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New York attorney general says Trump's company misled banks, tax officials

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By MICHAEL R. SISAK

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“is nothing more than political retribution from her on behalf of the entire Dem Party. She should be disbarred!”

If that’s the only defense you’ve got, you’re basically pleading guilty.

9 ( +10 / -1 )

Weismann thought he was so smart as well. Lol

You act like Trump dragging out legal cases somehow implies he is innocent or the claims against him are meritless. They're not.

Just look at the Supreme Court ruling against him. 8-1. What does that say about his case? Can't wait to see what was in the documents he attempted to hide. :D

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/01/19/supreme-court-rejects-trumps-request-to-block-release-of-white-house-records-from-jan-6-committee.html

8 ( +9 / -1 )

lots of “allegations”, the evidence “suggests”, “likely” and assumptions about valuations- which are subjective and not based on what the AG thinks but by what a person is willing to pay.

I think the AG is a lot smarter than you think. If the allegations were so frivolous she wouldn't be going this path. Remember, she's not Devin Nunes or Trey Gowdy.

6 ( +8 / -2 )

Another key piece of info we learned about this case - when Eric Trump was interviewed in 2020 about what he knew, he "pleaded the 5th" numerous times....

Eric Trump and Allen Weisselberg, the Trump Organization's chief financial officer, each invoked their Fifth Amendment rights more than 500 times during depositions with the New York attorney general's office.

That's according to a new court filing from Attorney General Tish James' office asking a judge to enforce subpoenas targeting former President Donald Trump and his two eldest children, Donald Jr. and Ivanka.

https://www.businessinsider.in/politics/world/news/eric-trump-and-allen-weisselberg-invoked-their-5th-amendment-rights-more-than-500-times-in-trump-organization-probe-court-filing-says/articleshow/89002743.cms

Well, well....pleading the 5th...

Evidently these two didn't get the Trump memo - "You see the mob takes the Fifth," Trump said during one rally in Iowa. "If you're innocent, why are you taking the Fifth Amendment?"

https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-quote-about-fifth-amendment-resurfaces-allies-use-it-jan-6-panel-1660741

BINGO Donald - you just nailed the Trump Org....and yourself....

6 ( +7 / -1 )

I never said that, but it doesn’t mean he’s guilty or going to prison. Seriously, how many times do the Dems need to get punched in the teeth to get it.

You've implied it. You're implying it yet again.

Ok and? Let the Dems try again for a ….sigh 4th time and see if something will stick this time.

It's not about "getting him," it's about finding out what on happened on January 6th, and holding accountable those who are. Why is that so boring to you? Were you there?

6 ( +6 / -0 )

Misled?! Lied is more accurate.

6 ( +6 / -0 )

When giving estimates of Trump's wealth, the company misreported the size of his Manhattan penthouse, saying it was nearly three times its actual size

Sounds familiar but if there’s evidence as there was with the inauguration photos it doesn’t bode well.

5 ( +6 / -1 )

The Trump Organization, James' office said, overstated the value of land donations made in New York and California on paperwork submitted to the IRS to justify several million dollars in tax deductions.

Just as Cohen said he did for the 10 years he worked for Trump....

When giving estimates of Trump's wealth, the company misreported the size of his Manhattan penthouse, saying it was nearly three times its actual size — a difference in value of about $200 million, James' office said, citing deposition testimony from Trump's longtime financial chief Allen Weisselberg, who was charged last year with tax fraud in a parallel criminal investigation.

Uh-oh, looks like Weisselberg has cooperated - that's bad news for Trump. He knows where all the bodies are buried....

Investigators, the court papers said, have “developed significant additional evidence indicating that the Trump Organization used fraudulent or misleading asset valuations to obtain a host of economic benefits, including loans, insurance coverage, and tax deductions."

Oh my, and it just keep getting worse "more significant evidence"... Just as Cohen and all the others testified to - massive tax and insurance fraud....

James’ office detailed its findings in a court motion seeking to force Trump, his daughter Ivanka Trump and his son Donald Trump Jr. to comply with subpoenas seeking their testimony.

Well, we know how this will turn out - Trump will protect his favorite kid Ivanka and she'll protect him - and both will throw Junior and Eric under the bus and say it was all their doing....better get your orange jumpsuits ready boys....

5 ( +7 / -2 )

Evidently these two didn't get the Trump memo - "You see the mob takes the Fifth," Trump said during one rally in Iowa. "If you're innocent, why are you taking the Fifth Amendment?"

Let's see now....

