sons, Eric and Don Jr., but it remains to be seen if the former president will appear in court.

James, a Democrat, sued Trump and the Trump Organization a year ago, accusing him of inflating the value of assets like skyscrapers, golf courses and his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.

But Trump's attorney, Kise, hailed Trump's “investment genius” during the Friday hearing at a court in Manhattan.

“This is why billionaires are billionaires,” Kise said.

He said the property valuations the former president used in financial documents were not meant to be formal appraisals, but Trump's predictions of what the properties could be worth in the future.

Among the allegations made by James were that Trump claimed his Trump Tower apartment in Manhattan — a three-story penthouse replete with gold-plated fixtures — was nearly three times its actual size and valued the property at $327 million. No apartment in New York City has ever sold for close to that amount, James said.

Trump valued Mar-a-Lago as high as $739 million — more than 10 times a more reasonable estimate of its worth. Trump’s figure for the private club and residence was based on the idea that the property could be developed for residential use, but deed terms prohibit that, James said.

“Defendants have clearly stepped through the looking glass,” said Amer, the lawyer representing the attorney general. He said there was “a complete disconnect” between the real-world market value of Trump’s properties and “the grossly inflated” valuation asserted by the former president in his financial paperwork.

Trump has denied wrongdoing, arguing in sworn testimony that it didn’t matter what he put on his financial statements because they have a disclaimer that says they shouldn’t be trusted.

James’ lawsuit is one of several legal headaches for Trump as he campaigns for a return to the White House in 2024. He has been indicted four times — accused in Georgia and Washington, D.C., of plotting to overturn his 2020 election loss, in Florida of hoarding classified documents, and in Manhattan of falsifying business records related to hush money paid on his behalf.

James’ lawsuit is a civil, not criminal matter, so it does not carry the potential of prison time. She has asked the court to ban Trump and his three eldest children from ever again running a company based New York. She also wants $250 million in penalties, and a five-year ban on Trump and the Trump Organization engaging in commercial real estate acquisitions.
_________

[TopHatter]

Judge rules Donald Trump defrauded banks, insurers while building real estate empire


Former President Donald Trump pauses before ending his remarks at a rally in Summerville, S.C., Sept. 25, 2023. A New York judge ruled, Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2023, that the former president and his company committed fraud for years while building the real estate empire that catapulted him to fame and the White House.

NEW YORK (AP) — A judge ruled Tuesday that Donald Trump committed fraud for years while building the real estate empire that catapulted him to fame and the White House.

Judge Arthur Engoron, ruling in a civil lawsuit brought by New York’s attorney general, found that the former president and his company deceived banks, insurers and others by massively overvaluing his assets and exaggerating his net worth on paperwork used in making deals and securing financing.

Engoron ordered that some of Trump’s business licenses be rescinded as punishment, making it difficult or impossible for them to do business in New York, and said he would continue to have an independent monitor oversee the Trump Organization’s operations.

A Trump spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the ruling. Trump has long insisted he did nothing wrong.

The decision, days before the start of a non-jury trial in Attorney General Letitia James’ lawsuit, is the strongest repudiation yet of Trump’s carefully coiffed image as a wealthy and shrewd real estate mogul turned political powerhouse.

Beyond mere bragging about his riches, Trump, his company and key executives repeatedly lied about them on his annual financial statements, reaping rewards such as favorable loan terms and lower insurance premiums, Engoron found.

Those tactics crossed a line and violated the law, the judge said, rejecting Trump’s contention that a disclaimer on the financial statements absolved him of any wrongdoing.

“In defendants’ world: rent regulated apartments are worth the same as unregulated apartments; restricted land is worth the same as unrestricted land; restrictions can evaporate into thin air; a disclaimer by one party casting responsibility on another party exonerates the other party’s lies,” Engoron wrote in his 35-page ruling. “That is a is a fantasy world, not the real world.”

Manhattan prosecutors had looked into bringing a criminal case over the same conduct but declined to do so, leaving James to sue Trump and seek penalties that could disrupt his and his family’s ability to do business in the state.

Engoron’s ruling, in a phase of the case known as summary judgment, resolves the key claim in James’ lawsuit, but six others remain.

Engoron is slated to hold a non-jury trial starting Oct. 2 before deciding on those claims and any punishments he may impose. James is seeking $250 million in penalties and a ban on Trump doing business in New York, his home state. The trial could last into December, Engoron has said.

Trump’s lawyers had asked the judge to throw out the case, which he denied. They contend that James wasn’t legally allowed to file the lawsuit because there isn’t any evidence that the public was harmed by Trump’s actions. They also argued that many of the allegations in the lawsuit were barred by the statute of limitations.

Engoron, noting that he had “emphatically rejected” those arguments earlier in the case, equated them to the “time-loop in the film ‘Groundhog Day.’”

