New York State Investigations of Trump and Related

[much ado]

Nope, Tish has him by the balls, its just not obvious yet that she has him with a set of vice grips.

Agreed, the squealing is going to become much louder.

[northland10]

Gregg, another awesome post.

HRC says Fox News is getting close to "actual malice", which of course means Tom Fitton says she's "threatening" them. Should we send him some GIL grand slam jury videos?

I am pretty sure Fitton is well aware of GIL's GJ videos seeing as suing Fitton is a full time job for GIL.

[chancery]

Sorry on my phone so short: the AG can have the fraudulent entity dissolved, she did it once. So this is a BF problemo for the crime family.

From a civil point of view, she can shut his shop up for good, and force a liquidation that would certainly leave him penniless.

Yeah, maybe, but I wouldn't bet that dissolution is in the cards. Section 1101 of New York's Business Corporation Law provides in part:

(a) The attorney-general may bring an action for the dissolution of a corporation upon one or more of the following grounds:

(1) That the corporation procured its formation through fraudulent misrepresentation or concealment of a material fact.

(2) That the corporation has exceeded the authority conferred upon it by law, or has violated any provision of law whereby it has forfeited its charter, or carried on, conducted or transacted its business in a persistently fraudulent or illegal manner, or by the abuse of its powers contrary to the public policy of the state has become liable to be dissolved.

It's very, very rare for the Attorney General to dissolve a corporation under this statute. It's not enough to show that a company has violated some laws and done some frauds, or even lots of frauds. I believe that Section 1101's use has been limited to businesses that are entirely a scam; fronts for drug-dealing; consumer frauds, and the like.

There are few reported cases. One involved a sleazy for-profit business school that was cheating both its students and a government loan program that supported the students. Another was a credit card equipment rental company that hoodwinked merchants into lengthy, hugely over-priced equipment leases for nearly worthless machinery.

The Trump Organization doesn't really fit that mold. It seems likely that, while the list of their frauds, cheats, and swindles may be long, the Trump business not simply a front for crime and fraud: it has built buildings, rented offices and apartments, sold clothing, done licensing deals <blech> and so on. For instance, it's been argued that Trump is engaged in money laundering by selling Manhattan apartments to oligarchs at multiples of fair market value. Perhaps; it wouldn't surprise me. But I suspect that the AG would need to show that the volume of money laundering dwarfed all of the company's more or less "legitimate" income to justify dissolution.

By comparison, the AG has stronger and broader powers to dissolve a regulated non-profit, as the Charities Bureau of the AG's office did to the Trump Foundation and is attempting with respect to the National Rifle Association. And even though the Bureau has the goods on Wayne LaPierre and the rest of the NRA's management, probably enough to kick out the bums out and subject the organization to a period of supervision, complete dissolution of the NRA would be something of a stretch. I doubt it will happen.

So I wouldn't pin my hopes on dissolution of the Trump Organization.

[filly]

I don’t put my hopes on anything these days. But persistent fraud is a possibility.

[realist]

I have been bouncing this around with someone else.
Trump absolutely, positively must settle this case at all costs. This case, more than anything else in any forum right now is the case that can bring him down. From a civil point of view, she can shut his shop up for good, and force a liquidation that would certainly leave him penniless. No way in hell does he cover the debt on what he has if he has to sell under duress. Besides, that, if he goes to trial, win or lose, everything the NYAG has will be entered into the record for every prosecutor and class action lawyer in America to dig through like a pile of asbestos ridden hernia patches with Roundup Weed killer and some tax evasion, bank fraud and who knows what else. As if the legal fees he is paying now won't bankrupt him eventually, they're an appetizer to what he could be paying in a year or two.
How much has he spent to keep his tax returns private? The day this goes to trial I'll be able to search and indexed version of them online, and more.

Nope, Tish has him by the balls, its just not obvious yet that she has him with a set of vice grips.

