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REPORT: THE TRUMP ORGANIZATION SHOULD BE SOILING ITSELF RIGHT NOW


REPORT: THE TRUMP ORGANIZATION SHOULD BE SOILING ITSELF RIGHT NOW  

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Author: TheCrow   Date: 11/18/2021 10:01:05 AM  +3/-0  

Trump is a thief, a liar and a cheat.

New criminal charges against the former president’s company may be on the way.
NOVEMBER 5, 2021
US Presidentelect Donald Trump along with his children Eric Ivanka and Donald Jr. arrive for a press conference January...
BY TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES.
 

Back in July, the Manhattan District Attorney announced a whopping 15-count indictment against the Trump Organization (and its long-time CFO, Allen Weisselberg) for, among other things, conspiracy, grand larceny, and multiple counts of tax fraud and falsifying business records. While the charges were no doubt unwelcome, particularly given that prosecutors revealed a literal spreadsheet Donald Trump’s family business used to keep track of its alleged crimes, Team Trump presumably comforted itself with the hope that that was all district attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. had, and further criminal charges would not be forthcoming. But, surprise!

The Washington Post reports that the D.A. has convened a second long-term grand jury to hear fresh evidence about the Trump Organization’s “financial practices” and will potentially vote on levying new charges. (It was the first grand jury, which met in the spring, that returned the felony indictments against the Trump Organization and Weisselberg, both of whom have pleaded not guilty.) The new grand jury will meet three days a week over six months and is expected to begin hearing evidence Thursday in Manhattan’s Surrogate’s Court. According to one person familiar with the matter, the new group will likely examine how Trump’s company values its assets; another person familiar with the matter said staffers in the D.A.’s office are working closely with the office of New York Attorney General Letitia James, who had the ex-president’s foundation shut down in 2019 for illegally scamming charities.

Prosecutors recently inquired about the initiation fees Trump golf courses charged new members, the person said, and Trump’s role in setting those fees for individual customers. Trump often cited his clubs’ initiation fees in the statements he sent potential lenders, as a sign of the courses’ financial health. That appears to be a separate issue from the one described in indictments from the first grand jury, which has dealt with allegations that Weisselberg and other Trump executives evaded taxes on their pay by systematically hiding some of their compensation from the IRS.

Both Vance and James have previously said that they were examining allegations that the Trump Organization misled banks, insurance firms or tax authorities by manipulating the value of its assets to get favorable loan rates or to lower his taxes. James said in a court filing last year that her office was investigating Trump’s valuations of three properties: his Los Angeles golf course, a Manhattan office building and an estate in suburban New York called Seven Springs. James’s filing said she was interested in a “conservation easement” that Trump obtained on the Seven Springs property in 2015—giving him tax benefits in exchange for renouncing his right to build houses on part of the estate. Trump boosted the value of that tax break by estimating that the land would have brought him $21 million if he’d sold it.

James also indicated in the filing that she was interested in valuations of Trump’s golf course in Los Angeles, where in 2014 Trump obtained a conservation easement that he said lowered the property value by $25 million, the filing said…. Vance’s office, which is convening the new grand jury, has given far less detail about its investigation of valuations at Trump properties

 

Last month, The New York Times reported that Westchester County D.A.’s office had opened a separate criminal probe into the Trump Organization thought to be focused in part on whether the company misled local officials about the Trump National Golf Club Westchester’s property value with the express intent of lowering its tax bill. For instance, in one year, town officials assessed the property at roughly $15 million, while the Trump Organization claimed it was worth just $1.4 million. Meanwhile, on federal disclosure forms filed while he was president, Trump said the club was worth more than $50 million. Which is quite the discrepancy!

 

Of course, the idea that a company run by Donald Trump would claim a property was worth significantly less than what local officials said it was should come as no surprise whatsoever. In February 2019, Michael Cohen, Trump’s former personal attorney, tolda> Congress that in his experience, Trump “inflated his total assets when it served his purposes, such as trying to be listed amongst the wealthiest people in Forbes, and deflated his assets to reduce his real estate taxes.” Cohen cited portions of documents known as “Statements of Financial Condition,” which were write-ups of Trump’s real estate assets and debts, which Cohen said were intended to demonstrate his wealth, particularly to lenders who he wanted to loan him money. A month after Cohen’s testimony, the Post dove into such documents, and found that they were filled with a comical number of lies.

In 2011, for instance, a “Statement of Financial Condition” claimed that Trump owned 55 home lots ready to sell for at least $3 million apiece at his Southern California golf course. Yet, in reality, he’d only been zoned for 31, thereby overstating his future revenue by approximately $72 million. In a document from 2012, he added an extra 800 acres to the size of his 1,200-acre Virginia vineyard. In 2013, in an attempt to bolster his bid for the Buffalo Bills, a two-page “Summary of Net Worth” conveniently omitted his ownership of two hotels, in Chicago and Las Vegas, meaning, as the Post noted, “some of Trump’s actual debt load was hidden from anyone reading the statement.” In perhaps the most brazen example of Trumpian “exaggeration,” he invented an extra 10 stories at Trump Tower, claiming that the building was 68 stories when, in actuality, there are 58.

As the Post noted on Thursday, it’s possible the second grand jury could conclude without handing down further indictments, though if the prior one is any guide, that may not be the case. The Trump Organization did not respond to the Post’s request for comment. Trump’s personal lawyers Ron Fischetti and Phyllis Malgieri declined to comment. In previous statements, Trump, his spokespeople, and his family have decried any investigations into the ex-president and his family business as politically motivated witch hunts. Last year, Eric Trump told the Post, “This type of targeting and harassment violates every ethical guideline of a prosecutor. It’s wrong

 

 


 
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REPORT: THE TRUMP ORGANIZATION SHOULD BE SOILING ITSELF RIGHT NOW +3/-0 TheCrow 11/18/2021 10:01:05 AM