James, a Democrat, sued Trump and the Trump Organization a year ago, alleging a pattern of duplicity that she dubbed “the art of the steal,” a twist on the title of Trump’s 1987 business memoir “The Art of the Deal.”

The lawsuit accused Trump and his company of routinely inflating the value of assets like skyscrapers, golf courses and his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, padding his bottom line by billions.

Among the allegations were that Trump claimed his Trump Tower apartment in Manhattan — a three-story penthouse replete with gold-plated fixtures — was nearly three times its actual size and valued the property at $327 million. No apartment in New York City has ever sold for close to that amount, James said.

Trump valued Mar-a-Lago as high as $739 million — more than 10 times a more reasonable estimate of its worth. Trump’s figure for the private club and residence was based on the idea that the property could be developed for residential use, but deed terms prohibit that, James said.

Trump has denied wrongdoing, arguing in sworn testimony for the case that it didn’t matter what he put on his financial statements because they have a disclaimer that says they shouldn’t be trusted. He told James at the April deposition, “You don’t have a case and you should drop this case.”

“Do you know the banks were fully paid? Do you know the banks made a lot of money?” Trump testified. “Do you know I don’t believe I ever got even a default notice, and even during COVID, the banks were all paid? And yet you’re suing on behalf of banks, I guess. It’s crazy. The whole case is crazy.”

Engoron rejected that argument when the defense previously sought to have the case thrown out.

The judge said the disclaimer on the financial statements “makes abundantly clear that Mr. Trump was fully responsible for the information contained within” them and that “allowing blanket disclaimers to insulate liars from liability would completely undercut” the “important function” that such statements serve “in the real world.”

James’ lawsuit is one of several legal headaches for Trump as he campaigns for a return to the White House in 2024. He has been indicted four times in the last six months — accused in Georgia and Washington, D.C., of plotting to overturn his 2020 election loss, in Florida of hoarding classified documents, and in Manhattan of falsifying business records related to hush money paid on his behalf.

The Trump Organization was convicted of tax fraud last year in an unrelated criminal case for helping executives dodge taxes on extravagant perks such as Manhattan apartments and luxury cars. The company was fined $1.6 million. One of the executives, Trump’s longtime finance chief Allen Weisselberg, pleaded guilty and served five months in jail. He is a defendant in James’ lawsuit and gave sworn deposition testimony for the case in May.

James’ lawsuit does not carry the potential of prison time, but could complicate his ability to transact real estate deals. It could also stain his legacy as a developer.

James has asked Engoron to ban Trump and his three eldest children from ever again running a company based New York. She also wants Trump and the Trump Organization barred from entering into commercial real estate acquisitions for five years, among other sanctions. The $250 million in penalties she is seeking is the estimated worth of benefits derived from the alleged fraud, she said.

James, who campaigned for office as a Trump critic and watchdog, started scrutinizing his business practices in March 2019 after his former personal lawyer Michael Cohen testified to Congress that Trump exaggerated his wealth on financial statements provided to Deutsche Bank while trying to obtain financing to buy the NFL’s Buffalo Bills.

James’ office previously sued Trump for misusing his own charitable foundation to further his political and business interests. Trump was ordered to pay $2 million to an array of charities as a fine and the charity, the Trump Foundation, was shut down.
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[Albany Rifles]

I've been thinking...he is probably kicking himself that when Obama cracked jokes about him at the White House Correspondence Dinner he should have ignored them without deciding to "own the libs!"

By the end of all of this he will probably only own a run down golf course in Florida. Same for his kids.

[TopHatter]

I've been thinking...he is probably kicking himself that when Obama cracked jokes about him at the White House Correspondence Dinner he should have ignored them without deciding to "own the libs!"

By the end of all of this he will probably only own a run down golf course in Florida. Same for his kids.

He was kicking himself on Election Night. So was Ivanka.

Uday and Qusay were, and are, too fucking stupid to realize what was foreordained to land on their heads.

But he also needed a new grift...and this one got fatally out of hand.

[JRT]

Hopefully they can convict the alleged racketeer Don Johnny Trump (aka The Orange Menace) on charges that qualify as RICO predicates in the Georgia RICO case. Georgia's RICO law seems to allow utilizing predicates from outside of Georgia's jurisdiction.

One can hope.

[TopHatter]

Trump Freaks out After Judge Finds Him Liable for Fraud: ‘I AM WORTH MUCH MORE THAN THE NUMBERS SHOWN’

Soon after New York Judge Arthur Engoron found Donald Trump and his adult sons liable for fraud and canceled the Trump Organization’s business certification on Tuesday, the disgraced former president freaked out about it in a lengthy all-caps rant on Truth Social that he appeared to have originally written on Monday.

