No surprises.
Well, except Engoron didn't try to jail trump.
Thats a surprise.

Now we wait for the real verdict.

 

Trump Has ‘Next to No Chance of Winning’ When He Appeals $354 Million Judgment Against Him, Says CNN Legal Analyst
Michael LucianoFeb 16th, 2024, 8:52 pm


CNN Senior Legal Analyst Elie Honig does not like Donald Trump’s chances when the former president appeals a judge’s ruling that ordered him to pay an eye-popping sum.

Manhattan Judge Arthur Engoron, who ruled last year that Trump and the Trump Organization defrauded banks and insurers, ruled on Friday that the former president must pay $354 million for overstating the value of his assets to obtain more favorable terms with banks and insurance companies.

The judge also ordered Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump – executives at the company – to pay $4 million each, and ex-Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg to pay $1 million. The Trumps deny they inflated their assets and argued that fraud was not committed because no institutions lost money.


The former president said he will appeal the decision.

Honig and Former CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin appeared on Friday’s AC360 to offer their reaction.

“What his defense was in this case, which was, ‘I borrowed money and I paid it back,” Toobin said. “‘So, what’s the problem? There’s no harm.’ The problem is that because he lied about his assets, he got lower interest rates to have to pay it back. So, he benefited to the tune of millions of dollars by lying to the banks and to other authorities about how much money he had. He’s never acknowledged that, but this damage award is because he got all this benefit – millions of dollars, lower interest rates because of the lies that he told.”

Host Anderson Cooper turned to Honig.

“The chance of an appeal,” the host said. “Is there one for him?”

“Well, he certainly will appeal,” Honig noted. “I think he has next to no chance of prevailing.”

“He has to put up money just to appeal,” Cooper noted.


“He has to put up a bond,” Honig replied. “Usually, the parties will agree on it. If not, the judge will set it. It’s usually some percentage, and you can secure the bond with properties or that kind of thing.”

He then turned to Engoron’s ruling, which he praised for being “meticulous”:

He goes through every property, every transaction, and he puts things in the appeal that he knows he cannot be reversed on. For example, assessing how credible a witness is. Did I believe this witness or not? That is uniquely up to the trial judge. You can’t be reversed on that. So, Donald Trump certainly will appeal. I think he’s got next to no chance of winning on it.

Watch above via CNN.

https://www.mediaite.com/tv/trump-h...-judgment-against-him-says-cnn-legal-analyst/

 

So is this Honig person an appeals cout judge or paid pundit?

No matter the supreme court, if this gets that far, will be forced to address the very basic question: can there be fraud with no victim?

 

Yes there were victims the stock holders of the bank they would have got a larger dividends.

 

An unproven assumption based on weak logic to justify a conviction with an almost certain unconstitutional law.

We'll see.

 

We should just laugh anytime we see Trump or treasonous conservative/America Hating/Republicans trying to claim the verdict against Trump is unconstitutional. The law Trump was convicted on has been on the books for 70 years and used against corporations like Exxon. So its not like the law hasn't already been challenged and upheld.


And now Trump biographer David Cay Johnston asks a very good question. Which foreign country is going to own Trump? Or more accurately own Trump more than they already do?


'More troubles ahead': Trump biographer maps out ex-president's money minefield

M.L. Nestel
February 16, 2024 10:26PM ET



Donald Trump (Shutterstock)




Trump may need to search farther afield in order to pay the nearly $500 million piper.

"He has more troubles coming ahead," Trump biographer David Cay Johnston said during a panel discussion on CNN's "The Source" with Kaitlan Collins.

Trump learned that he and his company were nailed with a $355 million verdict by Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron.

ALSO READ: How Speaker Mike Johnson’s dream of bipartisan decency died in his hands

The judge described the widespread fraud that was carried out by Trump, his grownup sons Eric and Don Jr., as well as former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg.

“This is a venial sin, not a mortal sin,” Engoron's 92-page opinion reads. “They did not rob a bank at gunpoint. Donald Trump is not Bernard Madoff. Yet, defendants are incapable of admitting the error of their ways.”