Indeed, help us see - please explain it to us....

Trump said in 2016 that "only the mob takes the 5th"...the 5th being the right not to incriminate yourself for committing a crime...

But in 2020 Eric Trump (and CFO Weisselberg) pleaded the 5th hundreds of times when interviewed under oath about possible crimes by the Trump Org...

So Trump thinks his son is a mobster and the Trump Org is a criminal mob-like entity...

Or maybe you can explain it better to us?

4 ( +4 / -0 )

Needed something in TVs news to distract from that horrid press conference the current guy just had.

This investigation into tax fraud has nothing to do with Biden. Keep up.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

In a court filing late Tuesday, lawyers for Attorney General Letitia James told a judge they have not decided whether to bring a lawsuit in connection with the allegations, but that investigators should be allowed to question Trump and his two eldest children under oath as part of the civil probe. 

trump under oath is something to look forward to. It'll not take more than a few seconds for this serial liar to commit perjury.

don jr needs to be sober for deposition and looking at his current state that seems like a lost battle.

And then there is ivanka, pour pour ivanka, even I feel sorry that she is being clubbed with these criminals.

She'll turn on them in no time!!!

3 ( +4 / -1 )

So Trump thinks his son is a mobster and the Trump Org is a criminal mob-like entity...

According to Lincoln? I see….

According to Donald Trump's own words...he's the one that said "only the mob takes the 5th"...then Eric Trump does exactly that....takes the 5th hundreds of times...

Or maybe you can explain it better to us?

I don’t need to, history and facts proved you wrong 3 times now and go for a sweet fourth.

Strange way of tapping out, but OK, you can't explain it...it is unexplainable - Trump saying his own son is a mobster and his company a criminal enterprise....

Just like Bannon....

*The former White House adviser Steve Bannon has described the Trump Organization as a criminal entity and predicted that investigations into the president’s finances will lead to his political downfall, when he is revealed to be “not the billionaire he said he was, just another scumbag”.*

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/may/28/bannon-trump-organization-criminal-enterprise-comments-michael-wolff-book

For once, Bannon got something right...

3 ( +5 / -2 )

> takeda.shingen.1991@gmail.comToday  09:06 am JST

Weismann thought he was so smart as well. Lol

You act like Trump dragging out legal cases somehow implies he is innocent or the claims against him are meritless. They're not.

Just look at the Supreme Court ruling against him. 8-1. What does that say about his case? Can't wait to see what was in the documents he attempted to hide. :D

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/01/19/supreme-court-rejects-trumps-request-to-block-release-of-white-house-records-from-jan-6-committee.html

> Steve Bannon has described the Trump Organization as a criminal entity and predicted that investigations into the president’s finances will lead to his political downfall, when he is revealed to be “not the billionaire he said he was, just another scumbag”.*

Just before the temper-tantrum that passed for an inauguration, a trump charity and Trump University were shut down. And so was that Atlantic City casino resort that got demolished last year.

Look at him in that picture, who does he resemble and act like? Clappy clappy clappy your hands, dictator boy. Just like the picture I remember in my Funk and Wagnalls for the article on Chairman Mao. Mao Zedong. Let's just call this chump a 'Mao Zee-Dung'. A dictator scumbag.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

@bass

Back to the matter at hand. Do you think it’s fine for people to falsify the value of their properties in order to get loans or lower axes? Is that okay if you can get away with it?

2 ( +3 / -1 )

"When an individual takes the Fifth, her silence or refusal to answer questions cannot be used against her in a criminal case. A prosecutor cannot argue to the jury that the defendant’s silence implies guilt. And prosecutors typically cannot even call a witness before the grand jury if the prosecutor knows the witness will invoke the Fifth Amendment."

Yep.....

There is a separate criminal case that the same exact AG is also running.

Indeed, Trump is subject to four current criminal investigations...

So yeah, taking the 5th doesnt actually imply what you claim. and cannot be used as such claim to a jury.

I didn't claim anything - but this guy said taking the 5th was what "the mob" does...so he thinks Eric and Weisselberg were acting like organized crime mobsters....

https://edition.cnn.com/videos/politics/2018/12/05/trump-fifth-amendment-bts-john-dean-ebof-vpx.cnn

This is just using the civil case to try to get information to support the criminal case. So 5th amendment it is, they can ask questions in the criminal case if they have one.

You think taking the 5th is OK - glad to see you disagree with your fellow pro-Trump poster here...and Trump himself....

2 ( +3 / -1 )

bass4funkToday  09:16 am JST

Ok and? Let the Dems try again for a ….sigh 4th time and see if something will stick this time.

