New York

Subterms

    More stories

    • 150 Shares199 Views

      in US Politics

      Trump lawyers say he can’t post bond covering $454m civil fraud judgment

      by

      Lawyers for Donald Trump said on Monday he could not post a bond covering the full amount of the $454m civil fraud judgment against him while he appeals the New York ruling, because to do so was “a practical impossibility” after 30 surety companies turned him down.In a court filing seeking a stay on the payment, which is due on 25 March, lawyers for the former president and this fall’s presumptive Republican presidential nominee quoted Gary Giulietti, an executive with the insurance brokerage Lockton Companies, which Trump hired to help get a bond.The filing said: “Defendants’ ongoing diligent efforts have proven that a bond in the judgment’s full amount is ‘a practical impossibility’.”In an affidavit, Giulietti said few bonding companies would consider issuing a bond of the size required. The bonding companies that might issue such a huge bond would not “accept hard assets such as real estate as collateral” but “will only accept cash or cash equivalents (such as marketable securities)”, Giulietti wrote.“A bond of this size is rarely if ever seen. In the unusual circumstance that a bond of this size is issued, it is provided to the largest public companies in the world, not to individuals or privately held businesses.”Trump maintains he is worth several billion dollars and testified last year that he had about $400m in cash, in addition to properties and other investments.In January, a jury ordered Trump to pay $83.3m – on top of $5m awarded by a jury last year – to the writer E Jean Carroll, for defaming her after she accused him of sexual assault in a Manhattan department store in the mid-1990s, a claim a judge called “substantially true”. Trump posted a bond for that amount as he appeals.The civil fraud case against Trump was brought by the New York attorney general, Letitia James.Trump also faces an unprecedented slate of criminal charges: 14 for subversion of the 2020 election that he lost to Joe Biden, 34 over hush-money payments and 40 regarding his retention of classified documents.Nonetheless, the 77-year-old dominated the Republican presidential primary and is poised to face Biden at the polls again in November, even as his legal problems deepen.In the New York civil fraud case, the judge, Arthur Engoron, ruled in February that Trump, his company and top executives – including his sons Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr – schemed for years to deceive banks and insurers by inflating financial statements used to secure loans and make deals.Among other penalties, Engoron put strict limitations on the ability of the Trump Organization to do business.James, a Democrat, has said she will seek to seize assets if Trump is unable to pay the judgment.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionWith interest, Trump and co-defendants including his company and top executives owe $467.3m. To obtain a bond, Trump lawyers said, they would be required to post collateral worth $557m.“A bond requirement of this enormous magnitude – effectively requiring cash reserves approaching $1bn – is unprecedented for a private company,” the Monday filing said.“Even when it comes to publicly traded companies, courts routinely waive or reduce the bond amount. Enforcing an impossible bond requirement as a condition of appeal would inflict manifest irreparable injury.”In February, a state appeals court judge ruled that Trump must post a bond covering the full amount to pause enforcement of the judgment. Trump is asking a full panel of the state’s intermediate appellate court to stay that judgment while he appeals. His lawyers previously proposed a $100m bond – an offer rejected by an appeals court judge, Anil Singh.Trump first appealed on 26 February, his lawyers asking the court to decide if Engoron “committed errors of law and/or fact” and if he abused his discretion or “acted in excess” of his jurisdiction.Trump was not required to pay his penalty or post a bond in order to appeal. Filing the appeal did not automatically halt enforcement of the judgment. Trump would receive an automatic stay if he were to put up money, assets or an appeal bond covering what he owes.The Associated Press contributed reporting More

