The tycoon is accused, along with his sons Eric and Donald Jr., of inflating the value of his company’s real estate and financial assets for years in order to obtain hundreds of millions of dollars in loans from banks. “This is the continuation of the greatest witch hunt,” a “horror show,” the former president said. “No matter how powerful you are, no matter how much money you have, no one is above the law,” said New York Attorney General Letitia James
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Donald Trump is in New York with his son Eric to attend the opening of the civil trial in which the two are accused of inflating the value of real estate assets together with his other son Donald Jr. and the Trump Organization. He was a financial advisor for years helped his company obtain hundreds of millions of dollars in loans from banks. There are seven charges: from fraud to falsification of corporate and financial documents to conspiracy. “This is the continuation of the greatest witch hunt,” “a fraud and a farce,” a “horror show,” the former president said before the trial began, calling the prosecutor “racist” and the judge “scoundrel.” The judge in the case, Arthur Engoron, has already found him and his sons “responsible for fraud,” and now it is time to consider additional charges and determine the level of punishment. New York Attorney General Letitia Jones has asked for a $250 million fine, which she says represents the amount made illegally from false financial reports.
A video was shown accusing former lawyer Cohen
The prosecution showed in court a video of former lawyer Michael Cohen, the former president’s fixer, on whose testimony the investigation was based. In the images, Cohen explains that Trump wanted to be publicly recognized as someone with a certain net worth and that Cohen’s job, as well as that of the Trump Organization’s former chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg, was to verify the value of each of those assets. Tycoons to reach this number. During the screening, Trump stared intently at the screen, keeping his arms crossed and occasionally shaking his head in disapproval.
Trump Defense: “Inflated Assets? The rating is questionable”
“Trump did not make any false statements,” Christopher Kise, one of the tycoon’s lawyers, said the attorney general’s estimates were speculative. “Everyone has a different opinion on valuing” assets, it is “the essence of the commercial real estate market, where buyers have one vision, sellers have another, but none of them are wrong,” he explained, presenting some of them in front of 127 defense witnesses, including several experts in valuation methods and people involved in credit decisions.
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Donald Trump in court in New York – ©Ansa
The prosecutor: “Trump committed fraud, justice will prevail”
“Donald Trump and his other co-defendants committed sustained and repeated fraud. Last week we demonstrated this in our motion for summary judgment. Today we will prove our other charges. My message is simple: No matter how powerful you are, no matter how much money you may have, no one is above the law and the law will prevail,” said New York Attorney General Letitia James.
The accusation of fraud
The former US president and his sons were indicted on fraud charges on September 26th. The tycoon is alleged to have committed years of fraud while building the real estate empire that catapulted him to fame and the White House by providing false financial information for about a decade and deflating the value of assets to banks and insurance companies by up to $3.6 billion -Dollar increased.
The dismissal request was rejected
Trump’s request to dismiss the legal proceedings was also rejected. And as part of the proceedings, Judge Arthur Engoron ordered that some of Trump’s business licenses be revoked, making it difficult or impossible for him and his sons to do business in New York.
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USA, New York judge accuses Donald Trump of fraud
Supreme Court dismisses lawsuit against Trump
Meanwhile, on the day of the trial in New York, the Supreme Court dismissed a lawsuit seeking to disqualify Trump from the race for the White House over his role in the attack on Capitol Hill. The US highest court has rejected the appeal of John Anthony Castro, a little-known candidate in the Republican primary, on the basis of the 14th Amendment. The article, introduced after the Civil War, states that an official who has sworn to uphold the Charter “shall be disqualified from holding future office if he has participated in an insurrection” or if he has “provided assistance” to insurgents.
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