While the interest rate on civil judgments dipping from 9% to 2% will soften the sting some for the 45th president, Johnston wonders if former President Donald Trump can cough up the cash to remit today's fraud civil judgment or the $83.3 million defamation judgement ordered against him for publicly impugning E. Jean Carroll's name.

Johnston noted that working against Trump is the fact that should he need to post a bond, he would need a loan. And that bank or institution cannot be "certified in New York."

That could have the former commander-in-chief desperately heading overseas to ask for a bailout from a Russian oligarch or perhaps Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman "if they're willing to put up the money for him."

"He can't borrow from any bank registered in New York state. And every big bank in the world pretty much that deals in the Western world is registered here," said Johnston.

Watch the video below or click the link here.



https://www.rawstory.com/trump-2667302978/

 

Trump’s brand is now 'synonymous with fraud and failure' after $450M judgment: columnist

Carl Gibson, AlterNet
February 17, 2024 9:25AM ET



Donald Trump (Photo by Saul Loeb for AFP)




Former President Donald Trump's business empire was dealt a severe blow by New York Judge Arthur Engoron on Friday, and one longtime Democratic strategist is arguing that the nine-figure judgment is a lasting stain on Trump's image as a savvy business magnate.

In a Saturday column for the Guardian, Sidney Blumenthal — who was a senior adviser to former President Bill Clinton — wrote that despite his father, Fred, trusting him with both his sizable real estate portfolio and the family's name, Trump has been "steering the family legacy on to the rocks."

"Judge Arthur Engoron’s ruling on Friday concludes the nearly century-long history of the Trump Organization in New York in disgrace and ruin," Blumenthal wrote. "The Trump brand is now adjudicated to be synonymous with fraud and failure."

The $355 million judgment Engoron handed down comes with roughly $90 million in interest that accrues every day the sum is not paid, according to New York Attorney General Letitia James. That means the former president's civil fraud judgment hovers around the half-billion mark. According to Blumenthal, this marks a new low for Trump, who — along with his father Fred — reached their "pinnacle of acceptance" in New York City in the late 1970s.

In his column, Blumenthal detailed how Donald's brother, Fred Jr., had seemingly failed the family after rejecting his father's calls for him to pursue a career in the business world by becoming a pilot instead. When Fred Jr. succumbed to alcoholism and resigned himself to living in his family's Queens home, Donald became his father's next best hope.

According to Blumenthal, Fred hoped to get his son connections in politics, and recalled a story from a "friend" who was a Democratic National Committee (DNC) official during the Jimmy Carter administration. During a function at the home of a power player in New York politics, Fred asked the DNC official about getting his son "experience in Washington." When an apparently unenthused Donald began to speak out in protest, Fred reportedly told him to "shut the f--- up," adding that "we didn't f---ing ask you" and barked "who the f--- cares what you think?" Blumenthal wrote that "Donald shut up" after that exchange.

Blumenthal wrote that when Trump sought to expand his family's real estate empire from Brooklyn into Manhattan, he pledged to be "bigger" than billionaire real estate developer Harry Helmsley, who owned the Empire State Building. The columnist noted that Helmsley was eventually charged with inflating the value of his real estate holdings and for tax evasion in 1988 but was deemed too frail to stand trial. His wife, Leona, didn't escape justice. She was convicted and sent to prison.

https://www.rawstory.com/trump-fraud-failure/

 

Those who support the New York fraud case against trump arrogantly claim that just because this law says it can be a victimless case makes it legal, and just because its been on the books for 70 years and perhaps challenged before, it is "appeal proof"

Then they clain the electoral college is ancient and useless and needs repeal.

And when trump won in2016 they attempted to challenge the certification.
And failed.
And when trump lost in 2020 and attempted to challenge the certification he was taking advantage of a "ceremonial process"

Hypocrite much.

