Trump's Crimes & Investigations

[goldenvalley]

Looks like the NYC investigation of Trump won't yield any indictments.  

When some two dozen New Yorkers filed into a Manhattan courthouse this week to finish out their grand jury service, the case against a man who would have been the world’s most prominent criminal defendant was no longer before them.

That man, Donald J. Trump, was facing potential criminal charges from the grand jury this year over his business practices. But in the weeks since the Manhattan district attorney, Alvin L. Bragg, stopped presenting evidence to the jurors about Mr. Trump, new signs have emerged that the former president will not be indicted in Manhattan in the foreseeable future — if at all.

At least three of the witnesses once central to the case have either not heard from the district attorney’s office in months, or have not been asked to testify, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

Could it be that white collar crime is too difficult to prosecute due to the need to prove intent, so prosecutors just give up? Maybe we should rethink the law.  

I doubt prosecutors spend much time worrying about being able to prove that an individual robbed a variety of convenience stores beyond a reasonable doubt and dropping the case if they fear they can't prove it.  Just charge the individual with a bunch of stuff and play hardball till they plead guilty to something. 

[LFC]

Apr 29, 2022 17:09:45 GMT goldenvalley said:

Could it be that white collar crime is too difficult to prosecute due to the need to prove intent, so prosecutors just give up? Maybe we should rethink the law.  

[LFC]

More and more document destruction, something that is blatantly illegal.

We already know a bunch of details about ex-President Trump’s proclivity for ripping papers into tiny shreds after he was finished reading them during his presidency, leaving the work of taping the documents back together to National Archives staffers.

We also learned that Trump liked to discard documents in other weird ways a few months ago, back when reports first surfaced that indicated White House staffers might’ve improperly handled some top secret documents when Trump brought boxes of records to Mar-a-Lago after he exited the White House. Those reports included befuddling details about Trump’s penchant for flushing records down the toilet when he was done reading them.

But it appears the unconventional (*cough* maybe illegal *cough*) document-destruction extended beyond the former president himself — a man who we all know had a lot of mystifying habits to begin with.

Politico confirmed today that then-White House chief-of-staff Mark Meadows was also a bit shady about destroying documents following at least one meeting during his tenure as Trump’s right-hand man.

[LFC]

Trump and his demon spawn are going to have to testify.

Date Set For Trump’s Testimony In NY Investigation

The ex-president and his two eldest kids, Ivanka and Don Jr., are scheduled to start testifying in New York Attorney General Letitia James’ (D) civil investigation into the Trump Organization on July 15 until the following week, according to a new filing in a New York state court.

[LFC]

The real estate firm that worked for Trump was just held in contempt. The judge needs to up the daily fines to at least 10X if not 100X. Even a big company might notice a $1M per day expense, unless of course they are clearly involved in a serious crime in which case they'll do ANYTHING to keep their execs out of jail. I suspect that's what is happening here.

Cushman and Wakefield, the real estate firm used by Donald Trump to allegedly inflate the value of his real estate properties, has been ordered by a New York judge to pay a daily $10,000 fine for failing to turn over evidence to state investigators.

On Tuesday afternoon, a clearly irked Justice Arthur F. Engoron signed an order ripping into the real estate behemoth for missing a deadline to turn over documents—after having two months to meet it.

In his order, Engoron said he “is incredulous as to why Cushman & Wakefield would wait until two days after the court-ordered deadline had lapsed to initiate the process of asking for yet another extension.”

He criticized the company, which routinely helped Trump value properties in ways that benefited him directly, for dragging its feet.

“Cushman & Wakefield fails to identify any good cause” for blowing the deadline, he wrote.

The massive, national real estate firm was supposed to deliver documents related to its valuations of all kinds of properties—so that state investigators could compare how the company treated other projects compared to Trump developments.

The office of New York Attorney General Letitia James issued subpoenas between September 2021 and February 2022 that the firm still hadn’t complied with, so the judge ordered the company play ball in April. But the firm fought that in appellate court—and lost.

Judge Engoron then set a new deadline for Cushman and Wakefield to deliver the goods: June 29. The real estate firm then missed that deadline.

How about you show up at their headquarters and perp walk the entire C-suite to jail? Meanwhile freeze both company and their personal assets. I bet that would get their attention.

[pnwguy]

Jul 6, 2022 16:40:54 GMT LFC said:

The real estate firm that worked for Trump was just held in contempt. The judge needs to up the daily fines to at least 10X if not 100X. Even a big company might notice a $1M per day expense, unless of course they are clearly involved in a serious crime in which case they'll do ANYTHING to keep their execs out of jail. I suspect that's what is happening here.

How about you show up at their headquarters and perp walk the entire C-suite to jail? Meanwhile freeze both company and their personal assets. I bet that would get their attention.

