Trump just lost in court again. The AP reports,
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Engoron ordered that some of Trump’s business licenses be rescinded as punishment, making it difficult or impossible for them to do business in New York, and said he would continue to have an independent monitor oversee the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.
That’s going to wind up the old fart nicely. Next he’ll be calling for an investigation of all the courts, followed by firing squads.
Update: More from the New York Times.
While the trial will determine the size of the penalty, Justice Engoron’s ruling granted one of the biggest punishments Ms. James sought: the cancellation of business certificates that allow some of Mr. Trump’s New York properties to operate, a move that could have major repercussions for the Trump family business.
The decision could terminate his control over a flagship commercial property at 40 Wall Street in Lower Manhattan and a family estate in Westchester County. Mr. Trump might also lose control over his other New York properties, including Trump Tower in Midtown Manhattan and his golf club in Westchester.
The order will not dissolve Mr. Trump’s company, which is a collection of hundreds of entities, but the decision could nonetheless have a sweeping impact on the heart of its New York operations. If Justice Engoron’s decision is not reversed by an appeals court, it could shut down an entity that employs hundreds of people working for him in New York, effectively crushing the company. …
… Justice Engoron’s decision narrows the issues that will be heard, effectively deciding that the trial was not necessary to find that Mr. Trump was liable and that the core of Ms. James’s case was valid. It represents a major blow to Mr. Trump, whose lawyers had sought to persuade the judge to throw out many of the claims against the former president. …
…The judge also ordered sanctions against Mr. Trump’s lawyers for making arguments that he previously rejected. He ordered each to pay $7,500.
Now, on to Biden in Michigan:
Short but sweet. The UAW hasn’t formally endorsed Biden, but today Biden and UAW President Shawn Fain were clearly on the same page. Trump is almost certainly going to slam the Union leadership tomorrow. Given his current behavior, he may call for executions.
The New York Times is reporting that Biden was pressured into going to Michigan by the UAW and by other Democrats more than by Trump’s plans.
And speaking of other Democrats, Democratic senators are now stepping up and calling for Bob Menendez to resign.
In last night’s piece, I noted that while Bob Menendez’s D.C. dam was mostly holding, the story was dramatically different in New Jersey where virtually everyone in the state party establishment had already called on him to resign. Just in the last couple hours the D.C. dam appears to be giving way. Sens. Warren and Rosen and, most importantly, his New Jersey colleague Cory Booker have now each called on Menendez to step down. I’d be surprised if half his senate colleagues hadn’t followed suit by the end of the day.
As I wrote last night, at this point it almost doesn’t matter whether Menendez resigns. New Jersey is a machine politics state. You can win an election if you don’t come from the machine — either because you can spread around a lot of money (as former Gov. and Sen. Jon Corzine did) or because you have some unique political gifts. But if you’re a machine type politician who lacks a ride-or-die mass constituency and the machine abandons you, I think you’re toast. A primary challenge can likely drive Menendez from office. The only question is whether state Democrats can coalesce around a single challenger.
My concern is that if the New Jersey Dems don’t get their act together the seat could go to a Republican next year. That shouldn’t happen, but it could.
I did watch Rachel Maddow‘s interview of Cassidy Hutchinson last night. It was interesting, although I can’t think of anything she said that surprised me. The closest was that Matt Gaetz responded to something said about him by claiming that he and Hutchinson dated for a time. She said that wasn’t true. I tend to believe her. Gaetz is so weird.
Matt Gaetz is a "douche-zeppelin" – an obnoxious and contemptible sack of vacuous hot air!
Cassidy, is class – all the way.
Gaetz, is crass – all the way.
In the past, she may have acted friendly with him, because I think that's in her nature.
But there's no way she would ever have dated him.
If I was her, I'd rather date roadkill. An armadillo flattened by a semi is smarter and more likeable than Gaetz!
"Cassidy, is class – all the way"
Not sure I'd go that far, she dutifully worked for Stump up to and until Jan.6th. She supported him when he called Mexicans rapists, when he called for women to be punished for abortions, for his public capitulation to Putin in Helsinki, the Bible waving outside St. John's church, the entire covid debacle, on and on. To my mind if you couldn't see what a sack of shit Stump was before J6 your either blind or in on the game? I will give her credit that she had enough brains to break with him eventually, I just don't think anyone who ever went along with that sack of shit through his entire disastrous presidency deserves a second chance in politics.
You know, if NYC DA's had done their job and charged tRUMP with fraud over the past 3 or 4 decades, he'd have never, ever gotten that idiotic and obnoxious reality show.
And if he'd never, ever gotten that idiotic and obnoxious reality show, he'd never, ever gotten to be our idiotic and obnoxious presiDUNCE!
OY!!!!!
Glad you found my card. I know you appreciate beauty, and that it would help pick you up. Glad you're back!