Trump seems to have been most offended that the ruling calls into question his purported net worth. The fraud the Trump Organization committed is, in part, that it vastly overstated the value of several properties in order to receive favorable contracts and bank loans. But, Trump insists, the ruling didn’t put a price on his “most valuable asset, my brand.”

Said, of course, in all caps.

Trump said in part, “1) I AM WORTH MUCH MORE THAN THE NUMBERS SHOWN ON MY FINANCIAL STATEMENTS. 2) I DIDN’T EVEN INCLUDE MY MOST VALUABLE ASSET, MY BRAND.”

He continued, “3) THE BANKS WERE PAID BACK IN FULL, SOMETIMES EARLY, THERE WERE NO DEFAULTS, THE BANKS MADE MONEY, WERE REPRESENTED BY THE BEST LAW FIRMS, & WERE VERY “HAPPY.” THERE WERE NO VICTIMS!”

Trump concluded by doubling down on his claim that he is worth far more than the financial statements suggest and added, “4) ON THE FRONT PAGE OF THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS THERE IS A STRONG ‘DISCLAIMER CLAUSE’ TELLING ALL NOT TO RELY ON THESE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS. THE DISCLAIMER CLAUSE TELLS ANYONE REVIEWING THE DATA, INCLUDING FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS, TO DO THEIR OWN RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS – IT IS A NON RELIANCE CLAUSE, AND COULD NOT BE MORE CLEAR.”

“ADDITIONALLY TO MY BEING WORTH FAR MORE THAN IS SHOWN IN THE ‘FULLY DISCLAIMED’ FINANCIAL STATEMENTS, AGAIN NOT PUTTING DOWN A VALUE FOR MY BIGGEST ASSET, BRAND, THE COMPANY HAS HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN CASH, AND VERY LITTLE DEBT,” he insisted.



The ruling against Trump comes days before the former president’s civil case brought by the New York District Attorey’s office goes to trial on Oct 2. Engoron found Trump and his sons “to be liable as a matter of law for persistent violations” and found that decades of financial statements submitted by the Trump family were false.

Trump has repeatedly claimed that he has never inflated the actual value of his homes, hotels, and golf courses, and has denied claims that he has exaggerated his success and net worth. Engoran directly contradicted those claims and accused Trump of overvaluing his apartment at Trump Tower by up to $207 million.

Attorney General Letitia James is seeking $250 million in damages, to ban the Trump family from working as officers for a business based in New York, and to prevent the Trump Organization from doing business for five years.

The judge wrote,

“A discrepancy of this order of magnified, by a real estate developer sizing up his own living space of decades, can only be considered fraud.”

The business certificates of the Trump Organization, a commercial tower at 40 Wall Street, and the family’s Seven Springs have all been canceled and Engoron noted that a third party will “manage the dissolution” of the properties. It is unclear if any of the ruling will apply to Mar-A-Lago and if Trump will have the ability to transfer any New York-based assets out of the state.
____________

It's so much more credible when he puts it in all-caps....

[tbm3fan]

I think James needs to at least double what she is asking for since he is so much wealthy than they give him credit for. I think the Loser should donate $500 million or half a billion. I like the sound of half a billion. Sounds like a lot of money...

[TopHatter]

Trump and his adult children expected to be called to testify in New York fraud trial

• New York Attorney General Letitia James plans to call former President Donald Trump and three of his adult children to testify at his civil fraud trial.
• Trump, Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump and Ivanka Trump are among the 28 names on James’ list of witnesses to be called in the case.
• Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Arthur Engoron ruled this week that Trump, his sons and his company were liable for fraud in how they valued numerous real estate properties and other assets.

In this April 2010 file photo, Donald Trump, left, chairman and CEO of the Trump Organization, cuts the ribbon with his children Eric, Ivanka, and Donald Trump Jr. at the opening of the Trump SoHo New York.

New York Attorney General Letitia James plans to call former President Donald Trump and three of his adult children to testify at his civil fraud trial set to begin in New York next week, court documents showed.

Trump and his company, the Trump Organization, are accused of committing years of fraud by overstating the values of his assets in his annual financial forms. James’ lawsuit seeks $250 million.

Trump, Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump and Ivanka Trump are among the 28 names on James’ list of witnesses to be called in the case. Trump’s sons, who are also defendants in the case, have run the company since Trump was elected president in 2016.

Also on James’ list are Michael Cohen, Trump’s former fixer and personal lawyer, and Allen Weisselberg, the former chief financial officer of the Trump Organization.

Defense lawyers in the case submitted their own list of 128 witnesses, which also includes Trump and his two oldest sons.

The two lists were filed Wednesday to Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Arthur Engoron.

A day earlier, Engoron ruled that Trump, his sons and the company were liable for fraud in how they valued numerous real estate properties and other assets.

