Did you ever notice that the lawfare against Trump gives new meaning to the phrase “trumped-up charges”?
For example, this legal travesty:
A New York judge ordered Donald Trump and his companies on Friday to pay $355 million in penalties, finding they engaged in a yearslong scheme to dupe banks and others with financial statements that inflated his wealth.
Trump won’t have to pay out the money immediately as an appeals process plays out, but the verdict still is a stunning setback for the former president.
If he’s ultimately forced to pay, the magnitude of the penalty, on top of earlier judgments, could dramatically diminish his financial resources.
No one was duped and no one complained. This is a transparent scheme to hurt Trump, and if it’s not reversed on appeal, it will be an even sadder day for America. All Americans – even Trump-haters – should agree, but of course they don’t.
Trump, one of 40 witnesses to testify at the trial, said his financial statements actually understated his net worth and that banks did their own research and were happy with his business.
“There was no victim. There was no anything,” Trump testified in November.
During the trial, Trump called the judge “extremely hostile” and the attorney general “a political hack.” In a six-minute diatribe during closing arguments in January, Trump proclaimed “I am an innocent man” and called the case a “fraud on me.”
Indeed.
Reading comments at websites this will hurt NY business as a whole, maybe drive corporations out. I doubt it, everyone knows it was only against DJT and will never be brought up again.
Skip:
Well. it could drive away business people on the right, anyway. I’m not sure how many of those exist in NY at this point, though.
@Skip
I think it will hurt businesses, precisely because people DON’T know it was “only against DJT and will never be brought up again.”
Remember: Trump was for a long time a relatively conventional Limo Liberal in good standing with the DNC and widely lauded. That describes a lot of NY Businesspeople, and they have to consider – if they are somewhat smart or reasonable – what might happen to them should they ever step out of line.
This is why arbitrary and corrupt abuse of the law against a specific target undercuts confidence in the system as a whole.
again we seem to be importing our business ethos from Russia, when the first oligarch was tried by sham tribunal, that would be khodokorsky, who was one of the seven who had boosted putin along with berezovsky, Browder laughed at the latter for being sloppy, of course in time ‘the bell tolled for thee’ and well you sort of know the rest of the story,
the last time there was someone this reckless at the head of NY law enforcement was Eliot Spitzer Client no 9, that was the least of his offenses he went after Langone, he went after Ace Greenberg who had founded AIG, the former had some recourse in the courts, the latter left the firm rudderless, he also went after Lehman Brothers, and we know what happened next, so there are real consequences to this malfeasance,
now who just gets a minor slap on the wrist Banamex which became a branch of
Citicorps, despite its shady reputation, they paid 100 million dollar on tens of billions of dubious behavior, then you have HSBC which could be the Mob bank in the Dark Knight, for some reason the likes of Judge Gleeson was always protecting them, hes the one who subsequently was still trying put bell the cat, with regards to General Flynn, much like his colleague Andrew Weissman, who destroyed Arthur Anderson with an untested legal theory,
supposedly targeted at Enron, but in point of fact there were much bigger players, that
were culpable with regards to that firm, Goldman Sachs for one, but Bob Rubin was untouchable then, as is probably now, as he was the one that handpicked Ken Lay to head the merged firm, that became Enron
a lot of that was going around in the late 90s and early 00s, honest services was employed against Conrad Black, against Ted Stevens et al, those are the names that came to mind for Pat Fitzgerald by a corrupt crew at Justice, but as Harry Reid ‘it worked didn’t it’ re the slanders against Romney,
Conrad’s empire was carved up and parcelled off to lesser players, like the Barclay brothers who own the Torygraph, imho, one of the leading voices for freedom was muted,
likewise with Ted Stevens agregious legal malpractice, led to losing that 59th or 60th vote that could have held out against Obamacare,
This may accelerate business departures from NY. If a business owner runs afoul of the current political leanings of New York leftists, it could all be taken away without genuine due process.
I know nothing about New York appeals processes and appeals courts. What are Trump’s next steps, and how likely is he to have this overturned?