A good analysis. Only one thing wrong with it. For Trump to "settle at all costs" the AG has to be willing to settle. If they're willing to settle, which is obviously a possibility, with all the time and effort they have put into this case, it would have to be a whopping offer from Trump, and perhaps with more than just monetary offers.

[Gregg]

Quoting my own post, for the money shot...

Besides, that, if he goes to trial, win or lose, everything the NYAG has will be entered into the record

[filly]

His legal fees here have been paid by the RNC.

[Gregg]

For now. They're supporting their own money machine. But how much has to come to light for that to not work anymore for them?

[Greatgrey]

Agreed, the squealing is going to become much louder.

It squealed

[much ado]

Agreed, the squealing is going to become much louder.

It squealed

I love the sound of Trump squealing.

[raison de arizona]

[noblepa]

For now. They're supporting their own money machine. But how much has to come to light for that to not work anymore for them?

I think that, in part, that will depend on how well Trump-endorsed candidates do in the 2022 elections. If most of them win, and especially if that helps the QOP retake the House and/or the Senate, then the money will continue to flow in TFG's direction. If, on the other hand, his selected toadies do poorly, his stranglehold on the party will diminish, and along with it, the RNC's willingness to continue the tribute they are currently paying him.

Even if he loses it completely in the deposition that he is soon to be required to give, and pulls a Col. Jessop, shouting "You're damn right I overstated the value of my properties to insurers and understated the same properties to local tax authorities! You want the truth? You can't handle the truth!", many of his followers will still revere him as a living god. No, I don't think that any revelation of wrongdoing, no matter how terrible, will cause them to abandon him unless and until it begins costing them votes.

[Chilidog]

Nope, Tish has him by the balls, its just not obvious yet that she has him with a set of vice grips.

Agreed, the squealing is going to become much louder.

I'm thinking she has this tool

https://farmerboyag.com/double-crush-em ... GAQAvD_BwE

[Foggy]

A terrible idea. I haz one.

► Show Spoiler

Trump needs to appeal this decision to the Fifth Circuit US Court of Appeals.

Haha, it's a joke!

[filly]

A terrible idea. I haz one.

► Show Spoiler

Trump needs to appeal this decision to the Fifth Circuit US Court of Appeals.

Haha, it's a joke!

I've been thinking the same thing. I told Mr. Filly an hour ago that I wouldn't be surprised if these Klown lawyers filed a federal court case after doing some careful forum shopping.

[Foggy]

Yeah, and that's a possibility. I think it would be a safer bet that they will appeal all the way to the US Supreme Court, which one would hope would be procedurally difficult and unlikely, but where Trump still believes, rightly or wrongly, that he has what every crook wants - - an uneven playing field.

I would be surprised if all the NY appellate courts ruled against him (and in favor of the depositions), and he DIDN'T ask for a stay so Nefertiti or whatever his name is can tell Justice Thomas all about how very outrageous this is.

[much ado]

Yeah, and that's a possibility. I think it would be a safer bet that they will appeal all the way to the US Supreme Court, which one would hope would be procedurally difficult and unlikely, but where Trump still believes, rightly or wrongly, that he has what every crook wants - - an uneven playing field.

I would be surprised if all the NY appellate courts ruled against him (and in favor of the depositions), and he DIDN'T ask for a stay so Nefertiti or whatever his name is can tell Justice Thomas all about how very outrageous this is.

Well, he only has 14 days to get a stay. Is that likely to happen?

[Foggy]

I defer to the IAALs.

[Kriselda Gray]

Judge Refuses to Quash Subpoenas and Depositions for Donald Trump and His Children: It Would Be a ‘Blatant Dereliction of Duty’ Not to Investigate

https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/ju ... vestigate/

A Manhattan judge refused to quash civil subpoenas and depositions for former President Donald Trump and his children in a blistering ruling on Thursday], writing that it would have been “blatant dereliction of duty” not to investigate them.