 

When Michael Cohen first testified to Congress about Trump's business fraud in February of 2019 some people started saying its the sort of thing the IRS should look into. Which of course was not going to happen because Trump was president. So New York attorney general Letitia James started investigating instead.

But the questions still remain. Trump cannot commit fraud and tax evasion in New York without also doing the same to federal taxes. So where is the IRS?



Trump and sons could be headed for IRS trouble after massive fraud ruling: ex-prosecutor

Tom Boggioni
February 17, 2024 7:51AM ET



Donald Trump, pointing at his sons Donald Trump, Jr and Eric Trump (Twitter)




Appearing on MSNBC on the morning after Donald Trump, his two sons and the Trump Organization were slammed by Judge Arthur Engoron with a financial fraud penalty that could exceed $450 million, one ex-prosecutor suggested the IRS and the DOJ could be waiting in the wings.

Speaking with host Ali Velshi, legal analyst Catherine Christian acknowledged that New York Attorney General Letitia James had indicated she would be passing on some of her findings that led to the former president's conviction to the Department of Justice.

She added that Trump and his sons, Donald Jr. and Eric may also be hearing from the IRS.

"What is the potential culpability beyond this trial? Is there something beyond this for Donald Trump?" host Velshi asked.

"If now the federal government, the Southern District of New York sort of passed on this publicly, but that does not mean that they can't, as long as it's within the statute of limitations take another look," she replied.



"And clearly, the federal government, the Internal Revenue Service, they sort of never stop looking at you, and so yes, the AG's office referred to it to other authorities, and it could be possible that each of the defendants, not just Donald Trump, his sons, [Allen] Weisselberg could be in legal jeopardy, even criminal jeopardy."

Watch below or at the link.



https://www.rawstory.com/trump-irs-problems/

 

Perfect.
Yes, lets get the IRS to look into Trump's "fraud".
Without looking Shooter will bet the federal law requires a victim to prove fraud.

 

John Bolton Issues Warning Over Donald Trump’s Legal Debts And Foreign Autocrats
Lee Moran
Updated Mon, February 19, 2024 at 6:52 AM MST·1 min read
2.2k

• 
  

John Bolton, who served as a national security adviser to leaving the page." data-wf-tooltip-position="bottom" data-wf-reset-every="90">Donald Trump, on Sunday suggested the former president may be targeted by America’s foreign adversaries because of the amount of money he now owes following civil court cases.

Trump was last week hit with a $355 million ruling in his civil fraud trial for the yearslong overinflation of the worth of his assets for financial gain. He also owes writer E. Jean Carroll $88.3 million after one jury found him liable for sexual abuse and defamation, and a second one decided he had defamed her again.

MSNBC’s Jen Psaki asked Bolton if he was “worried about Trump having all of this money he owes and being a target, in that way, of people like [Russian President Vladimir] Putin and other foreign autocrats?”

Bolton said Trump would likely have to liquidate some of his properties, but it was not “really a near-term problem” because Trump will appeal the rulings.

Psaki asked if foreign autocrats could target Trump because he owes lots of money, which he may not actually have despite his claims to be a billionaire.

“I think this is one of the demonstrations why Trump really is not fit for office. He is consumed by these troubles, his family is consumed by them, and I think foreigners will try to take advantage of it one way or another. They may be doing it already,” he replied.

Watch the full interview here:





https://www.yahoo.com/news/john-bolton-issues-warning-over-101544447.html

 

Small minds see big problems in little issues.

 

Trump hasn't got a chance of appealing 'bulletproof' fraud case: ex-White House counsel

Matthew Chapman
February 19, 2024 6:34PM ET







Former President Donald Trump is unlikely to have any success appealing the civil fraud decision handed down against him in New York last week, former White House ethics special counsel Norm Eisen told CNN on Monday.

Judge Arthur Engoron found Trump liable for more than $350 million in fines for systematically inflating his company's property valuations, and also temporarily limited his ability to do business in the state of New York. Trump attorney Alina Habba has already vowed to appeal the decision.

