Someone really needs to give Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) a new cell phone that includes up-to-date news, because the one she has is clearly from the BlackBerry era.
On Monday, after it was announced that Donald Trump’s ongoing New York fraud trial would be postponed until Tuesday, the New York Republican ranted on Twitter/X, suggesting that such a move was “election interference!” despite the fact that Trump’s legal team requested the delay due to fear that one of the attorneys might have Covid.
This is blatant election interference!
Joe Biden and his Democrat cronies are the true threats to democracy!
As you can see, a reader’s context notation was added to Stefanik’s tweet because she quite simply doesn’t know what in the hell she’s talking about.
But perhaps the best response came from CNN’s Paula Reid, who responded with the one thing pro-Trumpers most fear: Facts.
“What? The judge gave lawyers the option to continue with just eight jurors, after one went home sick, but Trump lawyer said she wanted an adjournment for the day. The Trump team had a choice and chose not to proceed today.”
Other Twitter users then joined in the mockery and fact-checking.
A juror was sick and Trump’s lawyer wasn’t feeling well and she asked for the adjournment.
Former president Donald Trump’s scheduled testimony in the New York fraud trail that could lead to the collapse of the Trump Organization was abruptly canceled on Sunday, with the ex-president announcing on social media that he wouldn’t be offering any defense of the charges against him.
“I have already testified to everything & have nothing more to say other than this is a complete & total election interference (Biden campaign!) witch hunt,” so “I will not be testifying on Monday.”
The actual reason, according to Forbes reporter Dan Alexander can be explained with one word: Perjury.
Trump and his attorneys are terrified that any testimony he gives would open him to additional charges of lying under oath, which led to the reversal.
“Trump blamed others for getting it wrong,” Alexander noted on Twitter. “Then, after Trump testified, we at Forbes released an audio clip–which had not previously been made public–showing him personally lying about the square footage of his penthouse, claiming it was 33,000 square feet.”
Alexander gave another example of how prosecutors working for New York Attorney General Letitia James would have tried to get the ex-president to commit perjury.
“Take 40 Wall Street. In his earlier testimony, the state asked Trump: ‘Have you ever inflated the operating income of 40 Wall Street?’ Trump, when asked if he had ever inflated the operating income at 40 Wall Street, replied: ‘Not that I know of.’ But he has, by egregious amounts. We have that on tape, too.”
Trump has already lost the civil case brought by AG James. All that remains is for Judge Arthur Engoron to attach a monetary penalty for the bank, insurance, and tax fraud he allegedly committed. James is asking the court for a judgement of $250 million.
For two months now, failed one-term, twice-impeached, and multiply-indicted ex-president Donald Trump and his attorneys have repeatedly claimed he had absolutely nothing to do with overvaluing his real estate holdings and that those estimates were made by others.
But that defense has now been utterly destroyed by an audio recording uncovered by Forbes which proves Trump did indeed play a role in committing bank and tax fraud by falsifying values of his properties.
Specifically, there’s a financial statement from Trump in which he tripled the size of his penthouse apartment in Trump Tower.
The audio obtained by Forbes shows that as far back as 2015, Trump was bragging (and lying) about his assets, remarking in an interview:
“This is the entire floor of Trump Tower, just so you understand. This isn’t like, I’ll show you. Now, this wraps all around the building. All around the elevators. And I have three times three. So there’s like 11,000 feet on a floor. So I have three. So 33,000—and I have the roof.”
The actual size of the penthouse is 11,000 square feet. Trump tripled it.
The Forbes report continues:
In fact, Forbes uncovered the square-footage discrepancy and informed Weisselberg and McConney that the apartment was 10,996 square feet in February of 2017. The Trump Organization nonetheless continued to use the incorrect square footage on a net-worth statement dated mid-March. Forbes then published an article headlined ‘Donald Trump Has Been Lying About The Size Of His Penthouse’ in May 2017. It was only after that story came out—while Donald Trump was in the White House—that the Trump Organization changed its calculation to reflect the true square footage of the apartment.
Having already been found guilty of fraud by New York Supreme Court Judge Arthur Engoron, the trial has entered the penalty phase, which could result in a massive financial judgement against the former president and the Trump Organization.
New York Attorney General Letitia James is seeking at $250 million judgement against Trump and his company. Such a finding, along with accrued interest and penalties, would likely result in the financial collapse of Trump Org. and dissolution of the Trump empire.
As she has repeatedly proven over the course of the ongoing fraud trial against former president Donald Trump and the Trump Organization, New York Attorney Letitia James has a factual retort for every so-called defense Trump’s legal team puts forth.
One of those witnesses sounded like he was testifying for the prosecution, according to Business Insider.
When it comes to Donald Trump’s estimates of his net worth, “questionable” and “inconsistencies” are words you’d expect to hear only from his accuser, the state of New York.
But on Wednesday, Trump’s third day of presenting defense witnesses for his Manhattan fraud trial, an expert accountant took the stand in the former president’s defense for a second day and used these very words to describe the creative math at the center of the case.
“It’s certainly a red flag for me,” testified the expert, Jason Flemmons, referring to an internal Trump Organization spreadsheet from 2016 displayed on overhead screens in the lower Manhattan courtroom.
And then there was Steven Laposa, who admitted that he isn’t an expert on real estate appraisals.
Laposa said the attorney general’s approach to valuation was “flawed” because it relied on a market value analysis of Trump’s properties. He argued it should have been based on the investment value, which takes into account the owner’s investment requirements.
When Laposa returned to the stand Friday, a lawyer for the attorney general’s office asked him if he had any experience reviewing personal financial statements. Laposa said no.
That led AG James to lay waste to the Trump defense, which is crumbling almost as quickly as the Trump Organization itself.
In a video she posted online, James noted that most of the people testifying in Trump’s behalf aren’t experts at all. They’re just golfing buddies.
“We heard testimony from their many expert witnesses, but they weren’t real experts.
“We did learn something. Several of these experts are longtime friends and golf buddies of Donald Trump.”
James then focused in on why she didn’t believe a word Trump’s defenders had said in court and under oath.
“Their accounting expert has never once worked on the types of financial statements at the heart of Donald Trump’s fraud,” she explained.
“Their expert on real estate finance admitted that he not only lacks experience in valuing real estate, but he also does not have any experience with the accounting standards and personal financial statements that this case revolves around.”
Some of the witnesses, James continued, do other connections to Trump: They’ve donated money to him and been buddies for years.
“One has donated millions of dollars to Donald Trump’s campaign and his son even got married at Mar-a-Lago. Another is a member of Mar-a-Lago and several other Trump golf clubs.”
This week, we heard testimony from Donald Trump's expert witnesses.
These witnesses weren't experts on the issues in this case and could not refute the facts.
But some of them are Donald Trump's longtime friends, political contributors, and a Mar-a-Lago member. ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/I9oWUihcdB
Social media erupted with laughter and mockery over the weekend in response to remarks made by Eric Trump in which he suggested the Trump Organization’s properties were the “Mona Lisas” of real estate.
During a Saturday appearance on Fox “News,” Eric insisted, “Our assets are worth a fortune,” and adding:
“They’re the Mona Lisas of the real estate world.”
Despite Eric’s protestations, New York Attorney General Letitia James has already received a judgement of fraud against the Trump Organization and the company could be hit with fines and penalties that exceed a half billion dollars, which would likely lead to the complete dissolution of Trump Org.
However, it was the Mona Lisa comparison that drew the most reaction on Twitter.
I'm saddened to learn that the Mona Lisa is infested with bed bugs.