Speaking purely hypothetically, how would you feel if something did stick, having spent huge wads of free time over the past eight years proclaiming Donald Trump as the new messiah?

1 ( +1 / -0 )

bass4funkToday  12:50 pm JST

"Speaking purely hypothetically, how would you feel if something did stick, having spent huge wads of free time over the past eight years proclaiming Donald Trump as the new messiah?"

Who specifically? Lol

Hm. I was really looking for "I would feel (insert suitable emotion adjective here)" or something along those lines. It appears that the question was a bit hard for you to grasp. How about something like "I would feel like a bit of a moron but I'm too pumped full of ego and an adolescent, partisan " us versus them" mentality to ever admit it so I would go on making excuses for Donald Trump anyway?"

1 ( +1 / -0 )

bass4funkToday  01:51 pm JST

No, I just think the Democrats are wasting their time….again. You’ll see

Yes, I know. You've repeated yourself often enough. It's not what I was asking.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Nothing here concerns me.

It sure concerned Eric Trump and Weisselberg, or maybe you have a better explanation on why they would take the 5th over 500 times....

The 5th as in "I refuse to make any statement that may incriminate me"....

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Readers, Obama is not relevant to this story.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I'm pretty sure if the prosecutors are bringing this case forward, Trumpcon and Co can't avoid it. Gotta have solid evidence to prosecute, so I'm pretty sure they've got enough to make him and his cronies toast. Let the dam collapse and the severe lawsuit flooding begin!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

the DNC's mainstream media hides Biden and his party's failures and incompetence by talking about Trump.

How about we discuss on how Biden has misled the entire nation?

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Won’t be long before another ____gate, “the crime of the century”. What crime exactly? Good question.

Real crimes really get investigated.

-3 ( +1 / -4 )

Back to the matter at hand. Do you think it’s fine for people to falsify the value of their properties in order to get loans or lower axes? Is that okay if you can get away with it?

Rhetorical question??

Speaking purely hypothetically, how would you feel if something did stick, having spent huge wads of free time over the past eight years proclaiming Donald Trump as the new messiah?

Who specifically? Lol

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

Hm. I was really looking for "I would feel (insert suitable emotion adjective here)" or something along those lines. It appears that the question was a bit hard for you to grasp.

No, I just think the Democrats are wasting their time….again. You’ll see

How about something like "I would feel like a bit of a moron but I'm too pumped full of ego and an adolescent, partisan " us versus them" mentality to ever admit it so I would go on making excuses for Donald Trump anyway?"

Well, I don’t need to make excuses for Trump, he can handle himself. I’m more worried about what the Dems will do when this next stunt fails them.

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

This investigation into tax fraud has nothing to do with Biden.

the timing of the news- with nothing new- certainly does.

Said in documents that its stake in an office building, 40 Wall Street, was worth $525 million to $602 million — two to three times the estimate made by appraisers working for the lender Capital One.

2 to 3 times? if you had evidence you would know which it is. Right there you can see that valuation is subjective as one appraiser obviously said a lot more than the other.

This sounds like some more friend of a friend type stories. Wake me up when you have numbers on documents and people willing to testify that Trump knew and directed any of this to happen.

based on proceeds it could reap from unsold units

Value can also be determined by things that are yet unsold. example, I have $10,000 worth of collectibles, that once I sell them, I will get that amount of money. SO they are valued at that price, not only at the original purchase price.

Nothing here concerns me.

-4 ( +1 / -5 )

"When an individual takes the Fifth, her silence or refusal to answer questions cannot be used against her in a criminal case. A prosecutor cannot argue to the jury that the defendant’s silence implies guilt. And prosecutors typically cannot even call a witness before the grand jury if the prosecutor knows the witness will invoke the Fifth Amendment."

There is a separate criminal case that the same exact AG is also running.

So yeah, taking the 5th doesnt actually imply what you claim. and cannot be used as such claim to a jury.

This is just using the civil case to try to get information to support the criminal case. So 5th amendment it is, they can ask questions in the criminal case if they have one.

-4 ( +1 / -5 )

So Trump thinks his son is a mobster and the Trump Org is a criminal mob-like entity...

According to Lincoln? I see….

Or maybe you can explain it better to us?

I don’t need to, history and facts proved you wrong 3 times now and go for a sweet fourth.

-6 ( +1 / -7 )

back to your Obama posts again? How do you say, he's not the president?

