It’s been a very bad 48 hours for Eric Trump, who found out that his phone records have been obtained by the House Select Committee on the January 6 Capitol insurrection and is now facing added pressure thanks for a court filing from New York Attorney General Letitia James.
The court filing hit the Trumps like a bolt of lightning, as James made it clear that she has “significant evidence” of criminal acts by the Trump Organization that she continues to pursue:
James, who launched her probe in 2019, also said in the court filing that the former president “had ultimate authority over a wide swath of conduct by the Trump Organization” that involved fraudulent misstatements to financial institutions, the Internal Revenue Service, and other parties.
That means bank and tax fraud. The Trumps have been suspected of those crimes for years.
But rather than remain calm and consult his attorneys, Eric Trump decided he’d have a childish meltdown and share it with the internet, firing off tweets that are certain to come back to haunt him and his family as the case against them moves forward.
Letitia you can not escape your own words. This is all window dressing for your abuse of office and ethical misconduct (which we are prosecuting you for) and northing more than a PR move to revive a political career after your gubernatorial disaster. @NewYorkStateAGhttps://t.co/7o5mlUp9PIpic.twitter.com/GXpIwThPDD
New Yorkers: When you see women pushed to their death in front of Subway cars, when children are shot in the middle of Times Square, know that the Cy Vance and Letitia James prioritized investigating Trump over fighting crime. They are responsible for the mess that is New York. pic.twitter.com/KckroVSJLJ
What exactly was accomplished with that hissy fit? Does he think mean tweets are going to convince Ms. James to drop the case against him and the Trump Organization? If so, then Eric’s even dumber than he looks.
Eric quickly got hit with a massive dose of internet karma. Take a look:
New Yorkers: When you see money stolen from a children's cancer charity, tax fraud, terrorism, serial sexual assault, credible accusations of rape, know that a trump is involved in some manner.
Eric, a criminal prosecution cannot be fought using a PR campaign. There's not enough here to dismiss criminal charges or an indictment by the NYAG. You should prepare yourself and your family for what comes next.
According to a court filing by New York Attorney General Letitia James, her investigation of former President Donald Trump and his company, the Trump Organization, has uncovered “significant evidence” of fraud by ex-president’s corporation.
The probe has uncovered evidence suggesting the company put a fraudulent value on multiple assets and misrepresented those values to financial institutions for economic benefit.
James, who launched her probe in 2019, also said in the court filing that the former president “had ultimate authority over a wide swath of conduct by the Trump Organization” that involved fraudulent misstatements to financial institutions, the Internal Revenue Service, and other parties.
She specifically mentioned the responsibility of two of the former president’s adult children, Donald Trump Jr. and Ivanka Trump.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, James wrote:
“Thus far in our investigation, we have uncovered significant evidence that suggests Donald J. Trump and the Trump Organization falsely and fraudulently valued multiple assets and misrepresented those values to financial institutions for economic benefit. The Trumps must comply with our lawful subpoenas for documents and testimony because no one in this country can pick and choose if and how the law applies to them.”
Trump has long been suspected of inflating the value of properties to obtain larger bank loans and then devaluing those same assets to reduce his tax liability. If it can be proven the Trump Organization behaved in such a manner, the company and its top officials (including the three oldest Tump children, Don Jr., Ivanka, and Eric) could be charged with bank and tax fraud.
Eric Trump has given a deposition, but refused to answer anything other than basic questions, according to court filings from James’ office:
“During his examination on Oct. 5, 2020, when asked a question that went beyond basic background information, Eric Trump delivered extended prepared remarks objecting to the investigation and invoking his right against self-incrimination.”
“Eric Trump then invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination in response to more than 500 questions over six hours.” pic.twitter.com/wWGKBY6RN3
According to Michael Cohen, who was personal attorney to failed, one-term former President Donald Trump for several years, he expects the office of new Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg will call him back very soon and predicts “very exciting” indictments are coming in the case against Trump and the Trump Organization.
Cohen was a guest on MSNBC Sunday and was asked by host Alex Witt:
“What are your predictions for 2022 relative to the Trump probe? The fact that Cy Vance has now left office, do you think you’ll be contacted by the new Manhattan DA?”
Cohen replied:
“Yeah, I absolutely do. I think we’re going to start to see a lot of movement now. There’s a lot of momentum going on both at the DA’s office as well as the [New York State] attorney general.”
“This case is not over simply because Cy Vance is now out of office. To the contrary, I believe things are going to start ramping up. I think they’ll start moving quickly. I do believe that 2022, especially the early part is going to see some indictments and some very exciting ones for those of us that want to see justice.”
