In an unprecedented ruling, a New York Judge has declared that former President Donald Trump’s organization has broken laws regarding real estate in New York.
In addition to the fact that for many decades, Trump has run real estate businesses in the city and state without being convicted or even accused of any crimes, the Trump defense has immediately pointed out the holes in the decision.
In a point of irony, Trump was instrumental in rebuilding the city during Rudy Giuliani’s tenure as mayor when he initiated massive cleanup of the downtown areas. Only since his declaration of his intention to return to the White House by winning once again in 2024 have lawsuits repeatedly been fired at the former president.
The civil lawsuit brought by liberal New York Attorney General Leticia James has now received a ruling from Judge Arthur Engoron declaring that Trump and his company committed fraud by “deceiving banks, insurers, and others by massively overvaluing his assets and exaggerating his net worth on paperwork used in making deals and securing loans,” AP reports.
Engoron ordered that some of Trump’s business licenses be rescinded as punishment, making it difficult or impossible for them to do business in New York, and said he would continue to have an independent monitor oversee Trump Organization operations, Panhandle Post reports.
Trump is fighting back.
Trump’s lawyer, Christopher Kise, said they intend to appeal the decision, calling it a “miscarriage of justice” and “completely disconnected from the facts and governing law.”
“The decision seeks to nationalize one of the most successful corporate empires in the United States and seize control of private property all while acknowledging there is zero evidence of any default, breach, late payment or any complaint of harm,” Kise said.
Trump has long insisted he did nothing wrong, and is instantly pointing out on social media that for instance, the value of his home in Florida, Mar-a-Lago, was severely understated by the court at $18,000,000, it’s actual value being up to possibly 100 times that amount.
Today Trump posted that he has been “RAILROADED’ and that the judge “…refusing to let it (the case) go to the Commercial Division, where it belongs, denying me everything. No Trial, No Jury.”
His son, Eric, said Engoron’s ruling was “an attempt to destroy my father and kick him out of New York.”
“Today, I lost all faith in the New York legal system,” Eric Trump, a Trump Organization executive and lawsuit defendant, wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. “Never before have I seen such hatred toward one person by a judge — a coordinated effort with the Attorney General to destroy a man’s life, company and accomplishments,” adding that the ruling is “an attempt to destroy my father and kick him out of New York.”
In an attempt to destroy my father and kick him out of New York, a Judge just ruled that Mar-a-Lago, in Palm Beach Florida, is only worth approximate “$18 Million dollars”… Mar-a-Lago is speculated to be worth we’ll over a billion dollars making it arguably the most valuable… pic.twitter.com/b0U6J5ykWJ
— Eric Trump (@EricTrump) September 26, 2023
Manhattan prosecutors had previously looked into bringing criminal charges over the same conduct but declined to do so, obviously seeing no merit in the case. That hasn’t stopped James to sue Trump and seek penalties that aim to 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 several others remain. He’ll decide on those claims and James’ request for $250 million in penalties at a trial starting Oct. 2. Trump’s lawyers have asked an appeals court for a temporary delay, Panhandle Post continues.
Trump’s lawyers, in their own summary judgment bid, had asked the judge to throw out the case. They argued James wasn’t legally allowed to file the lawsuit because there wasn’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.
Trump argued in sworn testimony for the case that the values on his financial statements didn’t matter anyway because the forms have a disclaimer that says they shouldn’t be trusted, and are not definitive.
James’ lawsuit does not carry the potential of prison time, but could complicate Trump’s ability to transact real estate deals, and keep him from business in New York, as well as tie up his time as Trump runs for the Republican nomination for the Oval Office in 2024.
Trump further posted about the matter on X today, stating that he is innocent and the entire matter is a witch hunt intended to neutralize his political ambition and his ability to make funds with which to run:
“His (the judge) anger and hatred is politically motivated & unprecedented by those who watched! My actual Net Worth is MUCH GREATER than the number shown on Financial Statements, a BIG SURPRISE to him a& the Racist A.G., Leticia James, who campaigned for office on a get Trump platform. While murders roam the sidewalks of New York, my banks are happy, all loans are current, or paid off in full, sometimes early, with no defaults or problems of any kind. There is also an IRONCLAD DISCLAIMER CLAUSE!”
Rephrased from: The Republic Brief By: Trump Knows
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