"How do you think Trump is likely to fare on this appeal?" asked anchor Wolf Blitzer.

"Poorly, Wolf," said Eisen. "The judge backed up his legal findings of fraud by the Trump Organization, Mr. Trump, and others, with a mountain of evidence and very sound legal reasoning."

"You can't say your home is about 30,000 square feet when it's about 10,000 square feet," said Eisen. "And the same kind of disparities are found on Trump's Seven Springs estate, Mar-a-Lago, 40 Wall Street, and on and on. The judge dropped the most controversial and problematic finding on his final order, and that was the corporate death penalty, yanking the certificates of doing business in New York. What's left is bulletproof."

The bottom line, said Eisen, is that "Trump is going to lose this appeal, very likely."

Watch the video below or at the link here.




https://www.rawstory.com/donald-trump-appeal-2667317620/

 

Mark this spot trumps fraud

 

Letitia James says she's prepared to seize Trump's buildings if he can't pay his $354M civil fraud fine
AARON KATERSKY and PETER CHARALAMBOUS
Tue, February 20, 2024 at 2:50 PM MST·2 min read
5.4k

• 
  

Four days after a judge ordered former President leaving the page." data-wf-tooltip-position="bottom" data-wf-reset-every="90">Donald Trump to pay $354 million in his civil fraud case, New York Attorney General Letitia James told ABC News that she is prepared to seize the former president's assets if he is unable to find the cash to cover the fine.

"If he does not have funds to pay off the judgment, then we will seek judgment enforcement mechanisms in court, and we will ask the judge to seize his assets," James said in an interview with ABC News' Aaron Katersky.

Trump was fined $354.8 million plus approximately $100 million in pre-judgment interest on Friday after Judge Arthur Engoron determined that he inflated his net worth in order get more favorable loan terms.

The former president has denied all wrongdoing and has said he will appeal.

Saying that she was "very confident" with the strength of her case on appeal, James reiterated that her office would not hesitate to seize one of Trump's buildings -- listing Trump's 40 Wall Street skyscraper by name -- if Trump is unable to find the case to cover the court-ordered disgorgement.

"We are prepared to make sure that the judgment is paid to New Yorkers, and yes, I look at 40 Wall Street each and every day," James said of the standard court process for collecting judgments in civil cases.

James directly countered Trump's allegation that the case lacked any victims, instead describing her case as vital to ensuring financial markets treat New Yorkers fairly.


PHOTO: Attorney General Letitia James arrives for a press conference following a verdict against former President Donald Trump in a civil fraud trial on Feb. 16, 2024 in New York City. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images, FILE)
"Financial frauds are not victimless crimes. He engaged in this massive amount of fraud. It wasn't just a simple mistake, a slight oversight, the variations are wildly exaggerated, and the extent of the fraud was staggering," James said. "If average New Yorkers went into a bank and submitted false documents, the government would throw the book at them, and the same should be true for former presidents."

James also rebuffed Trump's allegation that the case will prompt a mass exodus of business activity from New York.

"Last I checked tourism is up. Wall Street is doing just fine," James said.

With Trump losing two civil cases against columnist E. Jean Carroll, facing Georgia election interference charges from Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, and now losing his case against James, the New York AG concluded the interview with an observation about Trump's legal cases.

"Someone once told me if you want something done, give it to a woman," James said.

https://www.yahoo.com/gma/letitia-james-says-shes-prepared-215055380.html

 

I think this proves two things. Trump was lying when rumors he was trying to settle the case fraud case began to circulate and he furiously denied that calling it fake news. And two Trump knows he's fucked and desperately wants to try and cut a better deal.



Trump attorney wants to propose a 'counter-judgment' in $355M civil fraud case: court docs

Kathleen Culliton
February 21, 2024 11:52AM ET



Former President Donald Trump appears in court Wednesday for his civil fraud trial at the New York State Supreme Court. Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images




Former President Donald Trump’s attorney Wednesday demanded the chance to propose a “counter-judgement” in his client’s $355 million civil fraud trial, court records show.

