David Smith Washington bureau chief
THE GUARDIAN
Tue, September 26, 2023
Photograph: Sam Wolfe/Reuters
For years Donald Trump was the host of The Apprentice, a reality TV show in which contestants vied for a management job within his organisation and he would deliver the verdict: “You’re fired!”
It cemented the image of Trump as an assertive chief executive who had conquered New York, an image that still proves seductive to millions of voters who want him to run America like a business. But like much else about the 45th US president, it was all a lie.
Related: Five key takeaways from Donald Trump’s financial fraud case ruling
On Tuesday a judge found that Trump’s business empire was built, at least in part, on rampant fraud. Justice Arthur Engoron of the New York state court in Manhattan said Trump and his adult sons wildly inflated the value of his properties to hoodwink banks, insurers and others.
These included his office buildings and golf courses, his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida and his penthouse apartment at Trump Tower in New York, which he claimed was 30,000 square feet, nearly three times its actual size, resulting in an overvaluation of as much as $207m.
Noting that Trump’s lawyers were effectively asking the court not to believe its own eyes, Engoron quoted the Marx brothers’ film Duck Soup: “Well, who ya gonna believe, me or your own eyes?”
The decision will make it easier for state attorney general Letitia James to establish damages at a civil trial due to start next week; she is seeking a penalty of about $250m. Engoron ordered the cancellation of certificates that let some of Trump’s businesses, including the Trump Organization, operate in New York – just possibly the beginning of the end of his empire.
Tue, September 26, 2023
Photograph: Sam Wolfe/Reuters
For years Donald Trump was the host of The Apprentice, a reality TV show in which contestants vied for a management job within his organisation and he would deliver the verdict: “You’re fired!”
It cemented the image of Trump as an assertive chief executive who had conquered New York, an image that still proves seductive to millions of voters who want him to run America like a business. But like much else about the 45th US president, it was all a lie.
Related: Five key takeaways from Donald Trump’s financial fraud case ruling
On Tuesday a judge found that Trump’s business empire was built, at least in part, on rampant fraud. Justice Arthur Engoron of the New York state court in Manhattan said Trump and his adult sons wildly inflated the value of his properties to hoodwink banks, insurers and others.
These included his office buildings and golf courses, his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida and his penthouse apartment at Trump Tower in New York, which he claimed was 30,000 square feet, nearly three times its actual size, resulting in an overvaluation of as much as $207m.
Noting that Trump’s lawyers were effectively asking the court not to believe its own eyes, Engoron quoted the Marx brothers’ film Duck Soup: “Well, who ya gonna believe, me or your own eyes?”
The decision will make it easier for state attorney general Letitia James to establish damages at a civil trial due to start next week; she is seeking a penalty of about $250m. Engoron ordered the cancellation of certificates that let some of Trump’s businesses, including the Trump Organization, operate in New York – just possibly the beginning of the end of his empire.
A poster advertising The Apprentice outside Trump tower. Photograph: Sipa US/Alamy
If the judge’s scathing decision withstands an appeal from Trump’s lawyers, it will be the first time a government investigation into the former president has resulted in punishment. It will also deal the biggest blow yet to his persona as a successful tycoon.
That was always more about illusion than reality. In The Apprentice, he was effectively an actor reading from a script in a fantasy board room. In real life, it later transpired, he shied away from saying “You’re fired!” to anyone’s face at the White House, preferring to delegate the unpleasant task.
Trump’s origin story was told in his bestselling 1987 book The Art of the Deal. But the man who ghostwrote it, Tony Schwartz, describes him as an emperor with no clothes. “There’s nothing more important to Trump than being seen as very, very rich, which is why he’s expended so much effort in trying to claim a net worth far beyond what he actually was worth,” Schwartz told the Guardian in 2020.
A series of tax revelations and reports have shown that Trump is not as rich as he would like everyone to believe. But the exaggerations are very on brand for a man who claimed to have the biggest inauguration crowd ever, that voter fraud is rampant and that Democrats are so pro-abortion they want to commit infanticide.
None of it seems likely to shake the Trump faithful ahead of next year’s presidential election against Joe Biden. Their instant assumption is that politically biased judges are trying to distract attention from Hunter Biden’s troubles and that Trump is merely smarter than others when it comes to gaming the system.