    • 150 Shares199 Views

      in US Politics

      Trump asks to delay hush-money trial until supreme court weighs immunity claim

      by

      Donald Trump on Monday asked the New York judge overseeing his criminal case on charges stemming from hush money paid to a porn star to delay the trial until the US supreme court finishes reviewing his claim of presidential immunity in a separate case.The hush money trial is set to begin on 25 March in a New York state court in Manhattan.Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsification of business records.Prosecutors say he directed his former lawyer and fixer, Michael Cohen, to pay porn star Stormy Daniels $130,000 to keep quiet before the 2016 election about a sexual encounter she says they had a decade earlier, and then falsely recorded his reimbursement to Cohen as legal expenses.Trump denies the encounter with Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford.Last month, prosecutors said they planned to introduce evidence of a “pressure campaign” by Trump in 2018 to ensure Cohen did not cooperate with a federal investigation into the payment to Daniels. Cohen pleaded guilty that year to violating campaign finance law.In their court filing on Monday, Trump’s lawyers called prosecutors’ claim of a pressure campaign “fictitious”. They said prosecutors should not be allowed to present evidence about Trump’s public statements about Cohen from that year because he made those statements in his official capacity as president.“Without immunity from criminal prosecution based on official acts, the President’s political opponents will seek to influence and control his or her decisions via de facto extortion,” Trump’s lawyers wrote.A spokesperson for the Manhattan district attorney’s office, which brought the charges, declined to comment.The case is one of four federal and state criminal indictments the presumptive Republican presidential nominee faces. Firm trial dates have not yet been set in the other three cases, which stem from his efforts to reverse his 2020 loss to Democratic president Joe Biden, and his handling of government documents.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionThe supreme court on 28 February agreed to decide Trump’s claim of immunity from prosecution in his federal case in Washington DC, over efforts to overturn the 2020 election, delaying a potential trial. The supreme court set the case for oral arguments during the week of 22 April.Trump has pleaded not guilty in all criminal cases, which he has termed “election interference”. More

    • 138 Shares99 Views

      in US Politics

      New York prosecutors request Trump gag order ahead of hush-money trial

      by

      Manhattan prosecutors on Monday asked the judge presiding in Donald Trump’s criminal case on charges of falsifying business records to impose a gag order on the former president, seeking to bar him from attacking potential witnesses and revealing juror identities.The request, submitted by prosecutors in the office of the Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg, repeatedly referenced the gag order imposed in Trump’s federal criminal trial in Washington to ask for similar limitations on what he can publicly say about the case.“[The] defendant has a long history of making public and inflammatory remarks,” the 30-page filing said. “Those remarks, as well as the inevitable reactions they incite from the defendant’s followers and allies, pose a significant threat to the orderly administration of this criminal proceeding.”The proposed gag order hewed closely to the contours of the order upheld in December by the US court of appeals for the DC circuit that decided Trump’s inflammatory statements in the federal election interference case could not remain unrestricted, despite his objections.Prosecutors asked the New York judge Juan Merchan to limit Trump from assailing people in three categories: known or foreseeable witnesses concerning their trial testimony; court staff and the district attorney’s staff as well as their families; and any prospective jurors.The filing made extensive use of Trump’s posts on his Truth Social platform decrying the criminal cases in their filing, notably including a post that Trump published in March last year when he erroneously predicted he would be arrested in connection with the business records case.“THE FAR & AWAY LEADING REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE & FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATE OF AMERICA, WILL BE ARRESTED ON TUESDAY OF NEXT WEEK,” Trump had written in a post attached as an exhibit. “PROTEST, TAKE OUR NATION BACK!”The filing also drew direct lines from Trump’s inflammatory statements about the case to actions taken by his followers, arguing that immediately after that post in particular, the district attorney’s office received its first threat – even before Trump was formally charged.Trump’s lawyers are likely to oppose the gag order and could appeal it should Merchan agree with prosecutors. Still, if Merchan were to impose a gag order, he would be the latest in a string of judges in federal and state courts restricting Trump’s most acerbic remarks.The gag order request comes weeks before Trump is scheduled for trial in the Manhattan criminal case on 25 March. Last year, the district attorney’s office charged Trump with 34 counts of falsifying business records to cover up hush-money payments to the porn star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election.Prosecutors have cast the case as an attempt by Trump to manipulate the 2016 election, arguing Trump paid $130,000 to buy Daniels’ silence about the affair because he was supposedly concerned about damaging his presidential campaign.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionThe charges hinge on how the hush money was recorded on Trump’s business records. Trump falsified the records, prosecutors allege, by recording the reimbursements to his former lawyer Michael Cohen – who made the payment to Daniels – as “legal expenses” from a “retainer agreement”.To make their case, prosecutors asked the judge in a separate filing on Monday to allow them to introduce ancillary evidence at trial related to their 2016 election interference theory, including other hush-money payments Trump made in advance of the 2016 election.They also asked the judge to allow them to use the infamous Access Hollywood tape where Trump boasted about groping women, which came shortly before Trump made the hush-money payment to Daniels.Trump’s lawyers pushed back at prosecutors in their own filing, asking the judge to exclude evidence about the 2016 election because it was irrelevant to the actual business records allegations. They also asked Cohen to be barred from testifying because he had previously made misstatements. More

