JUDICIAL TYRANNY OR JUSTICE?
Once again, a suspect legal case is lodged against former President Trump to manipulate a presidential election by eliminating the Republican frontrunner.
The charge is a civil, not criminal, business fraud case based on false financial statements and unsubstantiated valuations. It was not brought by the financial institutions and others who did business with the Trump Organization, all of whose debts were claimed to be satisfactorily settled.
No, the charge was brought by politicians, progressive communist democrats, to be specific. One of which was the Attorney General of the State of New York, Leticia James, who openly campaigned on prosecuting and jailing former President Trump.
Of course, there was no trial, no jury – even though a jury was likely to be hostile to Donald Trump after years of overwhelmingly negative media coverage.
The Judge, Arthur Engoron, put forth a summary judgment of guilt, which opens the way to severe and costly penalties unless the case is immediately appealed. One critical portion of the ruling places the Trump Organization under the control of a court-appointed “receiver” who could rummage through years of documents looking for “smoking gun” evidence and disrespecting Trump’s legal rights.
The Judge’s ruling responded to Trump’s “summary judgment” request to dismiss the matter. The court case starts next week.
The law …
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Executive Law § 63(12) provides, as here pertinent, as follows: Whenever any person shall engage in repeated fraudulent or illegal acts or otherwise demonstrate persistent fraud or illegality in the carrying on, conducting or transaction of business, the attorney general may apply, in the name of the people of the state of New York, to the supreme court of the state of New York, on notice of five days, for an order enjoining the continuance of such business activity or of any fraudulent or illegal acts, directing restitution and damages and, in an appropriate case, cancelling any certificate filed under and by virtue of the provisions of section four hundred forty of the former penal law or section one hundred thirty of the general business law, and the court may award the relief applied for or so much thereof as it may deem proper. The word “fraud” or “fraudulent” as used herein shall include any device, scheme or artifice to defraud and any deception, misrepresentation, concealment, suppression, false pretense, false promise or unconscionable contractual provisions. The term “persistent fraud” or “illegality” as used herein shall include continuance or carrying on of any fraudulent or illegal act or conduct. The term “repeated” as used herein shall include repetition of any separate and distinct fraudulent or illegal act, or conduct which affects more than one person. PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, BY LETITIA JAMES, ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK vs. TRUMP, DONALD J. ET AL (Page 3 of 35) |
The Judge’s order…
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ORDERED that defendants’ motion for summary judgment is denied; and it is further [OCS: Lawyers were anctioned for presenting frivolous motions. Especially their argument that a “worthless” disclaimer absolves an individual from complying with the requirements of presenting honest information to financial institutions.] ORDERED that plaintiffs motion for sanctions is granted in part, to the extent of sanctioning Michael Madaio, Esq. (Habba Madaio & Associates, LLP), Clifford S. Robert, Esq. (Robert & Robert PLLC), Michael Farina Esq. (Robert & Robert PLLC), Christopher M. Kise, Esq., (admitted pro hac vice) (Continental PLLC), and Armen Morian (Morian Law PLLC) in the amount of $7,500 each, to be paid to the Lawyer’s Fund for Client Protection of the State of New York no later than 30 days from the date of this Decision and Order; and it is further [OCS: Everybody is liable.] ORDERED that plaintiffs motion for partial summary judgment on its first cause of action is granted in part, to the extent of finding defendants Donald J. Trump, Donald Trump, Jr., Eric Trump, Allen Weisselberg, Jeffrey McConney, the DJT Revocable Trust, the Trump Organization Inc, the Trump Organization LLC, DJT Holdings LLC, DJT Holdings Managing Member LLC, Trump Endeavor 12 LLC, 401 North Wabash Venture LLC, Trump Old Post Office LLC, 40 Wall Street LLC, and Seven Springs LLC to be liable as a matter of law for persistent violations of Executive Law§ 63(12); and it is further [OCS: New York business licenses canceled.] ORDERED that any certificates filed under and by virtue of GBL § 130 by any of the entity defendants or by any other entity controlled or beneficially owned by Donald J. Trump, Donald Trump, Jr., Eric Trump, Allen Weisselberg, and Jeffrey McConney are canceled; and it is further [OCS: Appointment of a receiver to dissolve all of the above businesses.] ORDERED that within 10 days of the date of this order, the parties are directed to recommend the names of no more than three potential independent receivers to manage the dissolution of the canceled LLCs; and it is further [OCS: Court monitor to remain to prevent further fraud.] ORDERED that the Hon. Barbara S. Jones (ret.) shall continue to serve as an independent monitor of the Trump Organization until further Court order; and it is further [OCS: Judgement to be entered.] ORDERED that the Clerk shall enter judgment accordingly. PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, BY LETITIA JAMES, ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK vs. TRUMP, DONALD J. ET AL (Page 35 of 35) |
Full disclosure…
Trump admits to having a first-page disclaimer, essentially saying that the document being presented is “worthless” for the purposes of performing due diligence.
