Tag: The Trump Organization

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Crime Donald Trump

Unearthed Deposition Contains Incriminating Testimony Prosecutors Can Use Against Trump

Because he has sued and been sued more times than he can possibly count, failed, one-term, twice-impeached former President Donald Trump has given numerous depositions over the years, and one that has just been unearthed could provide the evidence New York prosecutors need to finally nail him on charges of fraud.

The Daily Beast reports that a deposition Trump gave in a lawsuit filed against the Trump Organization shows that the ex-president knew the inner workings of his company, despite his insistence that he had no idea what was going on with the daily operations of his business:

In a lawsuit’s never-before-seen testimony, Donald Trump admitted to personally overseeing the compensation of an executive whose corporate perks have been under scrutiny by the Manhattan district attorney, potentially strengthening the case against the former president and his company for tax fraud. Trump’s sworn testimony was filed in New York state court on Tuesday, as part of a lawsuit against the Trump Organization over the way its security guards manhandled protesters outside Trump Tower in 2015.

In the deposition, which took place on Oct. 18, 2021, Trump was asked who had the final “authority” over how much one of his personal bodyguards, Matthew Calamari Sr., who later became chief operating officer of Trump Org., earned, Trump replied:

“It would be me.”

That admission — which was made under oath and under penalty of perjury — is exactly the evidence New York prosecutors in the Manhattan District Attorney and New York Attorney General’s offices need to prove that Trump knew and approved of the tax fraud his company is suspected of having committed over the course of several years:

“That would potentially make Trump personally responsible for any tax dodging scheme, and more importantly, is useful evidence in the grand jury investigation that has yet to produce an indictment against him. For months, three sources familiar with the Manhattan DA’s investigation have told The Daily Beast that investigators have been probing the way Calamari was paid off-the-books with allegedly untaxed perks, such as an extravagant corporate apartment at the Trump Park Avenue in New York City’s expensive midtown and a Mercedes-Benz. Prosecutors went as far as having Calamari’s son—corporate security director Matt Calamari Jr.—receive total immunity for potential crimes and testify before a grand jury.”

Allen Weisselberg, the longtime chief financial officer of Trump Org., has already been indicted by Manhattan prosecutors for allegedly committing tax fraud.

The uncovered deposition in which Trump brags that he determined compensation can now be used against the ex-president, who has long maintained that he had no idea any illegal activity was committed at Trump Org. and could also implicate others, including his three eldest children, Don Jr., Ivanka, and Eric.

How ironic would it be if Trump’s own big mouth wound up being what leads to his downfall?

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Crime Donald Trump

Former Federal Prosecutor: Trump Has Reached ‘The End Of His Rope’ And Is Going Down

When the history books are written decades from now, it may well be said that this was the week when everything that could possibly go wrong collapsed right on top of failed, twice-impeached former President Donald Trump.

Consider what has transpired over the past five days for Trump:

  • His accounting firm cut all ties to him and announced that financial statements provided to them by the Trump Organization contain “material discrepancies.”
  • A New York judge ruled that the ex-president, along with Donald Trump Jr. and Ivanka Trump, must sit for depositions within the next three weeks.
  • The National Archives and Records Administration confirmed that Trump did indeed take classified documents out of the White House and transport them to Mar-a-Lago. They then referred the matter to the Justice Department for further investigation and possible criminal charges.

In other words, Trump is facing financial collapse, civil and criminal indictment, and watching as both he and his three oldest children are put on trial for a plethora of felony charges.

What’s next? According to former federal prosecutor Glenn Kirschner, Trump has reached “the end of his rope” and there’s more bad yet to come.

Kirschner was a guest on MSNBC, where he was asked by Jonathan Capehart if he thought Trump would “face any consequences.”

Kirschner responded:

“How could he not, Jonathan? You just went through the trifecta of really crushing legal stories for Donald Trump. And it’s not that he’s just losing these cases, but what some of the judges are saying.”

Quoting from a judge’s ruling that Trump seems to be complicit in the January 6 Capitol attack, Kirschner then added:

“Those are the words of federal crimes. Things are getting really bad as the investigative circle is tightening around Donald Trump.”

Later in the discussion, Kirschner noted:

“Donald Trump may be reaching the end of his rope. I predict, once the first brave prosecutor who has the evidence to indict Donald Trump brings that indictment, everybody is going to want to be the second prosecutor to indict Donald Trump.”

Who will be the first prosecutor to indict Donald Trump? That remains to be seen, but as Kirschner predicts, it’s likely to have a domino effect that will leave the former president trying to defend himself on multiple fronts as his finances are being squeezed.