    • 150 Shares169 Views

      in US Politics

      John Avlon targets New York Republicans in US House campaign: ‘They’re scared’

      by

      To John Avlon’s knowledge, “the National Republican Congressional Committee didn’t feel compelled to weigh in when any of the other candidates in the Democratic primary got in the race. But they did for me. And I think that’s because they’re scared.”The race is in New York’s first congressional district, a US House seat represented by a Republican, Nick LaLota, in an area that trended towards Joe Biden in 2020 and is thus one of many Democratic targets in the state this year. Avlon announced his run on Wednesday.“I think they thought they were going to have a relatively easy race, maybe facing the candidate who had been defeated before. But I think when they saw me getting in the race, they recognised that changes the calculus.”Avlon, 51, is no unknown quantity: he has written four books on politics and history, was for five years editor-in-chief of the Daily Beast and, until this month, was a contributor and anchor at CNN.The primary comes first. Nancy Goroff contested the seat on the eastern end of Long Island in 2020 and is in again. So is James Gaughran, a former state senator. There’s plenty of time for things to get testy but Gaughran welcomed Avlon to the race, telling Politico: “I’ve watched him a lot on CNN, and I’ve actually become a big fan. His advocacy – particularly pointing to the issues we have in this country of trying to save this country from Donald Trump, is spot on.”Avlon laughs. “That was very kind of Jimmy. And by the way … don’t we want to see more of that? Don’t we want to see more, ‘Let’s have a civil conversation, disagree where we disagree, find the areas where we agree, and be civil and constructive and not tear each other down in primaries, because it distracts the focus from the real work to be done, which is winning a general election.’”Republicans have not been quite so welcoming to Avlon. The NRCC said it looked forward “to litigating this smug, liberal hack’s past so voters can see just how left he and the rest of the modern Democrat [sic] party have become”.A LaLota spokesperson piled in, calling Avlon “a Manhattan elitist without any attachments to Long Island other than his summer home in the Hamptons” and claiming NY-1 “has a history of rejecting out-of-state and Manhattan elitists, from both sides of the aisle, who parachute into the district”.Avlon has homes in Sag Harbor and Manhattan. LaLota, a graduate of the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, lives in Amityville – outside his district.Avlon says: “I don’t think it’s remotely credible to attack me as radical far left. That’s the kind of cut-and-paste political attack that people realise is just fundamentally false. And I think the reality is that Nick LaLota has been a Donald Trump flunky, doing whatever he says rather than solving problems on behalf of people in Suffolk county. You know, he’s far too far right for this swing district.”Twice, Avlon mentions as a model the centrist Tom Suozzi’s Democratic win this month in NY-3, the seat formerly held by the notorious George Santos, the sixth House member ever expelled. Twice, Avlon cites as motivation farcical scenes in Washington DC in which Senate Republicans sank their own border and immigration deal, Trump having made clear he wants to campaign for president against the backdrop of a “border crisis”, real or confected.House Republicans have since refused to consider a foreign aid package without attendant border reform.Avlon says: “When LaLota attacked Senator James Lankford [of Oklahoma, the Republican negotiator] for trying to solve the border crisis with a bipartisan solution, he just revealed himself as part of the problem, not part of the solution of our politics. I want to be part of the solution.”To some Democrats, “centrist” has become a dirty word. Not to Avlon. He has distanced himself from No Labels, the group he co-founded in 2010, left a decade ago and now accuses of a “reckless gamble with democracy” in its flirtation with a presidential campaign. But the political centre is still where he wants to be, “particularly in swing districts [like NY-01] as a matter of practicality but I think also on principle.“If the larger goal is to win elections, we still need to find a way to reunite America. That’s a lofty goal. I’m not saying that’s why I’m running. But once we break this fever, we need to find a way to come together again. I do believe in the power of unifying leaders in divided times and the best American politics is that which focuses on what unites us, not what divides us.”Avlon’s third book, from 2017, was Washington’s Farewell: The Founding Father’s Warning to Future Generations. The historian Richard Norton Smith called it “a stake through the heart of political extremism”, a subject Avlon knows well, also having written Wingnuts: How the Lunatic Fringe is Hijacking America (2010) and presented Reality Check with John Avlon: Extremist Beat for CNN.“There’s a fundamental importance in building broader community and building a big tent,” he says. “The Democratic party is the last big tent party. The Democratic party, unfortunately, is the only functioning political party in America, because the other party is set to re-nominate a guy who tried to destroy our democracy, and is using election lies as a litmus test for loyalty. I don’t think you can underscore that enough.“But in the larger sense, democracy depends upon reasoning together. That requires common facts and identifying common ground and focusing on how you solve common problems. And that’s about putting country over party.”Avlon’s own marriage is bipartisan. His wife, Margaret Hoover, is a TV host and political commentator whose great-grandfather, Herbert Hoover, was the unlucky president hit by the Great Depression.Avlon is “proud of her and her family and the work she does to defend and extend his legacy. When Margaret and I are on air together or doing something onstage together, I hope it serves as a reminder that people can disagree agreeably – again, that partisan politics shouldn’t define every aspect of our lives, especially our personal lives. We can have honest disagreements, as long as it’s accompanied by an assumption of goodwill.”Avlon also started out working for a Republican: Rudy Giuliani, when he was mayor of New York City, long before he became Trump’s attack dog. As speechwriter and policy director, Avlon was there on 11 September 2001, when the towers fell.“September 11 is one of the defining moments in my life,” he says. “And I don’t think that’s unusual. I think New Yorkers understand how it defined our collective character. And I think some folks have slipped into a certain 9/11 amnesia. And I’ve warned against the wisdom of that, in a lot of segments, on air and written.“I’ll always be proud of the work we did in those days. My team and I were responsible for writing the eulogies for 343 firefighters, for police officers and Port Authority workers. And I think that memory, and the example they set by running into the fire, and the way we were briefly able to unite as a nation, in the aftermath, those are all core parts of my character and my experience.“And I think folks in Suffolk county will understand that, because they’ve experienced it themselves or they’ve been touched by it themselves. You don’t have to be retired police officer or firefighter to understand the importance of that day and its aftermath to our communities. It’s just part of who I am.” More