“For OAG not to have investigated the original respondents, and not to have subpoenaed the new Trump respondents, would have been a blatant dereliction of duty (and would have broken an oft repeated campaign promise). Indeed, the impetus for the investigation was not personal animus, not racial or ethnic or other discrimination, not campaign promises, but was sworn congressional testimony by former Trump associate Michael Cohen that respondents were ‘cooking the books,'” Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron wrote in a 8-page ruling.

Trump and his children Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump Jr. have 21 days from the date of his order to sit for a deposition, Engoron ruled.

I'm surprised the Judge included the comment about the campaign promise. Given how much it sounded like the Trump team was trying to argue that the prosecution was improper because it is political - as evidenced by the AGs campaign promises - it seems odd that the Judge would point that out.

[ETA last 2 words of the post.... ugh!]

[Kriselda Gray]

everything the NYAG has will be entered into the record for every prosecutor and class action lawyer in America to dig through like a pile of asbestos ridden hernia patches with Roundup Weed killer and some tax evasion, bank fraud and who knows what else.

[humblescribe]

I have been bouncing this around with someone else.
Trump absolutely, positively must settle this case at all costs. This case, more than anything else in any forum right now is the case that can bring him down. From a civil point of view, she can shut his shop up for good, and force a liquidation that would certainly leave him penniless. No way in hell does he cover the debt on what he has if he has to sell under duress. Besides, that, if he goes to trial, win or lose, everything the NYAG has will be entered into the record for every prosecutor and class action lawyer in America to dig through like a pile of asbestos ridden hernia patches with Roundup Weed killer and some tax evasion, bank fraud and who knows what else. As if the legal fees he is paying now won't bankrupt him eventually, they're an appetizer to what he could be paying in a year or two.
How much has he spent to keep his tax returns private? The day this goes to trial I'll be able to search and indexed version of them online, and more.

Nope, Tish has him by the balls, its just not obvious yet that she has him with a set of vice grips.

A good analysis. Only one thing wrong with it. For Trump to "settle at all costs" the AG has to be willing to settle. If they're willing to settle, which is obviously a possibility, with all the time and effort they have put into this case, it would have to be a whopping offer from Trump, and perhaps with more than just monetary offers.

I was thinking the same thing. (Good points, all, Gregg!) tRump would have to assess what he will keep after any putative settlement. I assume that he would want to ditch as much debt as possible if he relinquishes control of many of his properties. Perhaps he would retain some lesser properties that might provide some sort of positive cash flow without the onerous debt service.

I would think that there would have to be some sort of special master to oversee whatever remains while kicking anyone with tRump on their birth certificate or marriage license out for a minimum period that would be longer than the life expectancy of tRump.

A question that I have is that how long can he drag these cases out? If he feels that he can be a candidate in '24, will this bolster or hinder his chances? He and the right-wing media have talented puppets who can spin and twist the facts into making tRump into a martyr or victim of pinko persecution.

[bob]

I'm surprised the Judge included the comment about the campaign promise. Given how much it sounded like the Trump team was trying to argue that the prosecution was improper because it is political - as evidenced by the AGs campaign promises - it seems odd that the Judge would point.

I believe the judge's intent was to stress private citizen Jones made the statement. You can't claim the prosecutor was biased if the prosecutor wasn't yet the prosecutor.

It is a weak point, and was poorly made. So, yeah, better left on the cutting-room floor.

[Gregg]

everything the NYAG has will be entered into the record for every prosecutor and class action lawyer in America to dig through like a pile of asbestos ridden hernia patches with Roundup Weed killer and some tax evasion, bank fraud and who knows what else.

I watch a lot of late night TV.

[Kriselda Gray]

I watch a lot of late night TV.

So I see ::giggles::

[Chilidog]

everything the NYAG has will be entered into the record for every prosecutor and class action lawyer in America to dig through like a pile of asbestos ridden hernia patches with Roundup Weed killer and some tax evasion, bank fraud and who knows what else.

I watch a lot of late night TV.

Is JJ Walker in there?