Now that a New York judge has ordered failed, one-term former President Donald Trump and two of his children — Don Jr. and Ivanka — to sit for depositions within the next 21 days, the Trump family and Trump Organization are facing the greatest threat since Donald entered the real estate business in 1971.
In addition to facing both civil and criminal liability for allegedly inflating the value of properties to get larger bank loans and then undervaluing them when it came time to pay taxes, Trump is also looking at the total dissolution of his corporation and seizure of its assets by New York Attorney General Letitia James.
Former U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade explained exactly how the law works in New York during an appearance on MSNBC’s “Deadline: White House.”
“You may remember that Corey Lewandowski, who was a former Trump campaign manager, famously said words to the effect of, ‘It’s not a crime to lie to the media.’ And that’s true, and I think Donald Trump has gotten away with that adage for a long time, but it is a crime to lie under oath at a deposition. And I think one of the reasons he has fought so hard to avoid this deposition is this is where truth matters, and so he can’t lie his way out of it, he can’t exaggerate out of it.”
If Trump and his children (all of whom are officers of Trump Org.) plead the Fifth Amendment and refuse to answer questions, McQuade continued, that opens them up to an even greater risk:
“So when he sits in that deposition chair as he has been ordered to do and as I’m sure will be affirmed on appeal, Donald Trump will face that comeuppance, where he has to tell the truth or assert a privilege like the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination, which he has said is something that is invoked only by mobsters and criminals, so he finds himself in a very difficult spot, because if he lies now, it does matter.”
The penalties might just be massive fines imposed by New York, McQuade explained:
“So the consequences there could be money damages — for example, if there are back taxes that are owed, if there were victims here, lenders who would not otherwise have made these loans who lost money in the deal — they’d have to pay damages.”
But there’s also another tool AG James has at her disposal: The nuclear option:
“But the nuclear option here is that Attorney General James actually has the power to dissolve corporations that are involved in widespread fraud. It’s what happened with the Trump Foundation, so it could even happen here with the Trump Organization. The other thing that could happen is this information could be used in the criminal case. We see the Manhattan DA investigating some of the very same acts under a criminal lens … which could also bring with it in addition to monetary penalties, potential prison time.”
Broke and in prison. That’s exactly where Donald Trump and his felonious spawn belong. Lock them up!
Here’s the video:
