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Business Donald Trump The Trump Organization

Now That Trump Has Pled The Fifth, New York AG Can Impose The ‘Corporate Death Penalty’ On His Company

Earlier today, disgraced, one-term former president Donald Trump raised his hand, swore to tell the truth, and then repeatedly exercised his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, which was in complete accord with the United States Constitution.

According to the Washington Post:

Former president Donald Trump arrived at the office of the New York attorney general Wednesday morning to give sworn testimony in a long-running civil probe of his business dealings, specifically his representations to lenders and tax agencies about the value of his assets.

In a lengthy statement, Trump denied wrongdoing, accused the U.S. government of unfairly targeting him and said he would refuse to answer questions, citing his Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate himself.

However, while Trump didn’t have to testify, his refusal to do so in the civil case being pursued against him and Trump Organization by New York Attorney General Letitia James could mean that his company vanishes from the face earth if James decides to pursue what’s known as the “corporate death penalty” against his real estate and branding business.

Business Insider notes that James can now ask a court for a variety of penalties:

In the coming weeks or even days, the AG is expected to file a massive, long-threatened ‘enforcement action’ — essentially a multi-hundred-page lawsuit against the Trumps and his Manhattan-based business. Fines and back taxes, however, may be the least of what Trump’s facing. James has signaled she will also seek the dissolution of the business itself under New York’s so-called corporate death penalty — a law that allows the AG to seek to dissolve businesses that operate ‘in a persistently fraudulent or illegal manner.’

Tristan Snell, who was able to get Trump University shut down under New York’s corporate death penalty law, noted:

“This cuts right to the crown jewel of his real estate portfolio.

“It’s everything, because at issue is Trump Tower [where the Trump Organization is headquartered in Manhattan], at issue is 40 Wall Street, which is one of his most beloved properties and probably one of the more valuable ones. All of his golf courses are also at stake, so it’s a big deal.”

Snell explained further on Twitter:

In other words, this has been the week from hell for Donald Trump. His residence was searched by the FBI, he’s on the verge of seeing his company liquidated, and he facing the prospect of being not only broke, but on his way to federal prison.

Lock him up!

 

By Andrew Bradford

Proud progressive journalist and political adviser living behind enemy lines in Red America.

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