It couldn’t happen to a more deserving asshole.

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Donald Trump The Trump Organization

Trump Will Have To Start Selling His Properties Just To Say Afloat: Report

Now that his accounting firm has dumped him and let the world know his financial statements are fake, failed former President Donald Trump is facing a money crunch like none he has ever experienced.

What will happen when banks refuse to refinance Trump’s massive loans because he can’t be trusted?

According to Susanne Craig of the New York Times, who has reported extensively on the twice-impeached ex-president, the only option Trump will have is to begin selling his properties.

Appearing on MSNBC, Craig explained the coming cash crisis for Trump and the Trump Organization:

“He has just in the coming couple of years, hundreds of millions of dollars in loans that he’s going to have to re-negotiate.

“He’s moved to at least get another firm in place at least for some of his accounting, but what happens to all these loans? If this was a public company, you’d be like, ‘Wow!’ It would just be so much trouble for them. I think their stock would tank. There would be so many ramifications.”

The first loan that comes due is for $100 million on Trump Tower, easily the most famous property Donald owns. But even if Trump is able to get it refinanced, other real estate holdings look much more troublesome, Craig continued:

“But there are other loans that are going to be more difficult.

“I think when he comes up against that, there could be some problems. Deutsche Bank has been signaling that they may not want to do new business with him. None of this is good news. and when you think about how he’s going to have to handle this immediate debt, there’s going to be potentially higher rates, and in some cases I wonder who the lender is going to end up being.”

Craig also pointed to Trump’s decision to sell his hotel in Washington, D.C., predicting that he’ll be dumping more properties in the near future:

“That’s the last asset that he actually put a lot into, and he’s selling it. He must need cash, or he wouldn’t be selling it. And I think we’re going to potentially see other asset sales here. Very few of the main assets, golf courses that he has, are making money. He’s got golf courses overseas, none of them are making money. It’s the exception when he has a business that is making money.

“I think that’s what you’re going to see as he moves forward in order to keep these other properties going. You start looking for where you can raise cash, and you do that by selling assets.”

Sounds like there’s about to be fire sale at Trump Org. And even that may not be enough to keep the company from going under.

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Crime Donald Trump The Trump Organization

NY AG Considering ‘Nuclear Option’ Of Dissolving Trump’s Company And Seizing Its Assets

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:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCRvpXPo33k&feature=emb_logo
 

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Crime Donald Trump The Trump Organization

Trump Compounds His Legal Troubles By Issuing A Statement That’s Already Backfiring On Him

Donald Trump’s legal and financial troubles were bad enough, but a statement he issued regarding the ongoing investigation of him by New York Attorney General Letitia James is likely to make matters much worse for him, according to a former U.S. Attorney.

Newsweek notes that Trump lashed out at AG James with a long, rambling statement in which he tried to counter the accusations against him:

“The actions of the AG and DA, including the Radical Left Westchester County DA [Miriam E. Rocah] who was a Trump hating contributor at MSNBC, reveal the vile and malicious intent that underlies the nonstop barrage of insults and threats aimed at me and the Trump Organization, including their years-long review of over nine million pages of documents that go far beyond the Statute of Limitations.”

The failed, one-term former president also addressed the issue of his longtime accounting firm, Mazars, dropping him as a client and declaring that 10 years of financial statements from the Trump Organization cannot be “relied upon.”

“They were essentially forced to resign from a great long-term account by the prosecutorial misconduct of a highly political, but failed, gubernatorial candidate, Letitia James, and the Hillary Clinton run District Attorney’s Office of Manhattan, where crime has reached levels not even thought possible.”

That statement, former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance said Wednesday evening on “The 11th Hour,” gives James a legal opening that is bad news for Trump:

“Well, you know Donald Trump has already been fired by his accountants this week, it looks like he’s trying to double down and get fired by his attorneys as well. Because what’s happened here, you have to remember the context is about whether or not Tish James is going to get to depose Donald Trump and the two of his adult children.”

Vance then suggested that Trump’s angry statement makes it more certain he and members of his family will be compelled to give depositions in the case against them:

“There is no reason he should be deposed. And he has contradicted his attorneys with so much specificity and detail in this written statement. Where he talks about valuation and says that he actually undervalued brand value and implies that there is a lot that he could offer in response to legitimate questions that Tish James has. And she has driven straight into that opening that he has given her. Making the point to the court that Trump has really engaged and a self own here, that he has made her case to depose him better than she could’ve. I think she’s going to get those depositions scheduled.”

As usual, Donald Trump is his own worst enemy. And his big mouth has taken him out of the frying pan and put him straight into the proverbial fire.