Extract from ABC News
Donald Trump is fighting a civil lawsuit that could cost the former US president control of some his most prized properties, and his freedom to do business in New York.
He's already been found guilty of fraud. Unless he wins an appeal, he could be forced to give up properties including Trump Tower.
Unlike the four criminal trials he separately faces, Mr Trump generally avoids appearing at civil hearings. His decision to show up this time show seriously he's taking this case.
His sons are also defendants in the trial, which could have huge ramifications for the New York business empire he was famous for prior to his presidency.
The judge has already found Trump committed 'fantasy world' fraud
Last week, New York Supreme Court Judge Arthur Engoron ruled that Mr Trump committed fraud for years while building his real estate empire.
He deceived banks, insurers and others by overvaluing his assets and exaggerating his net worth on paperwork used in making deals and securing loans.
"In defendants' world: rent regulated apartments are worth the same as unregulated apartments; restricted land is worth the same as unrestricted land; restrictions can evaporate into thin air," the judge wrote. "That is a fantasy world, not the real world."
Judge Engoron ordered that some of Mr Trump's business licences be rescinded, effectively stopping them from doing business in New York – a punishment legal experts, and Mr Trump himself, are calling a "corporate death penalty".
Mr Trump denies wrongdoing and has pleaded not guilty. His lawyers argue assets such as his Florida resort, Mar-a-Lago, have been undervalued by the court.
The former president's property and business empire is now on the line
While the judge has already found that fraud has been committed, he still has to rule on six other claims. They include allegations of conspiracy, falsifying business records and specific insurance fraud.
The non-jury trial also has to consider the question of punishment.
The New York Attorney-General Letitia James is seeking at least $US250 million ($392 million) in fines.
She also wants a permanent ban against Mr Trump and his sons Donald Jr and Eric from running businesses in New York and a five-year commercial real estate ban against Mr Trump and the Trump Organization.
"There's so much at stake today in the civil fraud case," former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani said.
"Even though Trump can't go to jail, we're talking about tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars.
"And, of course, setting aside the potential judgement, Trump has already lost his business licenses and can't maintain his real estate empire there in New York.
"He may be forced to liquidate at a loss because the commercial real estate market is depressed right now."
Trump's presence at court is significant
Mr Trump isn't expected to testify for several weeks. His trip to court today marked a remarkable departure from his past practice.
He didn't go to court as either a witness or a spectator when his company was convicted of tax fraud earlier this year. Nor did he show up for a civil trial where he was found liable for sexually assaulting writer E Jean Carroll.
"There's no requirement to be present in a civil case like a criminal one," Mr Rahmani said.
"But it certainly goes a long way for the judge who's deciding this case to think that Trump is taking this case seriously."
Mr Trump said he was attending today because he wanted "to watch this witch-hunt myself".
Trump insulted the attorney-general before the trial started
On his way into court, without offering proof, Mr Trump accused Ms James, a Democrat, of being corrupt.
He has previously also labelled her racist.
"The crime is against me," he told reporters outside the court.
"And it all comes down from the DOJ (Department of Justice) that totally coordinated this in Washington because I'm leading – I'm the leading [presidential] candidate."
He described the trail as a "scam", a "sham", and "a continuation of the single greatest witch hunt of all time".
During the lunch break, Trump launched an extraordinary attack on the judge
Just a few hours after addressing the media on his way into court, Mr Trump appeared before the cameras again.
He attacked the judge, a Democrat who was elected to the New York Supreme Court unopposed in 2015.
"We're going to be here for months with a judge that already made up his mind," Mr Trump said.
"It's ridiculous. He's a Democrat judge, he's an operative and it's ridiculous."
The judge has ruled repeatedly against Mr Trump in the three years he's been presiding over James's lawsuit. He's forced Mr Trump to sit for a deposition, held him in contempt and fined him $US70,000.
Mr Trump called for him to be disbarred.
Lawyers pursuing Mr Trump say he overstated his wealth by billions
The attorney-general is arguing Mr Trump exaggerated his wealth by as much as $US3.6 billion.
The former president claimed his three-story Trump Tower penthouse, replete with gold-plated fixtures, was nearly three times its actual size and worth $US327 million, far more than any New York City apartment ever has fetched, Ms James said.
And he valued Mar-a-Lago as high as $US739 million — which the attorney-general says is more than 10 times a more reasonable estimate of its worth.
"Every estimate was determined by Mr Trump," Kevin Wallace, a lawyer from the attorney-general's office, said in his opening statement.
Mr Wallace played an excerpt from a deposition where Michael Cohen, who had been Mr Trump's personal lawyer and fixer but has since turned against his former boss.
In the deposition, Mr Cohen said the goal when estimating the value of assets was "to attain the number that Mr Trump wanted".
Mr Wallace said the alleged scheme got the company better loan rates, saving it $US100 million in interest.
"They hid their weaknesses and convinced these banks to take on hundreds of millions of dollars in risk," he said.
"While the defendants can exaggerate to Forbes magazine or on television, they cannot do it while conducting business in the state of New York."
Trump's team argued the value of his assets are a matter of opinion
"There is no such thing as objective valuation," Trump lawyer Christopher Kise said in his opening statement.
Any discrepancies in values don't amount to fraud, he said, and disclaimers on the financial statements made clear that these were estimates and that banks would have to perform their own analysis.
Another of Mr Trump's defence lawyers, Alina Habba, described his real estate portfolio as "Mona Lisa properties" that can command top dollar.
"That is not fraud. That is real estate," she said.
She accused the attorney-general's office of "setting a very dangerous precedent for all business owners in the state of New York".
This is going to take a while
The trial is scheduled to run until early December.
Mr Trump has not indicated how much of the trial he plans to attend.
More than 150 people, including Mr Cohen could testify, though much of the trial may be a battle of experts opining on financial documents.
The hearing today continues.
ABC/wires
No comments:
Post a Comment