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A New York judge on Thursday granted the state Attorney General Letitia James' request for an independent monitor to supervise the businesses of former U.S. President Donald Trump, who is a defendant in a fraud lawsuit recently filed by James.
"Time and time again, the courts have ruled that Donald Trump cannot evade the law for personal gain."
New York Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron issued an order approving James' motion for the appointment of an independent monitor to oversee Trump's dealings with financial institutions, as well as any major asset sales.
In a statement welcoming Thursday's order, James said that "time and time again, the courts have ruled that Donald Trump cannot evade the law for personal gain."
"Today's decision will ensure that Donald Trump and his companies cannot continue the extensive fraud that we uncovered and will require the appointment of an independent monitor to oversee compliance at the Trump Organization," she added. "No number of lawsuits, delay tactics, or threats will stop our pursuit of justice."
James accuses the former president and other members of his business organization of "engaging in ongoing and extensive acts of fraud in the preparation of Mr. Trump's annual statements of financial condition" in violation of state executive and criminal laws.
In September, James' office sued Trump and three of his children--Donald Jr., Ivanka, and Eric Trump--for what the lawsuit called "staggering" fraud.
According to James, "Trump, his family, and the Trump Organization used fraudulent and misleading asset valuations over 200 times in 10 years on his annual financial statements."
\u201cDonald Trump and the Trump Organization cannot move assets to evade liability and an independent monitor will be installed to oversee financial compliance at the Trump Organization.\n\nNo matter how powerful you are, everyone has to play by the same set of rules.\u201d— NY AG James (@NY AG James) 1667506667
"Since Mr. Trump and the Trump Organization became aware of [the attorney general's] investigation, they have continued to engage in many practices they knew to be improper or fraudulent," James' office asserted, "including on Mr. Trump's 2021 statement of financial condition."
New York Attorney General Letitia James revealed Monday that she filed a lawsuit against President Donald Trump's business empire, calling on the New York State Supreme Court to force the Trump Organization to comply with seven subpoenas that the company has thus far failed to respond to.
The subpoenas would release thousands of documents regarding the company's alleged misleading of lenders regarding its assets.
James called on the judge to compel Eric Trump, the president's son and an executive vice president at the company, to testify regarding the Trump Organization's "Statements of Financial Condition," which the company shared with lenders to detail its financial assets and debts.
\u201cI took action to force the Trump Organization, and specifically EVP Eric Trump, to comply with my office\u2019s ongoing investigation into its financial dealings. \n\nFor months, the Trump Organization has failed to fully comply with our subpoenas in this investigation.\u201d— NY AG James (@NY AG James) 1598290293
Eric Trump, who with his brother Donald, Jr. took over the day-to-day operations of the Trump Organization in 2017 when the president took office, was scheduled to be interviewed by New York state investigators about the matter last month but abruptly canceled.
Eric Trump's lawyers are now stating that he will not meet with investigators, citing his constitutional rights.
\u201cOne tidbit: Eric Trump, not even arguable immune from being deposed, has simply refused to be interviewed after initially agreeing to a July date. There is literally no reason to dodge the sit down unless the truth would subject you to liability. https://t.co/03QmdppZPn\u201d— Joyce Alene (@Joyce Alene) 1598290558
"For months, the Trump Organization has made baseless claims in an effort to shield evidence from a lawful investigation into its financial dealings," said James in a statement Monday. "They have stalled, withheld documents, and instructed witnesses, including Eric Trump, to refuse to answer questions under oath. That's why we've filed a motion to compel the Trump Organization to comply with our office's lawful subpoenas for documents and testimony."
James opened the investigation after Trump's former lawyer, Michael Cohen, testified under oath in February 2019 that the Trump Organization had used Statements of Financial Condition to inflate assets in order to secure favorable terms for loans, as well as deflating some assets to reduce real estate taxes.
The attorney general has issued several subpoenas since opening the investigation.
Eric Trump was heavily involved in creating the financial documents and in the transactions with lenders, according to James's office.
The attorney general is investigating four properties owned the the Trump Organization:
As David Farenthold reported in the Washington Post Monday, the company's 2011 statement claimed the value of Seven Springs was $261 million, contrasting with the $20 million value assessed by local authorities.
The lawsuit was filed on the first day of the Republican National Convention at which the GOP officially nominated Trump for reelection. Eric Trump is scheduled to speak at the convention later this week, and his brother, Donald Jr., will speak Monday night.
James filed the lawsuit weeks after moving to dismantle the National Rifle Association, a major Trump donor, citing fraud. The president and his company have also come under legal scrutiny in New York state previously. Trump University, Trump's for-profit real estate training program, was forced to settle for $25 million in 2016 after being sued for defrauding students.
Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance subpoenaed Mazars USA, the president's accounting firm, last year in order to obtain Trump's personal and business tax returns for his investigation into the Trump Organization. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in July that Trump was not immune to Vance's investigation, prompting Mazars to comply with the subpoena, but the case has been held up by Trump's legal team. On Monday, Vance's office said it would not enforce the subpoena until after a federal appeals court ruled on Trump's request for a stay.
The appeals court won't hear arguments in the case until September 1.
James vowed on Monday that legal questions about Trump's business dealings "will be answered."
"The truth will be uncovered, because no one is above the law," the attorney general said.
That which ordinary men are fit for, I am qualified in, and the best of me is diligence.
--Shakespeare, King Lear
That which ordinary men are fit for, I am qualified in, and the best of me is diligence.
--Shakespeare, King Lear
They were revelations. And they were revealed in the space of three days. And both were a total surprise.
First, we learned that eric trump, someone who has often been mocked on Saturday Night Live as being the lesser bulb of the older two, fairly dim bulbed trump sons, is not, in fact, as dull as he is made to appear on the popular show.
On May 15, in a Fox News interview, eric provided insights into the coronavirus pandemic that NOONE else in his daddy's administration or anyone else in the world, had seen. The entire pandemic thing ALL OVER THE WORLD, he informed the world, is nothing more than a hoax, the goal of which is to help democrats defeat his daddy in November.
Eric's daddy had, of course, been saying for some weeks that the pandemic would come to an end by the end of 2020 and that a vaccine would be available by then, but he had never suggested that the entire pandemic was nothing more than a scheme to block his reelection. Eric tread where angels feared to tread, pronouncing the entire thing a "cognizant strategy" that would magically vanish in November following the presidential election. As he explained: "You watch, they'll milk it every single day between now and November 3. And guess what, after November 3, coronavirus will magically, all of a sudden, go away and disappear and everybody will be able to reopen."
Eric's pronouncement was a slap in the face of Saturday Night Live, and proved once and for all that he is not the dullard he is often portrayed to be. Now, all we can do is await his next interview in which he will presumably explain how it is that the democrats have been able to mobilize the entire world to participate in this hoax, and how he will explain the deaths of hundreds of thousands of apparent victims of the virus world-wide as a result of this democratic hoax. Those who have participated in treating and burying the victims of this hoax and those who have lost loved ones, will eagerly await his explanation. Given the brilliance of his first observation about the reason for the promotion of the virus, his second explanation will undoubtedly be equally prescient.
Of even greater surprise than eric's pronouncement, however, was the news from his father explaining that he is not to be outdone by his son in addressing medical issues.
Two days after eric let the world know that the whole pandemic thing is a hoax, his dad told the world that he is protecting himself from the hoax by taking the anti-malaria drug, hydroxychloroquine. He is taking the drug notwithstanding a lack of evidence that it does any good in protecting the user from the virus, and notwithstanding warnings that it can have serious side effects such as death.
In April an analysis of the medical records of 368 male patients at VA hospitals was conducted. Twenty seven percent of those treated with hydroxychloroquine died, whereas only 11.4 percent of the patients who did not receive the drug died. Although that would suggest to the casual observer that the hydroxychloroquine was not helpful, the trump explained why he was able to ignore that evidence "Here we go, you ready? Here's my evidence. I get a lot of positive calls about it. The only negative I've heard was the study where they gave it-was it the VA with, you know, people that aren't big Trump fans gave it." So much for cogent explanations and medical science.
In discussing his decision to take the drug he told some reporters that he "had so many letters" from people who support his use of the drug. He said that: "I want the people of this nation to feel good. I don't want them being sick. And there's a very good chance that this has an impact, especially early on." The trump is not, of course, the only world leader who has been promoting the use of hydroxychloroquine.
President Jair Bolsonaro is the president of Brazil. Brazil is the country that is enduring the greatest suffering of any country in the world as a result of the coronavirus. On May 15, 2020, Brazilian Health Minister, Nelson Teich, resigned from Mr. Bolsonaro's cabinet. The day before he resigned Brazil had more than 200,000 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and a total death toll of 13,933. Mr. Teich was the second person to resign from that post within the preceding 30 days. He and his predecessor left their posts because of disagreements with Mr. Bolsonaro over guidelines on reopening state economies within the country, social distancing rules, and because of Mr. Bolsonaro's insistence that the use of hydroxychloroquine to treat the virus be expanded.
Commenting on Mr. Teich's departure from the administration, Alessandro Molon, a member of the Brazilian Socialist Party, explained Mr. Bolsonaro's actions saying: "Bolsonaro does not want a technical minister, he wants someone who agrees with his ideological insanity, like ending social distancing and using chloroquine." Mr. Molon was not talking about the trump. He could have been.
Considering the beliefs and actions of the two trumps and Mr. Bolsonaro, one can come to only one conclusion: great minds think alike.