Tag: Letitia James

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Crime Donald Trump The Trump Organization

Letitia James Mocks Trump’s Latest Fraud Defense By Calling His ‘Experts’ Nothing But ‘Golf Buddies’

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.”

Tish James is a boss, and she’s got Donnie’s number.

 

Categories
Crime Donald Trump

Tish James Claps Back At Trump: There’s Enough Evidence Of Your Crimes To ‘Fill This Courtroom’

After he stormed out of a New York courtroom Wednesday in response to a $10,000 fine imposed on him by Judge Arthur Engoron for violating a gag order, 77-year-old juvenile delinquent ex-president Donald Trump told reporters that he’d just been exonerated by a witness in his fraud trail.

“The witness just admitted that we won the trial and the judge should end this trial immediately. Thank you.”

As with 99.9% of the things that issue forth from Trump’s mouth, the statement was a complete and total lie and has absolutely no basis in fact. It was merely a way for the multiply-indicted former head of state to try and save face.

In response to Trump’s childish conniption fit, New York Attorney General Letitia James, who brought the massive $250 million fraud case against Trump and the Trump Organization, released a video in which she rebutted all his lies.

“The defendants counsel attempted and failed to discredit our entire case,” James noted. “But our case is the result of a four-year investigation that is based on hundreds of thousands of documents and many, many witnesses.”

 “As the judge said today, ‘There is enough evidence in this case to fill this courtroom,'” James continued.
“And he already ruled in our favor and found that Mr. Trump engaged in this fraud.”

The video concludes with James looking into the camera and declaring, “When you have build an empire on falsehood the truth is your only enemy. And we will continue to present the truth in court.”

Tish James is not taking any of Donnie’s bullshit. She’s countering his fraud and lies with the truth, and that’s how you win in court: With facts.

 

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Donald Trump The Trump Organization

Letitia James Has The Perfect Response When Trump Calls Her A ‘Racist’ At NY Fraud Trial

Ever since New York Attorney General Letitia James first filed suit against failed former president Donald Trump, accusing him and his company, the Trump Organization, of financial fraud, the ex-president has been constantly attacking the AG, accusing her of being a “racist” because she’s black and he’s white and even nicknaming her “Peekaboo” James.

Until today, James had not responded to Trump’s many insults and taunts, but she more than made up for her previous silence with what she said during a break in the trial that could financially destroy the Donald and his family-owned company.

According to Stewart Bishop of Law360, James let loose, remarking:

“He’s called me venomous, he’s called me disgraceful, he’s called me a radical, he’s called me a racist and this is only week three. None of this, which can best be described as performative, can change what’s happening in the courtroom.”

She added:

“And the evidence is clear, that he inflated his statements of financial [condition] to enrich himself and his family. And nothing will change that, not the attacks on me, or anyone.”

Tish James is absolutely right, but she forgot some other terms that also perfectly describe the one-term, twice-impeached former head of state:

  • Bigot
  • Pathological liar
  • Pervert
  • Loser
  • Indicted criminal
  • Douchebag

When the fraud trial is over with, it’ll be fun to see what else James has to say about Donnie.

 

Categories
Crime Donald Trump The Trump Organization

Trump Organization Facing Legal ‘Death Penalty’ From New York Attorney General

Now that she has concrete evidence that Donald Trump and the Trump Organization have been engaged in systematic financial fraud, New York Attorney General Letitia James may be on the verge of imposing the legal “death penalty” on the ex-president’s corporation, according to a former U.S. Attorney.

Joyce Vance, who served as U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama from 2009 to 2017, was a guest on MSNBC, and she was asked by host Chris Jansing about news that Trump’s former accounting firm, Mazars, has dropped him as a client and declared that his financial statements cannot be trusted:

“So Joyce, let me go to the Trump Organization statement, which is that, ‘this confirmation effectively rendered the investigation by the [Manhattan] DA and the AG. moot.’ Does it?”

Vance replied:

“It absolutely doesn’t, Chris, and one of the intriguing issues here is how did New York’s attorney general come into possession of this letter, which was sent from Trump’s accountant to the Trump Organization? She’s not cc’d on the letter; your accounting firm doesn’t typically send business correspondence to the attorney general in your state.”

Vance added:

“So there’s a suggestion here that Mazars is engaged with the New York attorney general. This whole issue came up as [NY AG] Letitia James was trying to take the depositions of Donald Trump, Donald Trump Jr., and Ivanka Trump, and she’s been forced to justify that position by the Trump folks in the course of that litigation and this document has come out now.”

And then Vance explained how AG James can put a quick end to the Trump Organization:

“Details of other transactions that are highly questionable, and that may be sharp business practices or fraud, but James is likely to get her depositions, and she, of course, has jurisdiction under New York’s Martin Act to protect New York from sharp business practices. she has the authority to curtail businesses’ ability to operate, and even as she did with Trump’s charitable fund, to no longer permit them to operate in the state of New York. So the consequences here, just on the civil side, could be dramatic. The criminal investigation will proceed at its own pace.”

What is the Martin Act? It’s a piece of legislation passed in 1921 that is considered to be the “most severe blue sky law” in the country:

The Martin Act, as interpreted by New York courts, gives the New York State Attorney General exceptionally broad enforcement authority to bring both civil and criminal action without a showing of scienter or intent to defraud.

One of the penalties under the Martin Act is the complete shutdown of a business and forfeiture of its assets. That’s why it’s considered a legal “death penalty” if imposed.

Here’s hoping Letitia James does indeed shut down Trump Org. and then proceed to lock up every member of the company who was involved in this widespread fraud.

 

Categories
Crime Donald Trump The Trump Organization

New York AG On The Verge Of Dismantling Trump Org. With ‘Corporate Death Penalty’

On Tuesday, attorneys for disgraced former president Donald Trump withdrew a lawsuit against New York Attorney General Letitia James challenging her investigation of the Trump Organization.

But despite that move, it’s now clear that James is on the verge of applying New York’s “corporate death penalty” against the failed ex-president’s company, a move that would forbid Trump Org. from ever operating the Empire State again, according to The Daily Beast

It’s called Executive Law 63 (12) and it gives states attorney generals the right to impose stiff penalties on companies to fight fraud.

“The language is broad. It talks about persistent fraud and illegality,” said Bob Abrams, who served as New York attorney general from 1979 to 1993. “She has the authority to protect the public from scammers.”

Scammers who hatch ideas such as Trump University for the sole purpose of taking advantage of people for financial gain without providing anything of value.

As a result of her investigation of fraud by Trump Org., James is seeking to impose $250 million in fines and revoke the company’s business credentials completely, meaning Trump would never be able to do business in the state again, even though New York is the headquarters for his corporation, which is run by the former president and his three eldest children, Don Jr., Ivanka, and Eric.

The judge in the case, Arthur F. Engoron, has already signaled that he would be agreeable to imposing the death penalty on Trump Org., writing in one of his rulings:

“Executive Law § 63 (12) broadly empowers the Attorney General of the State of New York to seek to remedy the deleterious effects, in both the public’s perception and in reality, on truth and fairness in commercial marketplaces and the business community.”

How soon could all of this happen? Likely sometime this year since many of the initial court hearings and rulings have already been handed down, including one which found that Trump Org. did indeed inflate the value of properties in order to get larger bank loans and then devalue them to avoid large tax bills.

The Trump Organization is about to become little more than an afterthought, and that’s bad news for the entire Trump family, which has enriched itself over the decades as a result of their corporate grifts and scams.

Tish James is preparing to drop the hammer on Trump and his company. And when she does, you’ll be able to hear Donald crying all the way across the country.