No, not at all, just stating a quote. Interesting that liberals can be obsessive about Bush or Trump, but conservatives can’t about Obama or Hillary, just hilarious!!

Wow, what a diss. Your former hero who you said many times you "love",

Diss?? Nothing has changed

So answer it then....

So whether it’s Comey or Clinton or Holder or Lerner or Trump you can take what you want from it, and these lawyers know once that happens the rest of the case is pretty much over with.

not sure what you think you just told me, but ok, I guess

Meaning, the Democrats really have no room to shout, they really don’t hold the moral high ground

-6 ( +0 / -6 )

Valued an apartment being rented to Ivanka Trump at as high as $25 million, even though she had an option to buy it for $8.5 million.

It’s called a “discount”. Value is not linked to selling price. You can buy something valued at $200 for $100 if it’s “on sale”. Even more so when it’s your family selling it to you. If he gave it to her for free would it’s valuation be $0? Nope.

lots of “allegations”, the evidence “suggests”, “likely” and assumptions about valuations- which are subjective and not based on what the AG thinks but by what a person is willing to pay.

the take away is this:

 lawyers for Attorney General Letitia James told a judge they have not decided whether to bring a lawsuit

-7 ( +1 / -8 )

Man, I just keep hearing blah blah blah for over 5 years now. Let me know when you put the cuffs on him. Until then, I won’t hold my breath.

I agree.

It’s like the filibuster and the voting laws, the Dems will make huge headlines about it and talk about the end of democracy and life as we know it if it’s not changed or signed into law. And look at how the air deflated out of that balloon.

-7 ( +1 / -8 )

It’s still possible the DA gets around to indicting Trump, or other officers, even if Weisselberg “stands up” (as they say in the mob to refer to guys who fight their charges without flipping). They’ve got Michael Cohen’s (probably too-eager) cooperation, limited though it may be in specificity and by his oft-stated personal hatred for Trump; they’ve got Trump’s tax returns and many more documents; they’ve got testimony from the Trump Org controller, Jeffrey McConney, though we don’t know whether his testimony was helpful or harmful to Trump’s cause.

But we also know Trump has never been an e-mailer or a texter, so there’s no incriminating smoking gun (imagine how different the world might be if Trump texted as freely as he once tweeted…). There’s no indication that prosecutors have wiretapped Trump or otherwise obtained an incriminating recording of him. And it seems nobody in that familial inner circle (or Weisselberg) has flipped yet.

This week’s charges have dealt a solid blow to the Trump Org. But if this is all that New York prosecutors end up doing on the case, then it’ll be an embarrassingly weak showing for them — and Donald Trump will, once again, emerge relatively unscathed.

-cafe.com

But I get it, it’s great for theater optics….again..

You act like Trump dragging out legal cases somehow implies he is innocent or the claims against him are meritless. They're not. 

I never said that, but it doesn’t mean he’s guilty or going to prison. Seriously, how many times do the Dems need to get punched in the teeth to get it.

Just look at the Supreme Court ruling against him. 8-1. What does that say about his case? Can't wait to see what was in the documents he attempted to hide. :D

Ok and? Let the Dems try again for a ….sigh 4th time and see if something will stick this time.

-7 ( +0 / -7 )

Oh the usual suspects are all excited about the Hopium again.

end result of it all: nothing has changed. Needed something in TVs news to distract from that horrid press conference the current guy just had.

-7 ( +0 / -7 )

I think the AG is a lot smarter than you think.

Weismann thought he was so smart as well. Lol

-8 ( +0 / -8 )

Evidently these two didn't get the Trump memo - "You see the mob takes the Fifth," Trump said during one rally in Iowa. "If you're innocent, why are you taking the Fifth Amendment?"

Let's see now....

Holder

Clinton

Lerner

All pleaded the 5th so, that means Trump should be ok.

You've implied it. You're implying it yet again.

Sorry, not implying anything, just going by the written documented history.

It's not about "getting him,"

No, it's about getting Trump and desperately trying to block him from running pure and simple, were it anyone else, anyone else especially on the left, this would not even be an issue, case in point, the summer riots of 2020 if the left were as equally outraged and pushed the issue of retribution the way they are doing on this, people would be more supportive, but we know that's not the case. Again, the Dens should do what they hope they can do (more theatrics) and the GOP will do what they will do, but I can see it now that when McCarthy starts his investigations, let's see if ANY Democrat for the sake of democracy and transparency will be willing and forthcoming and willing to work with an all-Republican House, let's see if they will practice what they preach.

-8 ( +0 / -8 )

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