That searing ruling also stripped the defendants and the Trump Organization of their business certificates, and sanctioned multiple defense attorneys for repeatedly making frivolous arguments.

Six other claims of action against the defendants remain to be decided by Engoron, who will conduct the trial without a jury.

But an appeals court panel is expected to rule as soon as Thursday on Trump’s argument that some of the remaining claims be dismissed before trial because they are barred by the statute of limitations.
_________

Hell yes, get them under oath and watch the fun...

[TopHatter]

Trump’s Tax Representative Said in 2020 He ‘Agrees’ With $26.6 Million Appraisal of Mar-a-Lago (Exclusive)
A letter obtained by The Messenger shows a contrast between what Trump's tax representative told local officials and claims his South Florida club is worth more than $1 billion

Former President Donald Trump has sought to discredit a New York judge’s blockbuster ruling threatening his business empire by arguing that Mar-a-Lago alone is worth more than a billion dollars.

But less than three years ago, his tax representative told Palm Beach County officials that Trump “agrees” his private club in South Florida is worth just $26.6 million, according to records obtained by The Messenger.

“The petitioner agrees with the determination of the property appraiser or tax collector,” Michael Corbiciero, the CEO of the tax consulting firm Marvin F. Poer & Co., attested in a letter dated Nov. 16, 2020.

If Mar-a-Lago were a private residence, Palm Beach County real estate insiders broadly agree that it would fetch far higher than its government valuations. But Trump forfeited certain uses under the terms of deeds that he signed in 1995 and later. The former president argues that it effectively is a private residence because he now lives there, but he has benefited from the tax incentives of keeping it as a social club.

Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron cited the wide gulf between Palm Beach County Appraiser’s valuations of Mar-a-Lago and the valuations assigned to them on Trump’s statements of financial condition in part to find the former president liable for fraud. The judge ordered the dissolution of the key New York companies behind Trump’s financial empire.

Trump has made Mar-a-Lago’s value a key focus of his attack on the judge’s ruling, but his portrayal of the court’s findings about the property is misleading.


The Mar-a-Lago Club, home of former US President Donald Trump, is seen on April 3, 2023 in Palm Beach, Florida.

Engoron didn’t assess Mar-a-Lago’s value. The judge cited a valuation by the Palm Beach County Appraiser — from 2011. That appraiser’s valuations incrementally rose every year until it reached $28 million about a decade later.

The Palm Beach County Appraiser’s valuations base their estimates on Trump’s deed restricting its use as a social club. Trump agreed to “forever extinguish” his right to “develop or use the Property for any purpose other than club use,” in return for tax benefits, but in his statements of financial condition to banks and insurers, Trump treated Mar-a-Lago as a private residence to justify estimates in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

Trump’s lawyers argue that’s true because Mar-a-Lago has become the former president’s home, and they note that government valuations for income-based appraisals are different from market values.


This chart from New York Attorney General Letitia James shows Trump's estimate of Mar-a-Lago set against the Palm Beach County Appraiser's valuations.

Despite his public rhetoric about Mar-a-Lago’s sky-high value — and the fact that many insiders in Palm Beach’s real estate community agree with him — the newly released documents show Trump in agreement with the price, at least for tax purposes.

When Trump’s tax representatives from Marvin F. Poer & Co.’s first filed their appeal, the development received little attention outside the South Florida press. The Palm Beach Daily News did not reveal the basis of Trump’s appeal when breaking the news about it on Nov. 13, 2020.

Records obtained by The Messenger show that’s because Trump’s tax representatives did not have to cite their justification in their appellate papers, and a hearing scheduled for the matter was canceled when they withdrew their petition.

The Trump Organization did not respond to an email requesting comment.
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Cult45: "Oh c'mon, Trump's always talking shit and real estate values are totally subjective and anyway whatbout the Bidens??"

[Monash]

I would have thought the IRS and State Tax agencies would have closed down this kind of behavior years ago i.e tax authorities base their assessments on either the assets/income statements provided by a taxpayer to lenders in applications for loans or the figures quoted in that same taxpayers official returns. Then simply issue an assessment based on whichever is figure is higher. Regardless I have to wonder if the IRS is going to start issuing disclosure orders on a lot more loan applications in future.

[TopHatter]

I would have thought the IRS and State Tax agencies would have closed down this kind of behavior years ago i.e tax authorities base their assessments on either the assets/income statements provided by a taxpayer to lenders in applications for loans or the figures quoted in that same taxpayers official returns. Then simply issue an assessment based on whichever is figure is higher. Regardless I have to wonder if the IRS is going to start issuing disclosure orders on a lot more loan applications in future.

Nope. As I've stated before, the IRS is a toothless old hound that deliberately does not go after the very wealthy. They simply don't have the resources, so they don't.

Trump's criminality simply got too egregious to ignore once he became President.