Corporations are people too!  Unless they deserve jail time, then everyone goes scot free.  Brought to you by the GOP!

[LFC]

Trump and his children are being dragged in by the New York AG to testify under oath.

A rally scheduled for Friday in North Carolina featuring appearances by former President Trump and his family has been rescheduled, according to local reports.

News of the change of plans was first reported by the Raleigh News and Observer. A spokesperson for the American Freedom Tour, the organizers of the event, told a local Fox affiliate that the rally had been “postponed” and that a future date was “to be determined.”

The development comes as Trump and his adult children — Don Jr., Eric and Ivanka Trump — are scheduled to testify under oath on Friday as part of the investigation by the New York attorney general into the former president’s finances.

Trump and his children’s scheduled testimony comes after New York Attorney General Letitia James said that her office found that the Trump Organization allegedly used “fraudulent and misleading asset valuations to obtain economic benefits.”

[goldenvalley]

Jul 12, 2022 17:52:08 GMT LFC said:

Trump and his children are being dragged in by the New York AG to testify under oath.

A rally scheduled for Friday in North Carolina featuring appearances by former President Trump and his family has been rescheduled, according to local reports.

News of the change of plans was first reported by the Raleigh News and Observer. A spokesperson for the American Freedom Tour, the organizers of the event, told a local Fox affiliate that the rally had been “postponed” and that a future date was “to be determined.”

The development comes as Trump and his adult children — Don Jr., Eric and Ivanka Trump — are scheduled to testify under oath on Friday as part of the investigation by the New York attorney general into the former president’s finances.

Trump and his children’s scheduled testimony comes after New York Attorney General Letitia James said that her office found that the Trump Organization allegedly used “fraudulent and misleading asset valuations to obtain economic benefits.”

Why it's just the real estate business. Everybody lies about the value of their real estate depending on whether you're paying taxes on it or using it as collateral. The Trumps are just being picked on.   There is truth to all of those sentences.  What the Trumps didn't realize is that by thrusting themselves into political view they will be scrutinized.  That's just the nature of the beast.

[LFC]

Trump goes full metal Fifth Amendment in New York.

Ex-President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday morning that he pleaded the Fifth Amendment during his scheduled deposition with New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) in her civil probe into the Trump Organization earlier that day.

In a lengthy screed sent via email and posted on his TRUTH Social app, Trump railed against James’ investigation, which the ex-president claimed was “a vindictive and self-serving fishing expedition.”

“I once asked, ‘If you’re innocent, why are you taking the Fifth Amendment?’ Now I know the answer to that question,” Trump wrote. “When your family, your company, and all the people in your orbit have become the targets of an unfounded politically motivated Witch Hunt supported by lawyers, prosecutors and the Fake News Media, you have no choice.”

“Accordingly, under the advice of my counsel and for all of the above reasons, I declined to answer the questions under the rights and privileges afford to every citizen under the United States Constitution,” he declared.

Trump hinted in his rant that he may invoke the Fifth Amendment in a litany of other investigations he is currently facing (including federal probes), stating that he plans to “utilize” the Constitution “to the fullest extent to defend myself against this malicious attack by this administration, this Attorney General’s Office, and all other attacks on my family, my business, and our Country.”

The ex-president’s deposition came after his eldest children, Ivanka and Don Jr., sat for their depositions in recent weeks. Unlike their father, however, neither of them pleaded the Fifth, according to multiple outlets.

Shorter Trump:

[goldenvalley]

Great photo shopping job on that one!

[goldenvalley]

It's official. Mr Weisselberg, Trump's bookkeeper since forever, is sentenced to a grand total of 5 months. With time credited for good behavior he'll probably serve 100 days and pay almost $2 million.

One of Donald J. Trump’s most trusted executives stood before a judge on Thursday and pleaded guilty to 15 felonies, admitting that he conspired with Mr. Trump’s company to carry out a scheme to avoid paying taxes on lavish perks — even while refusing to implicate the former president himself.

As part of the plea deal with the Manhattan district attorney’s office, the executive, Allen H. Weisselberg, is required to testify at the company’s trial if prosecutors choose to call on him, and to admit his role in conspiring with Mr. Trump’s company to carry out the tax scheme. That testimony could tilt the scales against the company, the Trump Organization, as it prepares for an October trial related to the same accusations.

The origin of the case is Trump but guess what? Living high gets scrutiny.  

The investigation, which started in 2018, proceeded in fits and starts and was stalled when Mr. Trump fought against the release of his tax returns and other records to the office in a battle that twice reached the U.S. Supreme Court.