Clifford Robert filed a letter in the New York City civil court addressed to Justice Arthur Engoron complaining of the landmark ruling that also banned Trump from doing business in the state for three years.

Robert argues Trump was “deprived” the chance to speak out against the ruling before it was filed.

“Because the decision ordinarily entails more complicated relief, the instruction contemplates notice to the opponent so that both parties may either agree on a draft or prepare counter proposals to be settled before the court,” Robert argues.

“Defendants therefore request that the Court set a return date for the Proposed Judgment that affords Defendants sufficient time to submit a proposed counter-judgment.”

Robert signs his letter with a “respectfully,” which represents a sharp shift in tone from the outraged notice he sent Engoron earlier this month accusing the judge of “unprecedented, inappropriate and troubling” antics.

Engoron slapped back to that message with a scathing letter of his own in which he called Robert’s letter “completely out of bounds.”

“You and your co-counsel have been questioning my impartiality since the early days of this case, presumably because I sometimes rule against your clients,” Engoron wrote.

“That whole approach is getting old.”

ALSO READ: How Speaker Mike Johnson’s dream of bipartisan decency died in his hands

The next time the public heard from Engoron about the case was when he issued his ruling against Trump, his two sons and former CFO Allen Weisselberg, all of whom have been found liable of defrauding investors by inflating Trump Organization assets.

Trump has decried the ruling and vowed to appeal, but his financial hands are legally tied by the presence of a court-appointed monitor keeping an eye on his business dealings and a looming deadline to come up with cash or bond.

"If he ends up losing on appeal, Trump will have to pay both the pre-judgment and the post-judgment interest," University of Michigan business law professor Will Thomas told ABC News. "It's a lot of money,"


https://www.rawstory.com/trump-engoron-ruling/

 

Letitia James tells judge there isn't 'any basis' for Trump to delay paying massive fine

Sarah K. Burris
February 22, 2024 10:53AM ET



Both photos via AFP




Donald Trump indicated that he intends to appeal the judgment issued by Judge Arthur Engoron in the New York fraud trial, but that doesn't mean he shouldn't fork over the cash he owes now, the state's attorney general said in a court filing Thursday.

Trump has asked for a "stay" in paying the $355 million damages while he appeals. At the same time, he also asked that addresses be changed to Florida for some of the Trump businesses after the ruling also banned him from doing business in New York for three years.

In her court filing, Attorney General Letitia James said that there isn't "any basis" for the request and "no room for further debate."

"We disagree with the remaining points raised by Defendants," the filing says. "The Court's Decision did not direct the parties to 'settle judgment' so there was no need to confer in advance of submitting Plaintiff's proposed judgment, and we are not aware of any provision of the CPLR (and Defendants do not cite to any) that requires the filing of a formal motion on notice to submit a proposed judgment for the Court's review and approval."

James explains that the judge's order states what is owed, so there is no room for Trump to try and debate the ruling. His lawyers requested Wednesday that he be allowed to propose a "counter-judgment."

"The 'Conclusion and Order' section of the Decision ... sets forth in detail what is to be included in the judgment, leaving no room for further debate," James' filing says.

ALSO READ: How Speaker Mike Johnson’s dream of bipartisan decency died in his hands

"Nor do Defendants provide any basis for staying enforcement of the judgment; indeed, they requested such relief in their post-trial brief, which the Court declined to grant. Finally, the Court should reject Defendant's attempt to change the business address of six entity Defendants to Florida as the record establishes those entities are located in Trump Tower at 725 5th Avenue in New York, the office building in which the executives who carry out the business activities of those entities work."

Read the full document here from Just Security.



https://www.rawstory.com/trump-new-york-fraud-delay/

 

Nope. No need to wait for the appeals.
Sock it to em Letitia, you leftist hack.

 

During the next election it may be necessary for the better sort of people to keep the stupid, poorly educated people Trump pretends to love from re electing Trump.

My hope is that Trump will be in prison, so it will not be necessary.