At a campaign rally in Dubuque, Iowa last week, Mathew Willis, 41, said: “I’ve never seen him be anything but honest. During a debate at one point, they were like, ‘Oh, you don’t pay your taxes,’ and he’s like, ‘Neither do you! I use the legal system to do what I do. The loopholes are there. They put them there for people like you and us. I’m just working the system.’ He’s not doing anything illegal. What’s wrong with that?”
On Wednesday Trump, who also faces four criminal indictments, will head to the auto workers strike in Michigan, despite helming a presidency that was avowedly anti-union. The master of Mar-a-Lago will pretend to be a hero of the working class. In the words of Judge Engoron: “That is a fantasy world, not the real world.”
Judge rules Trump committed fraud while building his real estate empire
Thabata Nunes De Freitas
DESSERET NEWS
Tue, September 26, 2023
Former President Donald Trump listens as he speaks with reporters after a campaign rally at Waco Regional Airport in Waco, Texas. | Evan Vucci, Associated Press
New York Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron ruled Tuesday that former President Donald Trump committed fraud for years while building his real estate empire.
The judge found that Trump along with executives, including his sons, Eric and Donald Jr., and his company misled banks, insurers and others by inflating the value of his assets and exaggerating his net worth on papers used to make deals and secure financing.
Engoron ordered the revocation of the former president’s business licenses, hindering his ability to do business in New York. An independent monitor will continue overseeing the Trump Organization’s operations, per AP News.
“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 costs, Engoron found,” per AP News.
Christopher M. Kise, a lawyer representing Trump, called the decision “outrageous” and told The New York Times the former president will likely appeal, saying the judge ignored “basic legal, accounting and business principles.”
The judge rejected Trump’s argument that there was no wrongdoing because of a disclaimer on the financial statement, saying those tactics violated the law.
“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, per AP News. “That is a fantasy world, not the real world.”
Trump’s defense team had requested that Engoron dismiss the case, arguing New York’s attorney general, Letitia James, had no authority to file such a lawsuit because there was no evidence showing the public had been harmed by Trump’s actions, and many of the allegations were “beyond the statute of limitations,” per The Guardian.
Some of the assets that had their values inflated include: Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, a penthouse apartment in Manhattan’s Trump Tower that belongs to the former president, office buildings and golf courses, per The Guardian.
While Tuesday’s ruling resolves part of the lawsuit, remaining claims, including James’ request for $250 million in penalties, will be decided during a nonjury trial scheduled to start Oct. 2. Trump’s defense is seeking a delay.
Tue, September 26, 2023
Former President Donald Trump listens as he speaks with reporters after a campaign rally at Waco Regional Airport in Waco, Texas. | Evan Vucci, Associated Press
New York Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron ruled Tuesday that former President Donald Trump committed fraud for years while building his real estate empire.
The judge found that Trump along with executives, including his sons, Eric and Donald Jr., and his company misled banks, insurers and others by inflating the value of his assets and exaggerating his net worth on papers used to make deals and secure financing.
Engoron ordered the revocation of the former president’s business licenses, hindering his ability to do business in New York. An independent monitor will continue overseeing the Trump Organization’s operations, per AP News.
“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 costs, Engoron found,” per AP News.
Christopher M. Kise, a lawyer representing Trump, called the decision “outrageous” and told The New York Times the former president will likely appeal, saying the judge ignored “basic legal, accounting and business principles.”
The judge rejected Trump’s argument that there was no wrongdoing because of a disclaimer on the financial statement, saying those tactics violated the law.
“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, per AP News. “That is a fantasy world, not the real world.”
Trump’s defense team had requested that Engoron dismiss the case, arguing New York’s attorney general, Letitia James, had no authority to file such a lawsuit because there was no evidence showing the public had been harmed by Trump’s actions, and many of the allegations were “beyond the statute of limitations,” per The Guardian.
Some of the assets that had their values inflated include: Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, a penthouse apartment in Manhattan’s Trump Tower that belongs to the former president, office buildings and golf courses, per The Guardian.
While Tuesday’s ruling resolves part of the lawsuit, remaining claims, including James’ request for $250 million in penalties, will be decided during a nonjury trial scheduled to start Oct. 2. Trump’s defense is seeking a delay.
No comments:
Post a Comment