Watch The Donut 🍩, Not The A-Hole

Habba: We’ve had a strong week… I think we’re doing very well

Do tell:

Yesterday, the AG’s office began their direct examination of now-retired former Trump Org. controller — and defendant — Jeff McConney. For years, McConney was the principal provider of information that was plugged into the statements of financial condition. 2/ 

And some of the admissions they elicited were shocking. McConney wrote, for example, in a spreadsheet shared with Trump’s accountants that the basis for valuing a downtown commercial building was a telephone conversation he had wita specific appraiser. 3/ 

The problem? While McConney knew that appraiser, who was retained on multiple occasions by Trump Org. lenders, McConney never discussed or asked him about the valuation method at issue. There was no such telephone conversation—and McConney admitted that yesterday. 4/ 

The Trump defendants contend it was the accountants’ job to familiarize themselves with the valuation methods used to assess any asset and that Trump’s employees openly disclosed those methods through spreadsheets provided each year. 5/ 

Not only does that misstate the accountant’s responsibilities under accounting industry standards and their written agreements with the Trump Org., but it also ignores the fact that the information provided by Trump’s team was deceptive. 6/ 

McConney’s lie about his conversation with an appraiser is just one among many examples. McConney’s valuation of Trump’s apartment was similarly predicated on lies and gross exaggerations: tripling its square footage, using the asking price of a supposedly comparable apartment instead of its sales price…. 7/ 

So yes, some of this testimony — about capitalization rates and comps — is jargon-filled and not always sexy on the surface. But McConney is beginning to show why despite Chris Kise’s clever framing, the Trump Org.‘s valuation of its assets reflected knowing, intentional fraud. 9/ 

It’s one thing to say accounting standards are elastic or that real estate valuations are inherently flexible. But it’s another thing to lie or conceal, and with or without the fanfare accompanying the lead defendant’s attendance, that fraud is being unpacked in a downtown courtroom. I’ll be back there today. FIN

The good stuff is not Trump sitting in the courtroom like a petulant child on the toilet.

Habba: We are witnessing corruption at its best right now in this country,

You said it, lady.