The judge’s response…
“However, defendants' reliance on these "worthless" disclaimers is worthless. The clause does not use the words "worthless" or "useless" or "ignore" or "disregard" or any similar words. It does not say, "the values herein are what I think the properties will be worth in ten or more years." Indeed, the quoted language uses the word "current" no less than five times, and the word "future" zero times.
“Additionally, as discussed supra, a defendant may not rely on a disclaimer for misrepresentation of facts peculiarly within the defendant's knowledge.”
“Thus, the "worthless clause" does not say what defendants say it says, does not rise to the level of an enforceable disclaimer, and cannot be used to insulate fraud as to facts peculiarly within defendants' knowledge, even vis-a-vis sophisticated recipients.” (Page 13-14 of 35)
The Judge is not infallible and is operating on government-supplied estimates...
The Judge cited a Palm Beach Assessor valuation for Mar-a-Lago that ranged from $18 million to $28 million between 2011 and 2021, with industry sources saying it fails to take into consideration the fair market value of this unique 20-acre property.
"Notwithstanding, the SFCs' [Statements of Financial Condition] values do not reflect these land use restrictions. Donald Trump's SFCs for 201 1-2021 value Mar-a-Lago at between $426,529,614 million and $612,110,496, an overvaluation of at least 2,300%, compared to the assessor's appraisal. NYSCEF Doc. Nos. 769-779." (Page 26 of 35)
According to real estate experts, this property is wildly undervalued. Their valuations range from $300 million to $500 million for this unique property and its attached golf course. The property spans the entire Island, hence its name -- sea to lake, Mar-a-Lago. By comparison, Rush Limbaugh's 2.5-acre Palm Beach compound sold for $155 million earlier this year. At question is how much land use restrictions devalue the property valuation.
Trump’s response…
“As my lead in the polls over Joe Biden continues to skyrocket, these Corrupt and Highly Political Prosecutors and Judges are getting more and more desperate and dangerous.
We are rapidly becoming a Communist Country, and my Civil Rights have been taken away from me.
The New York State Attorney General went before a Highly Politicized Democrat Judge, who refused allowing the case to go to the Commercial Division, where it belonged, to simply rule, despite all of the evidence to the contrary, that I committed fraud, which is both ridiculous and untrue.
As an example, this Democrat Operative valued Mar-a-Lago, the most spectacular and valuable property in Palm Beach, Florida, to be worth as low as $18 Million, when in actuality, it could be worth almost ioo times that amount. He hated everything about me at a level that I have never seen before, even beyond the hatred of that displayed by Letitia James. There was no trial and no jury for the supposed "wrongdoing" OF FULLY PAYING BACK SOPHISTICATED WALL STREET BANKS IN FULL, WITH INTEREST, WITH NO DEFAULTS, AND WITH NO VICTIMS.
These Banks were represented by the largest, most sophisticated Law Firms in the Country.
This is Democrat Political Lawfare, and a Witch Hunt at a level never seen before. It is an attempt to badly injure the opposing Party's Leading, by far, Political Candidate. Nothing like this has ever happened in our Country before. My Civil Rights have been violated, and some Appellate Court, whether Federal or State, must reverse this horrible, un-American decision. If they can do this to me, they can do this to YOU!” <Trump via Truth Social>
Bottom line…
I do not doubt that Donald Trump inflated the value of his assets, sometimes laughingly so. Likewise, there is no doubt in my mind that all of the counterparties to Trump transactions were sophisticated individuals and entities who relied on their own due diligence and appraisals before entering into deals.
I do not question the Judge’s honesty, motivation, or ruling; if mistakes were made, they should be brought up on appeal or during the actual trial.
What I question is the timing of this action and why it was brought after years and years of business practices, which seemed to be a feature of most New York real estate and business deals.
Therefore, I must conclude that the timing of this action was political and advanced by political players such as Leticia James—a deliberate attempt to interfere with the 2024 presidential election.
We are so screwed.
-- Steve
“Nullius in verba”-- take nobody's word for it!
"Acta non verba" -- actions not words
“Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance.”-- George Bernard Shaw
“Progressive, liberal, Socialist, Marxist, Democratic Socialist -- they are all COMMUNISTS.”
“The key to fighting the craziness of the progressives is to hold them responsible for their actions, not their intentions.” – OCS "The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane." -- Marcus Aurelius “A people that elect corrupt politicians, imposters, thieves, and traitors are not victims... but accomplices” -- George Orwell “Fere libenter homines id quod volunt credunt." (The people gladly believe what they wish to.) ~Julius Caesar “Describing the problem is quite different from knowing the solution. Except in politics." ~ OCS