First of All, Trump is a Liar, that's what multiple Courts have decided
Fact the Billions that go to Ukraine go to USA arms manufacturers
and then the Ukrainians use them
Putin is Trumps best friend so of course he'll listen to Trump
and do anything for him
Dubious of that
Ukrainians bleed and die, so Americans do not
GOP caused more to bleed and die
by listening to Trump and delaying supply
Poland would be next, if Nato did not stand together
Would Trump allow Florida to be given away by an aggressor
Or maybe its ok to lose Alaska
So long as HE keeps all his money
Bone Spurs leadership from behind
Others are losers and suckers
and Trump will keep his hair dry
ALL former. Senior Service guys are refusing to vote for him
The cracks have appeared in the Trump facade
When will people have courage to say ENOUGH
Trump has always been a state fair sideshow
Now is the Time to save the Constitution
Cos Trump is Unhealthy in all resects
And Trump has no respect for anybody
Just wants to USE EVERYBODY AND EVERYTHING
just so he can keep his hair dry
NOW read what Forbes has got to say
as well as watching MTN Midas Touch Network, Legal AF on UTUBE
Feed your Mind and throw Trump into the Dustbin of History
Put his fire out
the flame of ignorance and hate
VOTE
Trump’s $450 Million Civil Fraud Case Goes To Appeals Court Today: What To Know
Topline
A New York appeals court will consider Thursday whether to uphold the ruling finding former President Donald Trump and his associates liable for fraudulently inflating the value of their assets for personal gain, as he seeks to throw out the sweeping ruling against him—and get out of paying nearly $480 million and counting.
Key Facts
The panel of appeals court judges will hear arguments in Trump’s appeal at 12 p.m. Eastern time on Thursday.
New York State Judge Arthur Engoron in February found Trump and his associates liable for fraudulently misstating the value of assets on financial documents in order to obtain more favorable business deals and reflect a higher net worth for Trump, ordering them to pay more than $464 million, including $454.2 million plus interest by Trump personally.
Trump has appealed that ruling and decried the “politically motivated prosecution” against him, with his lawyers arguing Engoron’s ruling should be overturned because they maintain the ex-president and his associates didn’t do anything wrong and Engoron was “erroneous” in saying the value of the company’s properties were less than they claimed on financial documents.
Even if values were misstated, Trump’s lawyers argued, that didn’t result in any “victims, injuries, or losses” that would justify the massive judgment against them, claiming there is “no evidence” showing that any misstated valuations affected the business deals the company entered into and since all the companies they worked with were paid in full, no one lost any money because of false numbers.
New York Attorney General Letitia James’ office, which brought the case, has pushed back on Trump’s arguments, claiming it doesn’t matter if the companies Trump did business with lost any money because the fraud statute Trump was sued under doesn’t require that.
The state alleges Trump and his associates “derived significant economic benefits they otherwise could not have obtained” through their fraudulent scheme, and that Engoron was correct in imposing significant penalties against them based on the “flagrancy of defendants’ misconduct…their prior history of wrongdoing, and their refusal to accept any responsibility for their misconduct.”
What To Watch For
It’s unclear how long it will take the appeals court to rule on the case. If they uphold Engoron’s ruling, Trump and his associates—including sons Eric and Donald Trump Jr.—face a range of punishments on top of the millions in fines, including being temporarily barred from running New York businesses. Trump can also still appeal his case to New York’s highest court if he loses in this appeals court, though interest will keep accruing on his judgment while he does.
Big Number
$478.3 million. That’s how much Trump now owes in the civil fraud case, including interest, which accrues at a rate of 9% per year, increasing the amount Trump has to pay by $111,984 per day, $3.4 million per month and $40.9 million per year. More than $24 million has accrued since Trump was first ordered to pay $454.2 million in February. The interest keeps accumulating while the appeals process plays out, and won’t stop until the appeals process ends and Trump is ordered to pay. It would be dropped entirely if Trump were to win on appeal. The ex-president has already posted a $175 million bond in the case, after a court agreed to let him lower the amount he had to pay immediately, but he will still have to pay the full amount should he lose his appeal.
Forbes Valuation
Forbes estimates Trump’s net worth at $3.7 billion as of Thursday morning, ranking him the 937th richest person in the world. Most of his wealth comes from his stake in Truth Social owner Trump Media and Technology Group, followed by his real estate holdings. Forbes estimates he only has approximately $413 million in cash and liquid assets, which is what would be used to pay the full judgment in the civil fraud case if his appeal fails. It’s unclear how Trump will pay the full judgment if needed, given it exceeds his cash pile. Trump would most likely have to sell shares of his social media company—even as the ex-president has claimed he has no intention to do so.
Tangent
In addition to the civil proceedings against Trump and his associates, the fraud case also led to criminal charges against former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg, who pleaded guilty to two counts of perjury based on testimony he gave in the case. He was sentenced to five months in prison, but was released on good behavior in July after serving only 100 days. Weisselberg was charged after downplaying his knowledge that Trump vastly inflated the square footage of his Trump Tower penthouse, which Forbes reported in 2017 is actually 10,996 square feet, far smaller than the more than 30,000 feet Trump claimed on financial documents. Forbes’ reporting showed Weisselberg was far more interested in the penthouse’s square footage than he claimed during the civil fraud trial and in a 2020 deposition, and he was charged after Forbes reported Weisselberg lied under oath. While Weisselberg was charged based on his comments in both the deposition and at the fraud trial, he only pleaded guilty to charges based on the 2020 deposition. Weisselberg testified he wasn’t aware of the size discrepancy before Forbes’ piece and was not present while Trump exaggerated the penthouse’s size—but was actually present during a meeting with Trump and Forbes reporters in which Trump lied about the square footage, and internal emails and emails from Forbes show Weisselberg was aware of the discrepancy before Forbes’ 2017 piece was published.
Key Background
James sued Trump, his associates and his businesses in 2022, alleging the ex-president and his business had misstated the value of assets more than 200 times in a 10-year span, including his Florida Mar-a-Lago estate and his Trump Tower penthouse. The misstated valuations were used to get loans on more favorable terms, the state argued, also claiming Trump used the figures to reflect a higher net worth for himself. Trump has strongly denied the accusations, with his lawyers arguing in court that the valuations are based on Trump’s real estate expertise and blaming any issues on its financial documents on the Trump Organization’s accountants, rather than Trump himself or his sons. The case went to trial last fall, with Engoron ruling even before it began that Trump and his associates had fraudulently misstated the value of assets. He then ruled again in February against Trump, deciding after the monthslong trial that Trump and his associates had knowingly misstated the assets’ value for personal gain. While Trump and his lawyers tried to distance himself from any wrongdoing in the case, the judge ruled there was “overwhelming evidence” suggesting Trump and his sons signed off on the false financial documents, and Trump “was aware of many of the key facts underpinning various material fraudulent misstatements” in the financial statements and “severely compromised his credibility” when testifying in the case.
Further Reading
Alison Durkee is a senior reporter covering breaking news, with a focus on legal issues and U.S. politics. She joined
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