While prosecutors were waiting for a final ruling from the court, they began to scrutinize Mr. Weisselberg and the perks he had received from the Trump Organization, including leased Mercedes-Benzes, an apartment on Manhattan’s Upper West Side and private school tuition for his grandchildren.

After they obtained the tax returns, they continued to scrutinize Mr. Weisselberg, hoping to pressure him to cooperate. When they did not receive that cooperation, they indicted Mr. Weisselberg and the company in the tax scheme, bringing charges in July 2021

I guess private school tuition for the grandkids is worth 100 days in jail.   

White collar crime pays...the government seems only interested in the money if you get caught.  If you've scammed enough you can cover the back taxes and attorney fees with no sweat.

[LFC]

Aug 18, 2022 15:06:27 GMT goldenvalley said:

White collar crime pays...the government seems only interested in the money if you get caught.  If you've scammed enough you can cover the back taxes and attorney fees with no sweat.

Imagine if he had a couple of grams of meth on him. He's be gone for years.

[pnwguy]

Aug 18, 2022 15:12:21 GMT LFC said:

Aug 18, 2022 15:06:27 GMT goldenvalley said:

White collar crime pays...the government seems only interested in the money if you get caught.  If you've scammed enough you can cover the back taxes and attorney fees with no sweat.

Imagine if he Trump had a couple of grams of meth on him. He's be gone celebrated for years.

"This just shows you the Deep State reaching out to control everyone's private choices"
"He needed it to work all those Executive Time hours in the White House as he was saving 'Merica'"
"The totally corrupt FBI planted it on him"
"He was part of a sting operation to give it to Nancy Pelosi"
"It got slipped in his coat when he was personally breaking up an Antifa BLM riot in the streets of DC"

[LFC]

Weisselberg does actually have to testify against the Trump Organization, though not Trump personally, to get his deal.

Allen Weisselberg, the Trump Organization’s former chief financial officer, pleaded guilty on Thursday for his role in a years-long tax fraud scheme with ex-President Donald Trump’s company.

Weisselberg’s plea deal with the Manhattan district attorney’s office requires the former executive to testify against the Trump Organization, which has pleaded not guilty after being indicted over the same scheme, at the company’s upcoming criminal trial.

However, Weisselberg will not have to testify against Donald Trump personally in the district attorney’s separate criminal investigation into the ex-president.

The deal also requires Weisselberg to pay nearly $2 million in back taxes, interest and penalties.

Weisselberg was facing a prison sentence of up to 15 years after being charged with 15 counts of tax fraud and evasion. However, his prison sentence will be whittled down to just five months if he satisfies the terms of the plea deal.

[goldenvalley]

Aug 18, 2022 21:16:47 GMT LFC said:

Weisselberg does actually have to testify against the Trump Organization, though not Trump personally, to get his deal.

Allen Weisselberg, the Trump Organization’s former chief financial officer, pleaded guilty on Thursday for his role in a years-long tax fraud scheme with ex-President Donald Trump’s company.

Weisselberg’s plea deal with the Manhattan district attorney’s office requires the former executive to testify against the Trump Organization, which has pleaded not guilty after being indicted over the same scheme, at the company’s upcoming criminal trial.

However, Weisselberg will not have to testify against Donald Trump personally in the district attorney’s separate criminal investigation into the ex-president.

The deal also requires Weisselberg to pay nearly $2 million in back taxes, interest and penalties.

Weisselberg was facing a prison sentence of up to 15 years after being charged with 15 counts of tax fraud and evasion. However, his prison sentence will be whittled down to just five months if he satisfies the terms of the plea deal.

Yeah...seems like hair splitting.  From what I've read Trump is the organization...the decider of all things.  Or maybe he'll only testify against Don, Jr., Eric and Ivanka.

[LFC]

Aug 18, 2022 21:22:08 GMT goldenvalley said:

Yeah...seems like hair splitting.  From what I've read Trump is the organization...the decider of all things.  Or maybe he'll only testify against Don, Jr., Eric and Ivanka.

You can't possibly believe that Trump would turn on his [snicker] own children [snicker, snort] just to [snicker, snicker] save his own... [BWAHAHAHA!!!] OK, I can't even type that.

[goldenvalley]

Aug 18, 2022 21:36:18 GMT LFC said:

Aug 18, 2022 21:22:08 GMT goldenvalley said:

Yeah...seems like hair splitting.  From what I've read Trump is the organization...the decider of all things.  Or maybe he'll only testify against Don, Jr., Eric and Ivanka.

You can't possibly believe that Trump would turn on his [snicker] own children [snicker, snort] just to [snicker, snicker] save his own... [BWAHAHAHA!!!] OK, I can't even type that.

Maybe not Ivanka...