Maybe the judgment should be changed when no one gets hurt, but I don’t understand the reasoning for not still charging someone. I’ve gotten a few speeding tickets even though no one got hurt. And there are plenty of attempted crimes where no got hurt. If someone tries to murder you, but gets caught before they even get near you. No one got hurt. You’d probably still want them in jail for it.
On the other hand, why is there even a penalty for negotiating the price of a loan or the value of something. That I don’t understand either. I can understand a penalty for lying to the tax man, but a negotiation for a loan?
I have thought for years now that people in the future will think that the expression “trumped-up charges” was coined because of Donald Trump. They will be amazed that it existed before Trump appeared on the scene.
It is obvious the Dems are trying their darnest to keep Trump out of the presidential race. It’s just that they have lied so much since 2016 that only the dumbest Democrats are still believing anything they say.
I think Trump’s chances on appeal are very good. First, the Eighth Amendment prohibits excessive fines. Could there be a better example of an excessive fine? Second, the obvious selective prosecution at work here makes it a violation of Equal Protection. I mean, come on: The AG campaigned on her determination to bring Trump down, and no other person in NY has been prosecuted for engaging in this form of alleged fraud. Both of those are federal constitutional issues, so it seems quite likely that SCOTUS will have the final say, not the NY Court of Appeals. (I also think there are likely several other issues for appeal before you even get to the constitutional ones, just to be clear.)
Popo:
In a case like this, there has to be harm and an aggreived party. There was none. Plus, Trump followed completely standard business practices. It is a malicious prosecution.
@popo
My understanding (IANAL, especially in NY) is that the intent of the law was to give the authorities a tool to use when fairly obvious fraudulent conduct was occurring but it was difficult to identify victims. Think of somebody offering a meaningless certification for $50. Any single victim is just a misdemeanor (I think) and identifying sufficient victims to get to a felony level violation would be a significant task for even a large DAs office. If I remember correctly that statute criminalizes providing false information in the course of a business transaction.
I think when most people note that nobody complained about Trump’s real estate valuations they are recognizing that an estimate of real estate value is an opinion, not a verifiable fact. If you’re offering a bogus certificate or adding charges for work not done or materials not provided to bills those actions can be proven. The fact you can find different valuations for the same piece of property (often used for different purposes) is not an indication that any one of them is particularly false.
This is a fork in the road. If Trump is the next President, he has to initiate an anti-corruption task force. If he doesn’t, or is not elected and can’t, we are well on the way to a complete corruptocracy. In twenty years, or less, we’ll make Russia look clean.
The fact that lawyers who have sworn to uphold the law – Letitia James and Arthur Engoron – can use the law to persecute a political opponent signals that our justice system has a cancer. Only extreme ideologues would be willing to use the law in this fashion.
Unfortunately, our law schools seem to be turning out many leftist ideologues. I don’t know when it began, but Bill and Hillary are two more examples of lawyers who considered the law to be a weapon to use to their advantage.
It literally makes me want to puke. Because I’m a known Republican donor and supporter, I would not stand a chance in a court of law on a tax audit.
This is basically a signal to those who oppose the establishment. The signal is: We can ruin you, even when you’ve done nothing wrong. It’s going to take some radical surgery and strong medicine to cure this cancer.
On the one hand, I agree that this is a form of lawfare by the lawless left.
On the other hand, I wonder if this abuse of government power is enough to get Trump to repent of his previous support for aggressive use of eminent domain to force one private land owner to sell to another private land owner under the guise of increased taxes rendered?
With God all things are possible. But would Trump listen?
I wish there was some way to hack the electronics of these partisan judges and prosecutors so the only thing they can get is “Judgement at Nuremberg” on endless loop.
This isn’t over, not even close to being over. Trump will be pursued to the grave, and beyond through actions against his family and companies, both because the Left deeply fears he will do to them what they’ve done to him if he regains power, and as a lesson to <ianyone who dares to cross the Left.
