Lies And Consequences

As I was saying about growing up to be Trump’s lawyers:

Engoron also ordered sanctions for Trump's attorneys. Each will have to pay $7,500.

No idea why they were sanctioned, but judges don’t sanction lawyers willy-nilly.

Trump’s companies aren’t doing too well, either:

Judge Arthur Engoron in Donald Trump's NY civil case found Trump liable for fraud Tuesday and ordered the cancellation of all business certificates of all entities controlled or owned by Trump or his family in NY. 

The ruling found that the disgraced ex-president and his company deceived banks and insurers by massively overvaluing his assets and exaggerating his net worth on paperwork used in making deals and securing financing. 

It is the harshest repudiation yet of the perceived image of Trump as a shrewd billionaire business mogul and paints a picture of a career criminal who made money by scamming his financiers. Trump lied about the value of his assets for years to secure favorable loan terms and defraud insurers.

This is where I remind you that Trump gave a 7 hour deposition in this case, which the court considered and found not credible as a matter of law. Trump’s defense was that his financial statements all included a “worthless” clause:

This clause is basically a disclaimer at the beginning of the statements that any entity who receives them should conduct their own assessment of the value of his properties and he was not responsible if the valuations provided by him were incorrect. Essentially, it is his position that this clause gives him immunity from being held liable for any misrepresentations since that disclaimer renders all the numbers in the statement "worthless."

That’s like Trump’s claim the PRA protects him from criminal prosecution in Florida. Or those signs people put up saying “Not Responsible For Damages.” Yes, under the right circumstances, they are. So is Trump. His “worthless” clause, was.

Here is a quote from the order that hammers this point home:

The defenses Donald Trump attempts to articulate in his sworn deposition are wholly without basis in law or fact. He claims that if the values of the property have gone up in the years since the SFCs were submitted, then the numbers were not inflated at that time (i.e.; "But you take the 2014 statement, if something is much more valuable now - or, I guess, we'll have to pick a date which was a little short of now. But if something is much more valuable now, then the number that 1 have down here is a low number. NYSCEF Doc. No. 1363 at 69-75). He also seems to imply that the numbers cannot be inflated because be could “find a buyer from Saudi Arabia” to pay any price he suggests.

That gives you a good idea why this happened:

In addition to finding that Trump committed fraud, the judge canceled the certificates of various Trump businesses, appointed a former judge as an independent monitor of the Trump Organization, and will appoint receivers to manage the canceled LLCs.

I’m guessing the jet is a company asset. I know what would happen in bankruptcy, but what does Trump hold onto of company assets if the companies are shuttered?

I’d like to think even credulous Beltway journalists understand this is fraud of the first water. And that maybe the guy who thinks it’s just fine is not just another Presidential candidate.

Curious where those journos who reported that it was BREAKING news that the son of a Presidential candidate unlawfully owned a gun for 11 days 5 years ago are on the news that the corporate person of a Presidential candiate engaged in longterm fraud?

Yeah; I’m not holding my breath.

To recap:

This is the 3rd time in a month that we've seen at least a partial summary judgment in a key Trumpworld case.

 First it was Giuliani's defamation case.  

Then it was Trump in second E. Jean Carroll case.  

Now, Trump's NY fraud case.

Word comes that Trump’s lawyer has hired a lawyer. No, not that; to help him represent Trump. An SDNY alum. Given what Trump demands of his lawyers, it says something that this one is working on Trump’s cases, but not for Trump.

Trump has four criminal trials in his future. There is no reason to believe that future is any brighter than the recent past. The question now is: the political press has ignored a judge’s ruling that Trump is a rapist. Will they also ignore that his business career is one long case of fraud?

Besides, I understand Joe Biden is still old.

The leading Republican candidate has been found liable for sexual assault and fraud, his companies found guilty of fraud, and he's charged with 91 OTHER felony counts. That he is not dismissed politically out of hand says much more about us, than about him.