I’m waiting to see if Jack Smith will appeal Aileen “Slow-Walk” Cannon’s ruling on legal conflicts the two Mar-a-Lago documents defendants (Nauta and DeOlivera) are enmeshed in, and the weird, non-standard way she’s handling something that should be very routine.
Why, one might conclude she didn’t want these two guys to flip against Trump.
It’s the same kind of conflict that Cassidy Hutchinson found herself in, before she wised up, extricated herself, and became a national hero.
Good for Joe Biden, giving succor to the UAW strikers. I’ve read that car maker CEO compensation in recent years has gone through the roof, but their companies’ stock prices have been more or less flat, along with workers’ wages. How these CEOs (or their boards of directors) can justify this is beyond me.
I wonder will Stumps fraud conviction in a court of law get as much NYT, WAPO ink as the alleged crimes of Hunter Biden?
All kids ought to be instructed to genuinely acknowledge, support, respect, appreciate, excuse, trust, and eventually, love their own individual.
The first thing to recognize is that this goes straight to determining the penalty – up to $250 million. The trial may run a couple of months and the result will be appealed. I seem to remember from the civil trial in NY brought by E. Jean Carroll that when Trump goes to appeal, he has to put up damages plus 10%. (If I'm wrong, go ahead and correct me.)
My take on this is that it establishes as a fact that Trump is a cheat. For the sane voter, it undermines the claim that the election was stolen because Trump is a long-term liar and fraud. My fondest hope is that the media next year will burst the bubble of Trump being a business genius. The Apprentice was a TV show – fictional. Trump should get zero credibility as a titan of business but it should enhance his reputation as an actor for pretending to be one.
Related to the election, the suit should tighten the screws on Trump regarding available cash because it will take $200 million (to make a guess) in available CASH out of Trump's wallet. Next, the loss will make it harder for Trump to borrow because the NY business empire will cease to exist and any bank can (and will) demand extra collateral.
Yes, Trump will just try to fundraise off his problems. But he's been spending more than he's been bringing in. Note that in GA, most of Trump's co-defendants (perhaps all) are getting zero financial help from Trump. The experts predict that many of the smaller fish will flip and provide state's evidence. Trump spent a huge amount on lawyers for everyone the J6 committee wanted to talk to. And zip in the criminal trials in GA? Trump is either short on cash or he's conserving it.
Re the GA trial: if a significant number of the smaller fish flip, they will (my guess) only be able to testify against Rudy. What those minnows report that Rudy said about Trump will be hearsay – probably admissible as testimony against Rudy but inadmissible as evidence against Trump. So as this develops, it ought to be obvious even to the alcoholic former mayor of NYC that he's gonna take the fall. Not having seen the evidence Willis has, it seems like a weak link in the case against Trump is direct proof that Trump directed the actions of the second-level defendants.
If Cheesbro and Powell are found guilty, I predict a rapid shuffle of co-defendants to witnesses for the prosecution. By this time, Rudy may be down to a public defender – he's gonna be stone-cold broke by early next year with no help from Trump and no money coming in. I'm not predicting Rudy will flip but he's not gonna be able to put on a defense. IMO, long before the trial with Trump begins in GA, the prosecution's case will be firmed up with testimony from people who participated in the crimes.
Remember the scene from Star Wars with the trash compacter? The walls are closing in on Trump. C3PO is not standing by, but that's what Trump is screaming for when he demands the GOP shut down government and a higher court intervene to save him.
uncledad,
You're right about Cassidy, of course.
I'm just a sucker for an attractive convert. 😉
As I understand it, his LLCs go into receivership, where their assets – real estate – could be liquidated to pay off the $250 million penalty. Someone way more familiar with his holdings will no doubt weigh in on what the penalty means, IOW how big of a slice the judge took out of Trump today.
Whatever the legal wranglings are and the overall damage to Trump might be, we can't lose sight of the fact that Trump will be adding 40 some odd felony convictions to his list of a accomplishments. Maybe to the diehard Trump supporter nothing will make a difference in their support for Trump. But in the big picture anybody with a halfway reasonable ability to think is going to look at Trump as a Presidential candidate and ask themselves is this guy who was twice impeached, settled an fraud suit for Trump University for 25 million, had his chraritable foundation disbanded for fraud, found guity for sexually asaulting( rape) E jean Carroll. And with three more serious trials pending are going to want to throw their support behind another round of a Trump presidency?
Call me a sceptic, but I'd think hard and long before I'd put my vote on Trump or anyone that supports him. He's losing his shine at mach speed.
If I was his cornerman I'd throw in the towel!
Nope. Hang on to the towel. I want to see about 5 more rounds of Trump losing badly. Humiliated and finally begging for mecy.
With Trump reality is always malleable, not so much like putty but more like steel. All you need to do is whack it hard enough and it will change into a form you prefer. So, he is going to sue the judge who found him guilty of fraud (from news reports). I am sure the judge will be happy to hear the Don has the better judgement on what fraud is or isn't. The Don just has such a "great grasp" of reality and how to bend it to his liking.