    • 138 Shares169 Views

      in US Politics

      Ex-CNN anchor John Avlon announces Congress run to defeat ‘Maga minions’

      by

      The former Daily Beast editor and CNN anchor John Avlon announced his candidacy for US Congress in New York as a Democrat, seeking to flip a seat on Long Island, where Republicans saw surprising gains in the 2022 midterm elections.In a video announcement, Avlon said he was running to help Democrats win back the House from Donald Trump’s “Maga minions”.“Our democracy is in danger,” he said. “This election is not a drill. It’s up to all of us to step up and get off the sidelines.“We need to build the broadest possible coalition to defeat Donald Trump, defend our democracy and win back the House from his Maga minions who don’t even seem interested in solving problems.”Avlon included the incumbent congressman in the first district, the Republican Nick LaLota, among those “minions”, who he said were “doing whatever Trump wants, including blocking a bipartisan border security deal” – a reference to a successful move by Senate Republicans earlier this month, while their House counterparts refuse to pass a foreign aid bill that does not also include a border element.LaLota is one of a number of New York Republicans who won in 2022 in districts where Joe Biden beat Trump in 2020. Those districts are now targets for Democrats seeking to take back the closely divided House. One was flipped last week, when the third district, previously represented by George Santos – an indicted fabulist and only the sixth member ever expelled from the House – was won by a Democrat.LaLota’s spokesperson, Will Kiley, previewed Republican attack lines, calling Avlon “a Manhattan elitist without any attachments to Long Island other than his summer home in the Hamptons”, who knew “nothing about Suffolk county other than Sag Harbor croquet matches and summer cocktail parties in Bridgehampton”.Married to the commentator and PBS host Margaret Hoover, a great-granddaughter of the Republican president Herbert Hoover, Avlon lives in Sag Harbor, a whaling port turned desirable seaside retreat.Kiley added: “It may take burning millions of his friends’ money for Avlon to learn NY-1 has a history of rejecting out-of-state and Manhattan elitists, from both sides of the aisle, who parachute into the district attempting to buy a seat in Congress.”Savannah Viar, a spokesperson for the National Republican Congressional Committee, called Avlon a “smug liberal hack”.LaLota, 45, is a graduate of the US Naval Academy. Kiley called him “the commonsense conservative voice Long Island needs at this crucial time”.In his announcement, Avlon said: “This district needs real leadership, not more hyper-partisanship, and I am going to hit the ground running, talking to voters across Suffolk county about the issues we all care about.”He aimed, he said, to “rebuild the middle class, invest in infrastructure, protect women’s reproductive freedoms and combat climate change”.A former volunteer for Bill Clinton and chief speechwriter to the mayor of New York City, Avlon, 51, is also the author of books on George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and contemporary US politics, including, in 2010, Wingnuts: How the Lunatic Fringe is Hijacking America.On Wednesday, he said he wore “as a badge of honour” Trump’s decision in 2016 to “blacklist” outlets including the Daily Beast, the website Avlon edited for five years from 2013 before focusing on CNN, which he left this month.On social media, Avlon thanked David Axelrod, Barack Obama’s chief White House strategist, who called him “thoughtful, incisive and passionate about our country and its future” and said he would be “a great and impactful member of Congress”. More