[LFC]

Aug 18, 2022 22:00:33 GMT goldenvalley said:

Aug 18, 2022 21:36:18 GMT LFC said:

You can't possibly believe that Trump would turn on his [snicker] own children [snicker, snort] just to [snicker, snicker] save his own... [BWAHAHAHA!!!] OK, I can't even type that.

Maybe not Ivanka...

Only if he thinks he still has a shot with her.

[AnBr]

Aug 18, 2022 22:12:28 GMT LFC said:

Aug 18, 2022 22:00:33 GMT goldenvalley said:

Maybe not Ivanka...

Only if he thinks he still has a shot with her.

Same thought occurred to me.

[LFC]

Well, it's not lock him up but it's a start.

New York Attorney General Letitia James sued Donald Trump, his children, and company on Wednesday over his business practices, accusing him of running a ten year long fraud scheme that covered his entire time in office.

James is seeking a $250 million penalty from Trump, and is asking a Manhattan state court to “permanently bar” Trump and three of his children from serving as corporate officers or directors in New York state.

In the 200-page lawsuit, James alleged that the frauds were “approved at the highest levels of the Trump Organization — including by Mr. Trump himself.”

“These acts of fraud and misrepresentation grossly inflated Mr. Trump’s personal
net worth as reported in the Statements by billions of dollars,” the lawsuit reads.

James accused Trump of undertaking the scheme in part to secure favorable loan agreements from banks, and to reduce his tax payments.

The allegations are strikingly similar to those made by Michael Cohen, Trump’s former attorney, to the House Oversight Committee in 2019. There, Cohen alleged that Trump would inflate and deflate the value of his assets to secure various advantages.

James said in a footnote in the lawsuit that her office is referring her findings to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.

Ooooo! So maybe criminal charges too!

[goldenvalley]

Sept 22, 2022 0:26:00 GMT LFC said:

Well, it's not lock him up but it's a start.

New York Attorney General Letitia James sued Donald Trump, his children, and company on Wednesday over his business practices, accusing him of running a ten year long fraud scheme that covered his entire time in office.

James is seeking a $250 million penalty from Trump, and is asking a Manhattan state court to “permanently bar” Trump and three of his children from serving as corporate officers or directors in New York state.

In the 200-page lawsuit, James alleged that the frauds were “approved at the highest levels of the Trump Organization — including by Mr. Trump himself.”

“These acts of fraud and misrepresentation grossly inflated Mr. Trump’s personal
net worth as reported in the Statements by billions of dollars,” the lawsuit reads.

James accused Trump of undertaking the scheme in part to secure favorable loan agreements from banks, and to reduce his tax payments.

The allegations are strikingly similar to those made by Michael Cohen, Trump’s former attorney, to the House Oversight Committee in 2019. There, Cohen alleged that Trump would inflate and deflate the value of his assets to secure various advantages.

James said in a footnote in the lawsuit that her office is referring her findings to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.

Ooooo! So maybe criminal charges too!

Ahh Trump's just a smart businessman who is being picked on for political reasons.  Lots of businessmen do this sort of fraud.  On that latter part he may be right, but dude...when you draw attention to yourself repeatedly do you really expect the legal authorities to ignore you?

ETA a comment on LGM...Poor Tiffany Trump...she can't even be let in on the family fraud.

[pnwguy]

Sept 22, 2022 4:28:56 GMT goldenvalley said:

Sept 22, 2022 0:26:00 GMT LFC said:

Well, it's not lock him up but it's a start.

Ooooo! So maybe criminal charges too!

Ahh Trump's just a smart businessman mafia boss who is being picked on for political reasons.  Lots of businessmen mafia bosses do this sort of fraud execution of their enemies.  

Isn't that the logical analogy?  Just don't expect Sean Hannity to make it.

[LFC]

Well, well. Isn't this interesting?

[indy]

Anyone who gets involved with Trump, especially in any sort of business, get what they deserve. Even though I know enough about him and his practices to fill multiple volumes and nothing should surprise me at this point, he still manages to pull it off.

The number of destroyed lives and business rubble that Trump has created over his career must be just enormous.

It also seems to be his legacy: www.businessinsider.com/donald-jr-eric-trump-wanted-stake-trump-media-co-founder-2022-10

[andydp]

"Never mind about Hunter, we must investigate this person !!" said no GOP ever.

GOP operative found guilty of funneling Russian money to Donald Trump

Jesse Benton, 44, was pardoned by Trump in 2020 for a different campaign finance crime, months before he was indicted again on six counts related to facilitating an illegal foreign campaign donation. He was found guilty Thursday on all six counts.

www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/gop-operative-found-guilty-of-funneling-russian-money-to-donald-trump/ar-AA14eDYU?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531&cvid=a84352bdec8b49a987d09f08cc6a2b09