When the facts of a case would get the case dismissed in other states, this is using the law as a weapon. To a disinterested observer would this case be justified? Did the banks that loaned Trump the money not do due diligence? If they didn’t, are they accessories? This is so stupid. And some wonder why people don’t trust the government.
I am not a lawyer, but I had no idea that a state prosecutor could file a civil action against a respondent about whom nobody complained. I thought their power was relegated to criminal actions, not civil.
Erronius
We are seeing how the Marxists use Lawfare, it’s all Kangaroo Courts with verdict known before the trial starts, it was going to be guilty no matter what was brought forth.
Does Trump’s sentence(s) include [all] of New York State, or does it apply to just- New York City?
A lot of the news articles I’ve read don’t tell us if- this sentence is- just for the city, or if its for the whole state.
A lot of reporters use the name, “New York”, when they talk about both places.
That can be confusing to read about, when you read the news.
Trump was for a long time a relatively conventional Limo Liberal in good standing
==
No, he wasn’t. He was a registered Republican from 1969 to 1985, then alternated back and forth between several options on the voter registration form over the next 30 years. See the remarks of his estranged niece. In the Trump family, what interested them was how political events, measures, and actors would affect the business. They regarded politicians as fungible. That’s an unremarkable stance for a man of business to take.
We’ve been learning in increments over the last 11 years that street-level Democrats are perfectly content with nefarious behavior by bad people in official positions (starting with Lois Lerner). There is a small corps of opinion journalists and academicians who object to this (Glenn Greenwald, Matt Taibbi, Alan Dershowitz, Bari Weiss, Jonathan Turley) and no one else. This will not end well.
“and how likely is he to have this overturned?”
Probably good. The judge declared that Mar a Lago was only worth $18 million, and didn’t allow Trump to submit a defense. The guilt/innocence portion of the trial amounted to the judge declaring, “You’re guilty. Now we’ll figure out how much you owe in fines.”
The morning after the verdict was delivered, all across NY, the Boards of Directors of every NY registered corporation that had recently begun to unwind their dedication to DEI were meeting to reconsider.
Art Deco @ 9:32am,
Well said. And those of us who live in decades old Democrat strongholds learned this much earlier.
President Obama and Saul Alinsky made sure the Chicago method of political “organization” would expand and flower in every corner of this great land. The right and most reverend Jessie Jackson’s Chicago based Operation Push has expanded brilliantly.
As the Honorable Mayor Richard J. Daley so sagely proclaimed, “The police are not here to create disorder, they’re here to preserve disorder.” That glorious motto has now been expanded to incorporate all “civil” servants.
“Let a hundred flowers blossom”
NYC and NY State are fast becoming the new Castro Cubas. Letitia was elected as State AG, if you need convincing. The moral rot is not confined to NYC.
The MSM are solidly behind this conversion.
Popo on February 16, 2024 at 7:30 pm said:
Maybe the judgment should be changed when no one gets hurt, but I don’t understand the reasoning for not still charging someone. I’ve gotten a few speeding tickets even though no one got hurt.
How about if you were not speeding ? Maybe the cop just didn’t like your car. Your reasoning seems pretty shallow.
Caracas on the Hudson, more like, I mention Caracas because it indulges in anarcho tyranny where the Colectivos, perhaps the Tren de Aguas gang gets their cut, with the Sun Cartel, which is the collective of the top officers of the Venezuelan army, who divvy up the cartel transports,
If they never cared before his presidency, and only cared because he became Orange Man Bad, then all these Orange Man Bad trials is just Trump Derangement Syndrome in play. He’s the victim of lefties and normies desperate for a cure for their own bigotry for the man and his family.
Remember how psychiatrists and psychologists went on air to diagnose Trump, something no respectable mental health professional would do to anyone, well, someone should do that for all the people that wanted him persecuted since 2016.
When Ukraine-Russia happened the likes of MSNBC switched their focus from COVID to Ukraine and Putin. Now, given the next POTUS election is upcoming, their new obsession is Orange Man Bad. What happened to Ukraine? Still “reported” on, though the country is second fiddle to Trump.