    • 125 Shares169 Views

      in US Politics

      New York lobbyists ‘aiding and abetting’ climate crisis, research reveals

      by

      New research reveals that dozens of New York universities, hospitals, museums and non-profits are employing lobbyists that also work for fossil fuel companies, which some say is blatantly “aiding and abetting” climate crisis.New York’s wealthiest lobbying firms work double-duty in the state capital, representing the political interests of both the victims and perpetrators of the climate crisis, according to a new report from F Minus, a database of state-level lobbying disclosures released last year, and LittleSis, a project created by the non-profit corporate and government accountability watchdog Public Accountability Initiative.The report analyzed the client rosters of six of the top lobbying firms in New York, revealing how the state’s cultural, business and educational leaders – many of whom tout their commitment to slowing climate crisis – are quietly linked to the fossil fuel industry.New York University, which proudly pledged to divest its $5bn endowment from coal, oil and gas companies last year, shares its lobbyists with six fossil fuel companies, including Valero and National Grid.Tobacco-Free Kids Action Fund, a non-profit that offers education on the deadly health effects of cigarette smoke inhalation, works with the same New York-based lobbying firm as Koch Industries, known for its prolific history of climate denial and pollution of American air and water.The New Museum, which currently exhibits a series of paintings featuring endangered plants and animals, employs the same lobbying firm as BP America and the Williams Companies, the largest operator of gas pipelines in the country.“You have schools like NYU scrutinizing the energy efficiency of every single lightbulb on campus, but then they turn around and hire the same firms that represent the people who are causing the climate crisis,” said James Browning, executive director of F Minus.Browning said the clients of fossil fuel lobbyists are “aiding and abetting” climate change, lending their cultural cache and credibility to these lobbying firms.“If lobbyists only worked with fossil fuel clients, it would be much easier for lawmakers in Albany to dismiss them, close the door and not return any of their calls,” Browning said. “But because they have all these prestigious clients, clients that are a huge part of New York’s economy, it lends these lobbyists a kind of shield from scrutiny.”Last year, Brown & Weinraub, one of the top-paid lobbying firms in New York, helped the American Petroleum Institute oppose the creation of a superfund that would generate $3bn annually for disaster recovery and climate resiliency projects. Brown & Weinraub also works with Google, which last year ramped up its public commitment to environmental causes.A spokesperson for Google told the Guardian that the company has a proven track record of sustainability, investing in renewable energy and working to cut emissions.But Browning warns that Brown & Weinraub can use Google’s name to advance lobbying efforts for other, less politically attractive clients, like fossil fuel companies.“We know that in the capitol building, it’s pretty hard to say no to a meeting with the people who represent Google,” Browning said. “That’s why it’s worth investigating who else your lobbyist does business with.”The problem extends far beyond New York: in 2022 alone, Google shared lobbying firms with fossil fuel clients in 17 states.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionNationwide, a whopping 1,500 lobbyists are working on behalf of fossil-fuel companies while simultaneously representing hundreds of Democratic cities, universities and tech giants. These outwardly left-leaning clients offer a kind of environmentally-conscious visage for lobbyists, allowing them to adopt the language of the environmental movement while still enjoying the deep pockets of the fossil fuel industry.Pittsburgh, notably, has embraced fossil fuel lobbyists more than any other major US city, according to a 2023 report from F Minus and LittleSis.Part of the issue, climate advocates say, is that companies and non-profits overestimate the ethical guardrails that exist for political lobbyists.“Laws regulating the relationship of lobbyists and their clients are scarce and not especially transparent,” said Carroll Muffett, president and CEO of the Center for International Environmental Law. “The rules regarding conflicts of interest for lobbyists are not nearly as stringent as they are for attorneys, for example.”Last month, in an email correspondence with the state commission on ethics and lobbying in government, F Minus confirmed that there is no provision in the New York Lobbying Act that “prohibits a lobbyist from working for and against a bill at the same time”.Without robust oversight of political lobbyists, firms are left to self-regulate conflicts of interest. It is unclear how a lobbying firm handles situations where one client supports climate-related legislation while another client opposes it.“In cases where there is a conflict of interest, but maybe not a direct one, there is this big question: where does your lobbyist’s true allegiance lie,” Muffett said. “You need to remember that question whenever you are dealing with a lobbying firm that is heavily invested in and funded by the fossil fuel industry.” More

