NEW YORK (AP) — A judge has ruled that Donald Trump committed fraud for years while building the real estate empire that catapulted him to fame and the White House.

Judge Rules Donald Trump Committed Fraud For Years While Building Real Estate Empire

NEW YORK (AP) — A judge has ruled 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 Tuesday 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.

The decision, days before the start of a non-jury trial in Attorney General Letitia James’ lawsuit, is the strongest repudiation yet of Trump’s carefully coiffed image as a wealthy and shrewd real estate mogul turned political powerhouse.

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 premiums, Engoron found.

Those tactics crossed a line and violated the law, the judge said, rejecting Trump’s contention that a disclaimer on the financial statements absolved him of any wrongdoing.

Manhattan prosecutors had looked into bringing a criminal case over the same conduct but declined to do so, leaving James to sue Trump and seek penalties that could disrupt his and his family’s ability to do business in the state.

Bisbee wrote: Tue Sep 26, 2023 7:03 pm This is a civil case. SCOTUS rarely takes on cases such as this where mere money is involved.

Wino wrote: Tue Sep 26, 2023 7:16 pm So why isn't the IRS up his orange ass for tax fraud???

A judge granted Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis' request to restrict identifying information about jurors in the Georgia election interference case, a new court filing shows. In a two-page order Monday, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee imposed strict limits regarding the identities of jurors involved in any trial in the case against former President Donald Trump and 18 co-defendants. The court’s standing rules restrict using photographic or electronic equipment without a judge’s consent. McAfee’s order offers additional protections by prohibiting drawing in an identifiable manner or otherwise recording images, statements or conversations of jurors or prospective jurors.

He further ordered that jurors and prospective jurors be identified only by their numbers in court filings while the trial is pending, and he prohibited disclosing juror information that would reveal their identities, including names, addresses, telephone numbers or identifying employment information. McAfee allowed exceptions for recording audio of the jury foreperson’s announcement of a verdict or questions to the judge. The order applies to the trial of Kenneth Chesebro and Sidney Powell, whose joint trial is scheduled to begin Oct. 23, and a subsequent trial for the 17 other defendants, including Trump.

TrueTexan wrote: Tue Sep 26, 2023 8:13 pm

Wino wrote: Tue Sep 26, 2023 7:16 pm So why isn't the IRS up his orange ass for tax fraud???

That is a good question. I guess his accountant fixed the books. He might have been a triple book accountant , one for TOS , one for business investor and loans, and one for the government.

Trump goes on wild rant targeting judge and attorney general after being found liable for fraud

Donald Trump unleashed a wild rant Wednesday morning, targeting the New York attorney general and the Manhattan Supreme Court judge in the State of New York’s $250 million civil case against him. The judge on Tuesday declared the ex-president had committed fraud for years in building his real estate empire and ordered his business certificates revoked and holdings dissolved.

Trump has been warned to not make public attacks against or attempts to intimidate witnesses or officers of the court, or prejudice jurors in one of the criminal cases he is currently facing. Two weeks ago, after appearing to not heed those warnings, the Special Counsel prosecuting the ex-president for his alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election asked the judge presiding over that case to limit his speech.

Wednesday morning, Trump called New York Attorney General Letitia James “Racist.” He called Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron “Deranged,” and “Trump Hating,” alleging he had “made up this crazy ‘KILL TRUMP’ decision, assigning insanely low values to properties.” Trump wrote the judge valued his Mar-a-Lago resort and residence at $18 million, and claimed (in all-caps) “it is worth possibly 100 times that amount.”

The judge, however, according to The Hill, “found Trump consistently overvalued Mar-a-Lago, inflating its value on one financial statement by at least 2,300 percent. The ruling pointed to a Palm Beach County Assessor’s appraisal from 2011-2021, which estimated Mar-a-Lago’s value between $18 million and $27.6 million.”

“In his order,” The New York Times reported Tuesday, “Justice Engoron wrote scathingly about Mr. Trump’s defenses, saying that the former president and the other defendants, including his two adult sons and his company, ignored reality when it suited their business needs. ‘In defendants’ world,’ he wrote, ‘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.'”

“That is a fantasy world, not the real world,” the judge concluded.