GRA, in other words, Trump is an apostate that must be destroyed. Next up Musk.
I have never been a fan for special disabilities for the Jews. Guess the reasons, you’ll be wrong. I have my own reasons for wanting the IDF to crush the life out of Hamas.
Masada shall not fall.
Yes. “Trumped-up.”
Scott Adams would say: “That’s the simulation, winking at you.”
Yes, Boomers remember when politics weren’t so tribal. Living in Manhattan didn’t automatically make one a Democrat or a liberal, nor did being a rich Manhattanite.
This trial couldn’t have happened in the old days. Tribalism rots moral and professional standards.
Case in point: reference to Trump’s remarks as a “diatribe.” Not exactly objective reporting.
_________
I’m not sure President Trump’s chances for appeal are that great. The legal system isn’t about justice where he is concerned.
I had forgotten about him. Though you cannot necessarily judge a book by its cover, the people of New York decided to test the proposition by electing a guy who triggered thoughts of Nosferatu when beheld.
https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/01/spitzer-escort-speaks.jpg?quality=75&strip=all
oh there are places and people I wish I didn’t remember, here’s the thing for every Anthony Weiner or Elliot Spitzer there seems to be someone worse in the wings
I can’t prove it but Spitzer’s harassment of Lehman Bros, probably helped lead to the cataclysm that curiously would touch off the financial crisis, two months before an election, thats unheard ot, Why did Lehman fall, well one interesting detail concerned their lead energy expert, Edward Morse, who had been a high level bureaucrat in the US government, he bet the prediction models that say Goldman Sachs had bandied about were incorrect, now the structure of the Lehman Bros portfolio notably the Tishman Speyer development, but it wasn’t unusual, so Lehman was liquidated, there was a serious cash crisis that caused the river of unsupported printing to start in earnest and now 15 years we find ourselves here, with 35 trillion in Debt, Lehman’s scraps were eventually bought up for pennies on the dollar, and Edward Morse popped up again at IMDB that Chinese connected Malaysian investment company a few years later,
there were other consequences like the TARP bailout, which turned out to be a slush fund, for Banks who had lent without any regards for credit worthiness, somewhere in that milieu was the bailout of the major automakers, which still required chapter 11 bankruptcy and government receivers, then there was the Cash for Clunkers which reduced the stock of inexpensive transportation for average citizens, which would be repeated in spades with the covid lockdowns
the cash was not free, as Tucker has noticed, it came with certain strings about what could be said, what can be spent by institutions,
so occupy wall street socalled, meant certain practices including de industrialization could be sped up, but eventually this whole new arcana of gender idiocy as well as race specific criteria was mandatory, CRT DEI and whatever other thing is called upon,
https://directorblue.blogspot.com/2024/02/top-20-tweets-posts-tonight.html
Thank you Gov Hoshul for confirming my suspicion
So, if the DA and courts in New York City don’t start bringing fraud cases against people/corporations who are borrowing as much as Trump did, can we call them political thugs and hitmen to their faces?
When is not-a-crime a crime? When the defendant is a political figure from the Right.
I am getting more and more disgusted with all of this.
Art+Deco on February 17, 2024 at 9:32 am said:
We’ve been learning in increments over the last 11 years that street-level Democrats are perfectly content with nefarious behavior by bad people in official positions (starting with Lois Lerner). There is a small corps of opinion journalists and academicians who object to this (Glenn Greenwald, Matt Taibbi, Alan Dershowitz, Bari Weiss, Jonathan Turley) and no one else. This will not end well.
I agree (although could add some names to your list).
It was interesting watching the Russia collusion thing play out, wondering how far along it would take for the left to realize the truth. As the truth came out, they simply aligned with their tribe.
We know the intent of this was to use it as a one-off against Trump, but once used it can always be used again. So I’m not sure they can put this back in the box like they might want.
If I was a wealthy business owner it would make me rethink any investing in NY.