    • 150 Shares169 Views

      in US Politics

      New York governor seeks to quell business owners’ fears after Trump ruling

      by

      The New York governor has told business owners in her state that there is “nothing to worry about” after Donald Trump was fined $355m and temporarily banned from engaging in commerce in the state when he lost his civil fraud trial Friday.In an interview on the New York radio show the Cats Roundtable with the supermarket billionaire John Catsimatidis, Kathy Hochul sought to quell fears in some quarters that the penalties handed to Trump for engaging in fraudulent business practices could chill the state’s commercial climate.Asked if businesspeople should be worried that if prosecutors could “do that to the former president, they can do that to anybody”, Hochul said: “Law-abiding and rule-following New Yorkers who are businesspeople have nothing to worry about because they’re very different than Donald Trump and his behavior.”She added that the fraud case against Trump resulted from “really an extraordinary, unusual circumstance”.Hochul’s comments were directed at some New York business leaders who said they were concerned that the attorney general Letitia James’s case against Trump could deter businesses and investment from coming to the state. Hochul noted James’s case demonstrated how Trump and some allies obtained favorable bank loans and insurance rates with inflated real estate values.The governor said most New York business owners were “honest people, and they’re not trying to hide their assets and they’re following the rules”.Hochul said most business owners would not merit state intervention.“This judge determined that Donald Trump did not follow the rules,” Hochul added. “He was prosecuted and truly, the governor of the state of New York does not have a say in the size of a fine, and we want to make sure that we don’t have that level of interference.”Trump, who denied wrongdoing in the case and maintained there were no victims, now has 30 days to come up with a non-recoverable $35m to secure a bond – a third-party guarantee – against his real estate holdings to show that he can pay the full fine if his appeals fail.Alternatively, he could put the $355m into an escrow account but would get the money back if he wins on appeal.Either way, the ruling is a blow to the developer-politician whose sense of self is tied to financial success. And James has said Trump is actually in line to pay more than $463m when interest is taken into account.In September, Trump’s former lawyer Christopher Kise argued in court that the decision against the ex-president would cause “irreparable impact on numerous companies”. It would also threaten 1,000 employees within the Trump empire, Kise maintained.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionBut the judge, Arthur Engoron, who found the former president liable for fraud and assessed the fine and three-year disqualification from doing business in New York, dropped an earlier ruling to dissolve all the companies that Trump owns in the state that could have led to a liquidation.“This is a venal sin, not a mortal sin,” Engoron wrote in a 92-page ruling that allowed the Trump businesses to keep operating and appointed two overseers to monitor “major activities that could lead to fraud”.Engoron said he could renew his call for “restructuring and potential dissolution” based on “substantial evidence”.Trump has lashed out at the ruling, vowing to appeal and calling James and Engoron “corrupt”.But James said on Friday: “This long-running fraud was intentional, egregious, illegal.” She added: “There cannot be different rules for different people in this country, and former presidents are no exception.” More

    • 213 Shares159 Views

      in US Politics

      Trump’s legal woes have now set him back by more than $500m – how will he pay?

