#Trump #Fraud #Trial #Day4 🧵
Trump continued to #attack #James, #Engoron & the trial itself in posts to his social media platform this morning.
He again suggested that the trial is an attempt to interfere w/ his presidential campaign & complained about the lack of a jury in the trial.
(It is long established that either are issues)
Trump won’t be in court today. He had no legal obligation to attend, & left yesterday, noticeably angry.
Last night, in a #Florida filing, #Trump’s lawyers filed a motion seeking to #postpone his #ClassifiedDocuments #trial.
The filing asked Judge #AileenCannon to delay the trial until after the #2024Election.
It’s currently scheduled for May 20, 2024.
They argued for delay due to scheduling issues w/Trump’s other #legal challenges, including his #ElectionInterference case
(that’s rich, “can we wait till after my election cuz I’m indicted for interfering in my last election?”)
One of his lawyers in the #ClassifiedDocuments case, Chris #Kise, is also defending #Trump in the #NY #civil #fraud #trial.
Trump’s lawyers also claimed that there have been delays in obtaining & reviewing the classified records that #SpecialCounsel #JackSmith pointed to in his indictment.
“The #SpecialCounsel’s Office has not provided some of the most basic discovery in the case. Given the current schedule, we cannot understate the *prejudice* to *President* Trump arising from his lack of access to these critical materials months after they should have been produced.” Trump attys motion said.
The #JackSmith’s office argued that #Trump’s #legal team is seeking unreasonable delays & have falsely accused the govt of delaying the production of evidence.
Back to #Trump #Fraud #Trial #Day4 🧵
Judge #Engoron has set a timeline for Trump to dissolve LLCs
Engoron issued a ruling to make sure Trump & the other defendants in the case are complying w/his order last week to cancel their #NewYork #business certificates.
The judge formally extended the deadline for Trump's team & the AG's office to submit suggestions for an independent receiver to oversee the dissolution of the companies by Oct. 26.
He also directed the #Trump team to turn over a full list of those #companies, & to inform the monitor already overseeing the #TrumpOrganization's #financial #transactions about any 3rd parties who have ownership interests.
The order also directs Trump's team to inform the monitor in advance of any applications for new #business certificates & any transfer of assets.
The judge's #SummaryJudgment ruling last week found that Trump & his companies had committed repeated #fraud, & canceled #business certificates for LLCs "controlled or beneficially owned" by #Trump, his sons #DonJr. & #EricTrump, & two #TrumpOrganization execs. It originally gave the parties 10 days to name a potential receiver, but Engoron extended the deadline at the request of Trump's lawyers. Trump filed a notice Wednesday that he's #appealing the ruling.
Fmr #Trump #accountant #DonaldBender is back on the stand for a third day of testimony.
Trump's lawyer #JesusSuarez continues his lengthy cross-examination.
#KevinWallace, the lead lawyer on the #NYAG’s case, objected after Suarez began to ask #Bender about financial statements year by year, despite getting similar answers each time (& being told not to by the Judge yesterday)
#law #legal #FediLaw #TrumpTrial #TrumpOrganization #NY #Civil
#Engoron then asked how long this would take. #Suarez said he will finish his cross-examination of Bender in ~1½ hrs.
During his questioning of #Bender, #Trump's lawyer asked Bender if he ever consulted w/#DonaldTrumpJr. or #IvankaTrump about the #financial statements that the AG contends were grossly inflated.
"Not that I recall," he said of both.
#law #legal #FediLaw #TrumpTrial #TrumpOrganization #NY #Civil
#DonJr is a #TrumpOrganization exec & a defendant in the case & was responsible for filing some of the statements after his father was elected president. #Ivanka is a fmr #TrumpOrg exec & was originally a defendant in the case, but an appeals court dismissed the claims against her on statute of limitations issues.
#Suarez questioned #Bender about his interactions w/the Manhattan DA’s office.
#law #legal #FediLaw #TrumpTrial #TrumpOrganization #NY #Civil
#Bender, who testified in DA #AlvinBragg's #criminal case against #TrumpOrg last yr, said he wasn’t threatened w/ #prosecution & #Mazars wasn’t either, to the best of his knowledge.
Suarez asked why #MarkPomerantz, a fmr prosecutor in the DA's case, said in his book that Mazars sent Bender in to meet w/them w/o his own counsel & told Mazars it was in a precarious legal position. Bender said he was “satisfied” w/his #legal representation & wasn’t aware of that convo between Pomerantz & Mazars.