At the end of his diatribe Wednesday, Trump declared: “There is also an IRONCLAD DISCLAIMER CLAUSE!”

NonServiam wrote: Mon Sep 25, 2023 6:31 pm Interesting turn of events with Trump (possibly) committing yet another felony.

https://www.meidastouch.com/news/did-tr ... shop-today

highdesert wrote: Wed Sep 27, 2023 4:16 pm The NY decision is the civil suit that Letitia James filed in NY state court. The judges decision was summary judgement on one issue, there are other issues yet to be decided. It was a sweeping ruling, but it's from a trial court in NY, there are still two state appellate courts above that will have final say and even after the NY Court of Appeals decides, it can be taken directly to SCOTUS. These are minor skirmishers, nothing is a done deal until all appeals are exhausted.

If Biden and Democrats thought that indicting Trump on numerous charges would stop him running in 2024, so far it's back fired. The perception on the other side is that this is all political payback for what he did as president and to block him from running again. Democrats and Independent that lean towards them (44%) and Republicans and Independents that lean towards them (42%) are almost equal, for every Democrat and leaner that sees Trump as a crook, there is almost exactly the same number of Republicans and learners that see him as a victim of a witch hunt. Everyone doesn't think the same way about Trump.

Trump is raging that he won't get a jury trial in New York — but that was his choice

As Raw Story explained weeks ago, Donald Trump's lawyers gave up their right to a jury trial in the fraud case in New York.

An NBC News report outlined how long the judge anticipated the trial to last, which was expected to be three months. Buried in the report was the revelation that Trump's lawyers elected for a "bench trial." It means Trump's team did not ask Judge Arthur Engoron's trial to involve a jury.

"I have a Deranged, Trump Hating Judge, who RAILROADED this FAKE CASE through a NYS Court at a speed never seen before, refusing to let it go to the Commercial Division, where it belongs, denying me everything, No Trial, No Jury. He made up this crazy 'KILL TRUMP' decision, assigning insanely low values to properties, despite overwhelming evidence..."

He didn't mention that the reason there is no jury is that his own team did not request one.

Now Trump is alleging the judge is a "political hack judge."

"I have had very unfair judges since entering politics, but nobody has been as unhinged as this guy," Trump claims.

"Donald Trump's lawyers screwed up again," trial lawyer Michael Popok said when talking about the development. "His then-lawyer Alina Habba screwed up the procedures in New York, didn't file the appropriate paper on time, and therefore, Donald Trump was properly denied a jury trial."

In all of Trump's cases, he has elected to have a jury, Raw Story previously explained. Legal analysts have observed that in the transcripts released from the special purpose grand jury in Fulton County, Georgia, there was almost always one person who voted against the indictment while the rest of the panel did.

"With respect to Trump, an overwhelming majority of the grand jurors recommended that the district attorney seek indictments against him for a litany of offenses related to the call," wrote Lawfare's Anna Bower. "Elsewhere in the report, the jurors also recommend charges against Trump in connection to separate communications with Georgia officials and other efforts to overturn the 2020 election. For each of the charges recommended for Trump, one juror—though perhaps not the same juror—voted against the charges."

In addition to Trump claiming that his properties grew in value beyond what he originally exaggerated them to be anyway, "he also seems to imply that the numbers cannot be inflated because he could find a 'buyer from Saudi Arabia' to pay any price he suggests."

This comes amid intense scrutiny into Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, who got a mysterious $2 billion deal from the Saudi wealth fund, over the objections of the people who were managing the fund itself.

sig230 wrote: Wed Sep 27, 2023 4:24 pm What I fear is that a large block of voters will simply not cast a Presidential vote and that the votes that do get cast will be fairly evenly split two ways; close enough that both sides will see victory and perhaps even such that neither major party candidates reach the Electoral College number.

A 2024 Presidential election without a CLEAR winner will be a nightmare. Look at the 2020 election outcome where there was a clear winner and loser.

If no candidate receives 270 electoral votes, the House of Representatives will pick the president. Each state delegation gets one vote, regardless of the number of congressional districts it has. 26 votes, representing a majority of the states, are required to win.

FrontSight wrote: Wed Sep 27, 2023 8:12 pm The implosion of MAGA is at least entertaining. This latest ruling hopefully will cause a good deal of heartburn for the Trumpies.