      by

      Donald Trump awoke on Saturday facing a stark new reality of legal obligations in excess of half a billion dollars after his stunning defeat in his civil fraud trial a day earlier, and questions swirled over his ability, or intention, to pay.Yet the former president remained defiant late on Friday, insisting in a vitriolic rant from his Mar-a-Lago mansion in Florida that he would win an appeal against a New York judge’s ruling that he must pay more than $350m plus pre-judgment interest for intentional financial fraud stretching more than a decade.Lashing out at the New York attorney general, Letitia James, who brought the case, and state judge Arthur Engoron, who issued the penalty, as “totally corrupt”, Trump slammed what he said was a “sham prosecution” driven by Joe Biden and the Democratic party to prevent him from returning to the White House.“We’ll appeal, we’ll be successful,” he said. “A crooked New York judge ruled that I have to pay $355m for having built the perfect company. Great cash, great buildings, great everything.”The precise amount Trump was ordered to pay is not entirely clear. At a press conference on Friday night, James put the figure at $463.9m. “That represents $363.9m in disgorgement, plus $100m in interest, which will continue to increase every single day until it is paid,” she said.But with the ruling adding to the $83.3m he must pay writer E Jean Carroll from a defamation hearing last month, plus another $5m from the original case last year that found he sexually abused her, Trump’s legal debts are mounting quickly – and are estimated now at about $542m, including interest.Nikki Haley, Trump’s sole remaining rival for the Republican presidential nomination, speculated he would siphon campaign cash from the Republican National Committee (RNC) to pay at least some of it.“I don’t want the RNC to become his piggy bank for his personal court cases,” she told CNN’s The Source.“We’ve already seen him spend $50m worth of campaign contributions … Now we see him trying to get control of the RNC so that he can continue not to have to pay his own legal fees.”Trump has moved to install his daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, as co-chair of the RNC, with other loyalists in leadership positions.Analysts say it’s possible he can delay paying up by appealing Engoron’s ruling. That’s what he did in the first Carroll case by depositing the $5m into a court-controlled account, plus an additional $500,000 in interest required by New York law.But such a strategy would also be costly. One alternative is securing a bond paying only a portion upfront, which would come with interest and fees and the challenge of finding a financial institution willing to front him the money.In the civil fraud case, it will be up to the courts to decide how much Trump must put up as he mounts his appeal. And he may be required to pay the full sum immediately after the appellate court rules, which could come as soon as this summer, according to University of Michigan law professor Will Thomas.“New York’s judicial system has shown a willingness to move quickly on some of these Trump issues,” Thomas said.“When we hear from the first appellate court, that’s a point where money is almost certainly going to change hands.”Bloomberg estimates Trump’s net worth at $2.3bn. But it is unclear how much cash he has on hand. Much of his wealth is tied up in a global real estate portfolio, and James’s team determined in 2020 he had less than $100m in liquid assets.Under the ruling, Trump would still be liable even if the Trump Organization declared bankruptcy. Enforcement of the judgment would be paused with a personal declaration of bankruptcy, but that would further harm his credibility as he pursues a return to the presidency.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionThe ruling, meanwhile, also makes it hard for any family member to run the Trump Organization in the near future.Trump’s adult sons – Eric, the company’s chief executive, and Donald Jr – were each fined $4m and banned from serving as officers or directors of any corporation or entity in New York for two years. Donald Trump and two other executives were barred for three.For James, the ruling marks the successful culmination of a case years in the making. Her office has been investigating Trump’s business since 2019, finding that it consistently overvalued its properties and other assets to illegally obtain favorable terms on loans and insurance.One of the most striking examples concerned Trump’s triplex apartment in Manhattan’s Trump Tower, which records showed was reported to be 30,000 sq ft but is closer to 11,000 sq ft.Another was the worth of Mar-a-Lago, his Palm Beach resort. While Engoron valued it at a conservative $18m, Trump continues to insist it is worth “50 to 100 times” that figure.In determining the size of the fine, Engoron agreed with prosecutors that Trump saved about $168m in interest by inflating the value of assets. Another $126m profit came from selling the Old Post Office building in Washington DC that Engoron said Trump could not have bought without false financial statements.In her own press conference on Friday night in Manhattan, James mocked the title of Trump’s bestselling 1987 business advice book.“Donald Trump may have authored The Art of the Deal, but he perfected the art of the steal,” she said. “[He] falsely, knowingly inflated his net worth by billions of dollars to unjustly enrich himself, his family and to cheat the system. This long-running fraud was intentional, egregious, illegal, and he did it, all of this, with the help of the other defendants, his two adult sons, and senior executives at the Trump Organization.“The scale and the scope of Donald Trump’s fraud is staggering. And so is his ego, and his belief that the rules do not apply to him.“We are holding him accountable for lying, cheating and a lack of contrition, and for flouting the rules of all of us. There cannot be different rules for different people in this country, and former presidents are no exception.”The Associated Press contributed reporting More