#Suarez also tried to insinuate that #Mazars tried to make #Bender the fall guy by sending him in to meet w/the DA w/only the counsel for Mazars. (Counsel for the company would owe duties to the co alone & is supposed to warn employees or fmr employees that in the event of a conflict, their duties are to the co.)
Bender was called by the defense in the #TrumpOrganization #tax #fraud #trial last year & spent 3 days on the stand as their lawyers suggested he failed to alert #Trump to the scam.
Another attorney for #Trump's side, #CliffRobert, grilled #Bender about the number of times he's testified that he can't remember something since he first took the stand on Monday.
"Over the last few days, you have said 'I don’t recall' or 'I don’t remember' over 90 times?" Robert asked. "I believe that’s right," Bender answered.
He then pressed him on his dealings w/ #JeffMcConney, a senior VP at the #TrumpOrganization w/whom Bender worked closely.
#CliffRobert focused on #Bender's testimony that he asked #McConney for property #appraisals that were never turned over.
Robert: You don’t remember what you said to Mr. McConney?
Bender: No I don’t remember
Robert: Did you send emails about it?
Bender: I don’t recall
Robert: You don’t recall emails, but you do recall you asked him for it. You don’t know what you asked Jeff McConney for, do you?
Bender: Yes I do
Commenting on the nitpickiness of #CliffRobert's questioning, Justice #Engoron quipped that it was beginning to sound like Bill Clinton being questioned about "what the definition of 'is' is."
After some brief re-direct, #Bender is done testifying (sheesh, felt like Turturro in Quiz Show there for a bit) & the AG's office has called its 2nd witness, fmr #TrumpOrganization snr VP #JeffMcConney.
#McConney testified that he retired earlier this yr & was given a severance of $500k, $125k of which he’s still owed but isn’t contingent on anything other than his “being alive.”
He blamed #Bender's #accounting firm for the #financial statements the AG says were grossly inflated.
“We, being the #TrumpOrganization, did not prepare the statements. #Mazars, as our #accountant, did,” he said.
McConney was the 1st witness for the Manhattan DA in the #criminal #trial against the #TrumpOrg last yr.
Among other nefarious activities, you may recall from the #TrumpOrganization’s #criminal trial that #JeffMcConney was the guy who kept a secret log to track reduced salaries & corresponding perks for #AllenWeisselberg & others, which led to separate books being provided to the #IRS.
#McConney testified that he & then-CFO #AllenWeisselberg reviewed the final version of the #financial compilations & that once #Weisselberg signed off, he would notify their #accounting company, #Mazars.
But he acknowledged that, through his own handwritten notation, he amended Mazars’ issuance letters to indicate #TRUMP HIMSELF was entitled to a FINAL REVIEW of the compilation of statements of financial condition.
#McConney, who's also a #defendant in the #Trump #fraud case, was then shown letters he sent to a lender to disclose the statements of #financial condition to Royal Bank America. That letter & others like it are part of how the AG will attempt to establish McConney’s #liability for #false financial statements, in addition to his involvement in preparing the statements themselves.
The trial adjourned for lunch.
McConney is scheduled to resume testifying at 2:15 PM ET.
Lies come back to bite Trump in the… bank account:
Congress member is asking PalmBeach County, #Florida, to #tax Trump’s #MaraLago #property at the rate he claims it is worth.
#Trump raged about #Engoron’s ruling, saying that his FL resort is worth “50 to 100 times” what prosecutors in the NY case have said, or “closer to $1.5 billion.”
#civil #fraud #trial #NewYork
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/rep-jared-moskowitz-calls-palm-beach-county-tax-mar-lago-rate-trump-cl-rcna119042
A Democratic House member is asking Palm Beach County, Florida, to tax Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago property at the rate the former president claims it is worth amid his ongoing civil fraud trial in New York.
In a letter provided to NBC News, Rep Jared Moskowitz, D- FL., issued the request to Dorothy Jacks, Palm Beach County's #property #appraiser.
Moskowitz noted #NY Judge Arthur #Engoron’s ruling last wk saying that #Trump repeatedly committed acts of #fraud for yrs. Engoron ruled that Trump #lied to #banks & #insurers by #overvaluing & #undervaluing his #assets while exaggerating his #NetWorth to billions of dollars.
