“Everyone has to play by the same rules,” New York Attorney General Letitia James declared at a press conference Friday, adding that Judge Arthur Engoron’s $354 million fine against Donald Trump The astounding fine was welcomed.
But an Associated Press review of 70 years of legal history found no precedent for suing an entrepreneur or company for inflating real estate values when no one was harmed.
In fact, the record suggests that James imposed different rules on Trump.
To summarize the main points:
Letitia James Ran That’s because in 2018, the attorney general called President Trump an “illegitimate” president and vowed to use the law to go after him. Then, just before New York’s hotly contested midterm elections, she sued President Trump and his three adult children for civil fraud. She alleged that President Trump overstated the value of his personal assets and real estate holdings when applying for loans from banks.In doing so, she argued, Trump violated the New York fraud statute. laws and regulations It required no intent or harm.
There were no victims. The bank conducted its own due diligence before lending to President Trump, and President Trump repaid the loan in full and on time. There was no evidence that Trump intended to mislead anyone. Loan applicants often overestimate the value of their assets.
Nevertheless, Engoron, a registered Democrat, granted summary judgment finding Trump liable for the fraud before Trump had a chance to present evidence in his own defense. The trial then proceeded to decide on the fine.
James didn’t just want to slap Trump with hundreds of millions of dollars in fines. She also wanted to ban him from doing business in the state in the future and strip him of control of his existing businesses and place them in receivership.
Associated Press report In January, it announced there was no precedent for New York state law being used or abused in this way.
[A]An Associated Press analysis of similar cases over nearly 70 years showed that Trump’s case stands out. It is the only large company found to be in danger of closure without any obvious casualties or significant losses.
Some legal experts worry that if a New York state judge enforces such penalties in a final ruling expected in the coming weeks, it could make it easier for courts to kill companies in the future. are doing.
…
A finding of fraud under a New York state statute known as Administrative Law Section 63(12) does not require false statements or outright lies that result in someone being defrauded or losing money. Masu. But an Associated Press review of about 150 cases reported to a legal database found that victims and losses were key factors in more than a dozen cases seeking “dissolution.”
…
[T]The only case that the Associated Press has acknowledged as disbanding under the Fraud Act without mentioning actual victims or losses is that of a relatively small company that closed in 1972 to produce periodic reports for college students. It was a company. In this case, the attorney general said the victim was the “integrity of the educational process.”
After all, Engoron fined Trump was paid $354 million ($450 million with pre-trial interest) and banned from doing business in New York for three years. His two sons were each banned from doing business in New York for two years and fined $4 million.
Indeed, if “everyone has to play by the same rules,” that standard seems to apply to James as well. The fact that she named Trump, and that she had clear intent in doing so, will be taken into account by Trump’s appeal and the court of public opinion.
update: President Trump issued the following statement Friday in response to the verdict:
Election interference and tyrannical abuse of power by a corrupt judge and a corrupt attorney general cannot be tolerated. My case has already been won in the Appellate Division, dispelling over 80% of his frivolous claims. But as I suspected, and in order to hurt me and the Republican Party politically, crooked and corrupt Judge Arthur Engoron ignored his Appellate Division defeat and filed a 355,000 million dollar penalty against me. They imposed an exorbitant fine of $10,000. Taking advantage of a statute that has never before been applied in this way, a corrupt judge conspires with unscrupulous Attorney General Letitia James to punish a liquid and beautiful corporate empire that started in New York and has flourished around the world. did.
There were no victims, and no one testified that fraud had taken place. Actual witnesses proved that my net worth exceeded what was reported in the financial statements because the financial statements did not include my most valuable asset, the TRUMP brand. A highly respected expert witness told me that my financial statements were among the best he had ever seen. I paid over $300 million in taxes to the city and state of New York and they want me gone. They are crazy lunatics who destroy everything in their path. It all starts with an attack on Biden’s political opponents!
The actual bankers involved in the loan transaction were “whales” who were highly sought after by customers with “one of the strongest personal balance sheets” I’ve ever seen, making them eligible for the loan. He testified that it was excessive. These banks made more than $100 million in profits doing business with me and my company. But to justify his insane attacks on me and my family, this biased, Trump-hating judge ignored all of this, and Cohen admitted that he lied hundreds of times during the trial. Michael Cohen even said he was telling the truth, even though he lied in front of a judge on . trial. This shocking and corrupt interference with the free market for political gain puts every business transaction in New York at risk. We must ensure that corrupt politicians and judges cannot continue to abuse their power and violate the public’s trust. We have already won and will continue the fight with an appeal!
Joel B. Pollack is a senior editor at Breitbart News. Breitbart News Sunday Sunday nights from 7:00 PM to 10:00 PM ET (4:00 PM to 7:00 PM PT) on Sirius XM Patriot. He is the author of a new biography, Rhoda: “Comrade Cadderly, you are abnormal.”. He is also the author of a recently published e-book. Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 US Presidential Election. He is the recipient of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter @joelpolak.