Looking at Forbes estimate from this year, Trump is worth 2.5 Billion. The value of NY properties is well beyond the $250 million Trump will owe. At the moment, Trump can't move any of those assets – he can't conduct business in NY. If I'm correct about NY law, Trump will have to put up $250 million to appeal – that's in early 2024. I'm not sure if the authorities in NY will allow Trump to borrow on the NY assets to put up the cash that has to be posted before Trump can file an appeal. Will Trump have to borrow using other assets as collateral? My opinion is that any bank will want a half-million of security for a loan of $250 million because the situation screams that Trump is a bad risk.
Final resolution: Maybe about the time of the election, NY collects the money Trump put up to appeal. Trump's assets in NY are liquidated after that because Trump won't be allowed to do business in NY during the appeal. Trump will have to sell – NY is applying the "corporate death penalty" – Trump will have to liquidate all income-generating businesses in NY. I'm not sure when and how the name-branding end of the business might be released to Trump's control – out of NY state, I presume when the final payment is made to NY.
I think Trump will show a net worth of 2 billion in early 2025, a reduction of 20%. Trump will also incur a huge debt over the next year in legal costs. I'd be surprised if any lawyer willing to represent Trump doesn't demand cash upfront.
Here's a question: if the USSC determines that Trump is not eligible to be president, will the MAGA crowd close their wallets? Who will run the Trump Crime Cartel when Don the Con is in jail? And every transaction is under a federal microscope? What if the Trump name is so tainted by criminal corruption that the businesses under contract to pay to use the Trump name demand to break the contract on the basis that they did not know the name would be associated with corruption and they sue to stop paying Donald?
If I’m correct about NY law, Trump will have to put up $250 million to appeal
I know nada about NY law, but it’s hard for me to imagine it requires a cash outlay merely to appeal a verdict.
The $250 million = the damages the NY AG is seeking, it’s not the price of an appeal. Trump will appeal to deny the verdict altogether, or to reduce the amount.
If the “failed and corrupt businessman” meme takes hold, that should start to deflate Trump’s image among the grifters.
Glad to see Trump *finally* prosecuted for decades of blatant financial crimes, but politically, it's a disaster.
As Gulag points out above – and as I've been shouting for years – "if NYC DA's had done their job and charged tRUMP with fraud over the past 3 or 4 decades, he'd have never, ever […] gotten to be our idiotic and obnoxious presiDUNCE!".
Yeah, better late than never, but frankly, it kinda proves Trump & his Mob right when they holler about Trump being prosecuted for political reasons. If his crimes are so bad, why wasn't he jailed years ago? Worse, does anyone here imagine that Trump is the only one who made zillions of dollars from shady real estate deals in NYC? Why weren't/aren't all those other sleazebags on trial or in jail?
Because our system of "Justice" has become deeply corrupted by money flowing through political channels. (Jeffrey Epstein is Exhibit A for this charge; Exhibit B might be the Kushner family; anybody who knows more than I do about NY RE would quickly run out of letters for other Exhibits).
Having Letitia James prosecute Trump is the dream scenario for the Big Money wing of the GOP. They want to get Trump out of the way, but they need to blame his political demise on Democrats to regain control of the Mob that Trump stole from them. Letitia James is not only a Democrat, from New York (everybody knows that's where TEH ELITES live), but she's a Black Woman – the perfect "enemy" to blame for taking Trump down.
I'm *not* saying that James should drop the charges or ignore Trump's obvious crimes. I'm just saying that I see a political train wreck coming, where the GOP finds a "likeable" (and pliable) candidate to replace Trump when he gets jailed (or escapes to North Korea!). Plenty of Democrats will sigh and say "Oh well, at least it's not Trump", but IMO, the real danger to this country – and indeed, modern civilization – is the irrevocable changes a competent (but evil) GOP administration would impose on the US Government.
…the GOP finds a “likeable” (and pliable) candidate to replace Trump when he gets jailed (or escapes to North Korea!). Plenty of Democrats will sigh and say “Oh well, at least it’s not Trump”, but IMO, the real danger to this country – and indeed, modern civilization – is the irrevocable changes a competent (but evil) GOP administration would impose on the US Government.
One thing at a time. Discrediting a master con man like Trump, on top of other discredits (the monetary bleeding of Fox News, the sacking of Tucker Carlson) will make it harder for the next authoritarian to take root – unless the economy is really in the tank.
The political pendulum is swinging in favor of the Democrats – see the 2022 midterms for evidence, and the coming of the next generation, sick of right-wing craziness.
You don’t turn a big ship around in a day – one that’s been sailing since Ronald Reagan – but the ship is turning. Patiently keep applying pressure, day in, day out.
His next book should be titled The Art Of The Dill (he's in a pickle).