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24014051-231005-mar-a-lago-tax-letter
“Between 2011 & 2021, you value the #MaraLago property between $18 million & $28 million,” Moskowitz wrote in the letter….
“Mar-a-Lago was listed as worth $490 million in financial documents given to banks,” he wrote. “If the property value of Mar-a-Lago is so much higher than it was appraised, will you be amending the property value in line w/the #Trump family’s belief that the property is worth well over a billion dollars?”
#law #legal #Fraud #TrumpTrial #TaxFraud #InsuranceFraud #BankFraud
#CSPAN today joined other #media orgs in pushing for more media #access in another one of #Trump's upcoming #trials.
C-SPAN is urging for access to #cameras in the #courtroom for Trump's #ElectionInterference case in the US District Court for #DC.
Judge Tanya #Chutkan set a March 4, 2024, #trial date.
#FederalCourt #TeleviseTheTrumpTrial #Jan6 #TrumpCoup #democracy #deprogramMAGA
Back to my #Trump #Fraud #Trial #Day4 🧵
The trial gaveled back in session after a lunch.
Trump’s lawyers argued w/ lawyers from the AG's office about the motion Trump's team plans to file for a #stay pending their #appeal. Trump's team said they have not filed yet, but plan to file in front of the First Dept of the #Appellate Div tomorrow. They refused to disclose the scope of the requested stay before Judge #Engoron, insisting that the motion will be presented to the AD1, not the trial #court.
#AndrewAmer of the AG’s office insisted they’re entitled to 24hr notice & the notice they provided — which doesn’t reveal the #scope — is defective. “It is not a question of satisfying me, but satisfying the rule.”
#McConney returned to the stand.
#Amer asked McConney about the price of #Trump's triplex —at one point valued at $180M.
Amer showed McConney a 2012 email he sent to a Trump International Realty employee asking about square footage & the price of another apt to inform his assessment.
The apt was owned by Prince Nawaf of #SaudiArabia. The employee in McConney’s 2012 email response pointed to an apt at 240 Riverside Park w/14,500 sq ft priced at $75M ($5k per sq ft). That same employee also said he valued #Trump's triplex between $120M – $180M based on it having 30k sq ft.
McConney then used the info to value the triplex at $180M.
The point the AG is driving at is that a 14,500 sq ft apt overlooking the river was asking for $75M & roughly $5k per sq ft whereas the triplex — which #James & #Engoron have said is actually closer to 10k sq ft — was assessed to be worth $180M, & that could not have been #compliant w/standard #accounting principles at any point.
Bottom line, no one would have paid anywhere close to $180M in 2012 for the Trump Tower triplex.
#NYAG #Amer displayed the emails in question throughout as well as the Trump financial statements.
#Amer asked to have the attached 2018 NYT article entered into evidence, defense objected (hearsay), Amer moved on.
Amer asked if #McConney believes StreetEasy (apt listing site) is reliable. He said yes.
#NYAG #Amer asked #McConney about his use of capitalization or #CapRates, which he used to #value #Trump #commercial assets. (The lower the cap rate, the higher the property value.)
Amer grilled McConney about his communications w/ #DougLarsen, an #appraiser retained by #CapitolOneBank & #LadderCapital, in their capacity as #lenders concerning 40 Wall Street.
#McConney said he never used Cushman & Wakefield’s #appraisal of 40 Wall St but also never asked #DougLarsen if the cap rates he (McConney) was using for valuation were appropriate or what cap rates Larsen used.
But in his worksheets, he wrote the cap rate he used was “per a telephone conversation w/ Doug Larsen.”
#NewYorkvTrump ended for the day.
McConney's testimony resumes Fri (likely to go thru all day)
#AllenWeisselberg will be the next witness on Tues.
Adding this from the NYAG to help clear the weeds of #McConney’s #Day4 testimony in the #Trump #Fraud #trial:
Trump claimed on mult #financial statements that the #TrumpTower #triplex, assessed at $127M, was valued at $327M, "based on the apt having 30k sq ft of space multiplied by a certain price per sq ft. However, the actual size of Mr. Trump's triplex apt was 10,996 sq ft, &
Motion to Compel Filed After Donald J. Trump, Donald Trump, Jr., and Ivanka Trump Refuse to Provide Sworn Testimony Ongoing OAG Investigation Preliminarily
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