Cohen has previously said that he’s provided Manhattan prosecutors with everything they’ve asked for, and remarked in June of last year:
“I do believe that there is a mounting amount of evidence that they will be prosecuting upon. Some of it of course is civil, and other parts of it are criminal.”
How sweet it would be to see Trump and members of his family indicted for their decades of skirting the laws that are supposed to apply to all of us! It’s Donald’s worst nightmare, and it may be on the verge of finally happening.
Prosecutors in New York are preparing to issue indictments against failed, one-term former President Donald Trump and the Trump Organization for inflating the value of his company’s assets as a way to get larger loans from banks, according to a report from the New York Times.
Current Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, Jr. is leaving office at the end of the year after investigating the ex-president’s company for three years. Vance has said he will decide whether to indict Trump before his term expires on December 31, suggesting that new charges will be coming within the next couple of weeks.
The Timesnotes that Vance’s office recently issued subpoenas for records related to hotels, golf clubs and office buildings owned by the Trump Organization:
They recently interviewed a banker employed by Deutsche Bank, Mr. Trump’s top lender. And earlier this month, they told a top Trump executive who had been under scrutiny, Matthew Calamari, that they did not currently plan to indict him in the purported tax-evasion scheme that led to charges against Mr. Trump’s company and its chief financial officer.”
The tax-evasion case has so far led to criminal charges against Allen Weisselberg, Chief Financial Officer of Trump Org., but that has never been Vance’s primary focus, according to the Times:
“If Mr. Vance’s office concludes that Mr. Trump intentionally submitted false values to potential lenders, prosecutors could argue that he engaged in a pattern of fraud.”
If a pattern of fraud can be proven, that would also open Trump and his company up to state racketeering charges. Such charges carry increased criminal penalties.
According to Trump, Vance is engaged a “witch hunt,” and he told Fox host Sean Hannity Tuesday evening during an interview:
“If I fly over a state, I end up getting investigated. It’s the craziest thing I’ve ever seen, because the local prosecutors work with the federal government, and they’re Democrats.”
Trump: If I fly over a state, I end up getting investigated. It’s the craziest thing I’ve ever seen because the local prosecutors work with the federal government pic.twitter.com/BZBOsK4ZW4
Business is not good at hotels owned by failed, one-term former President Donald Trump, which has led the Trump Organization to try and sell off some its most well-known properties such as the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C., which is quickly becoming little more than a emblem of business failure, the one thing Trump has always excelled at.
Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post journalist David Fahrenthold said on the Post Reports podcast Wednesday that Trump has come to the realization that he has to start dumping some of his most prized hotels:
“(The D.C. hotel) was losing millions and millions of dollars. I think they recognize that you cannot make it in Washington, especially with as expensive a hotel as that is, as big of a loan as that hotel has, you can’t make it on one slice of the pie. You can’t make it just on Republicans.”
“It’s not enough. To make that kind of hotel at that luxury level work in Washington, you need everybody. You need embassies and you need conventions. You can’t have a polarized audience. So that’s them admitting, we can’t make this work. … It’s the kind of place that could do really well — it’s got a great location — but not (with the) Trump (name).'”
The Trump name and brand is toxic. Almost no one wants to be associated with the ex-president or anything that carries his now infamous name, Fahrenthold noted.
Additionally, Trump isn’t able to compete with big chain hotels because he can’t offer what they do:
“They’ve always had a structural disadvantage, because you can get Marriott points or Hilton points, or you can get your Trump card points, which you can use at three other hotels. They’ve always had that kind of structural disadvantage being a small chain. Now they’ve polarized their audience. I don’t see that as a long-term venue for the Trump Organization. The Trump hotel in DC, if they can’t make it here with that beautiful building, I don’t really see how they can make it anywhere.”
All of this, Fahrenthold concluded, means that Donald has to try and find another source of revenue:
“The idea that the Trump brand is something that brings in the general public, that demands a premium from the general public above a Hilton or a Marriott, I think that’s over, and they’ll shrink that part of the brand and focus on ways they can monetize politics. They’re doing that now. They have the whole T-Shirt and tchotchke shop online where you can buy Don Jr.’s book, and a MAGA hat, and an $85 candle that says ‘Trump’ on the side.
“There’s that, and then there’s this new digital venture, that are meant to monetize Trump’s fans.”
The digital venture is what Trump has dubbed “Truth Social,” his social media site that already has numerous problems even though it hasn’t yet formally launched.
Donald Trump is one of the worst businessmen in the world. Despite his bragging, he has no idea how to run a company or make money other than by grifting, i.e. Trump University. So now he’s going to rip off his gullible supporters and make them foot the bill for his lavish lifestyle.
To quote the late P.T. Barnum, “There’s a sucker born every minute.” Or least that’s what Trump is now counting on so he can try and stay afloat financially.
