New York attorney general files legal action against Trump Organization

[GMDino]

So, before I get to the article(s) have we ever had a sitting POTUS have most of his hires, campaign staff, children and his business investigated, charged, found guilty like this?  Yes, that's rhetorical. 

More to the point at what time does his party and the American people say enough is enough?  This is going on while he is actively seeking another term.

Are we to believe that almost everyone around him is dirty.  Almost everyone he hires is dirty.  Almost all of his kids are dirty.  Almost all of his business/charitable dealings are dirty.  And somehow HE ISN'T dirty?



One with the show:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/new-york-ag-trump-organization-lawsuit/2020/08/24/882c03a8-e60e-11ea-bc79-834454439a44_story.html

Quote:New York attorney general files legal action against Trump Organization, revealing state investigation into the company’s financial dealings



President Trump holds a news conference at the White House on Sunday. (Erin Scott/Reuters)
By 
David A. Fahrenthold
August 24, 2020 at 2:15 p.m. EDT
The New York attorney general is investigating President Trump’s private business for allegedly misleading lenders by inflating the value of its assets, the attorney general’s office said Monday in a legal filing.

In the filing, signed by a deputy to Attorney General Letitia James, the attorney general’s office said it is investigating Trump’s use of “Statements of Financial Condition” — documents Trump sent to lenders, summarizing his assets and debts.

The filing asks a New York state judge to compel the Trump Organization to provide information it has been withholding from investigators — including a subpoena seeking an interview with the president’s son Eric.

The attorney general’s office said it began investigating after Trump’s former lawyer and “fixer,” Michael Cohen, told Congress in February 2019 that Trump had used these statements to inflate his net worth to lenders.

The filing said that Eric Trump had been scheduled to be interviewed in the investigation in late July, but abruptly canceled that interview. The filing says that Eric Trump is now refusing to be interviewed, with Eric Trump’s lawyers saying, “We cannot allow the requested interview to go forward … pursuant to those rights afforded to every individual under the Constitution.”


Many of the details of the investigation were redacted or left out of the filing. But it mentioned valuations of three Trump properties: a Los Angeles golf course, an office building at 40 Wall St. and a country estate called “Seven Springs” in Westchester County, N.Y.

Last year, The Washington Post reported that Trump had inflated the potential sale value of the Seven Springs property in a “Statement of Financial Condition” — a type of document he sent to potential lenders to demonstrate his wealth.


In 2011, Trump’s statement claimed that the property had been “zoned for nine luxurious homes,” and that the value of those home lots raised the value of the overall property to $261 million — far more than the $20 million assessed by local authorities. Local officials said Trump had received preliminary conceptual approval for those homes, but never completed the process or obtained final zoning permission. The homes were never built.
The court filing also mentions a question about a loan on Trump’s Chicago hotel, which one of Trump’s lenders forgave in 2010. The filing does not say why that forgiven loan is of interest to investigators.

Alan Garten, the Trump Organization’s chief legal officer, said in a statement that “The Trump Organization has done nothing wrong.” Instead, he blamed the filing on politics.

The attorney general’s “continued harassment of the company as we approach the election (and filing of this motion on the first day of the Republican National Convention) once again confirms that this investigation is all about politics.”
In its filings, James’s office said it has “not reached a determination” as to whether Trump’s company violated any laws.


Trump still owns his businesses, though he says he has given day-to-day control over to his sons.
This is not Trump’s first fight with the New York attorney general. A previous attorney general, Eric Schneiderman, sued Trump for defrauding students at his “Trump University,” in a case that led Trump’s school to pay $25 million to settle in 2016.

Later, the attorney general’s office sued Trump for misusing donations in his nonprofit, the Donald J. Trump Foundation, to buy art for his clubs, pay off legal obligations for his businesses and to help his own political campaign. That suit ended in November, with a state judge ordering Trump to pay $2 million in damages.
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Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance (D) is also leading an investigation into the Trump Organization.
Vance has subpoenaed the Trump Organization’s longtime accountants, Mazars USA, for eight years of the president’s tax returns and other tax preparation documents. Trump sought to block that subpoena, on the grounds that he was immune to criminal investigation as president. He lost at the Supreme Court, and now his lawyers are fighting an effort to block the subpoena on other grounds.


The scope of Vance’s investigation remains unclear. It began with an inquiry into payoffs made to adult-film star Stormy Daniels — who said she had an affair with Trump — before the 2016 election. But in recent court filings, Vance has suggested that he may be looking into financial practices at the Trump Organization as well.

Eric has taken the 5th...

https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/24/politics/new-york-eric-trump/index.html

Quote:New York AG seeks to depose Eric Trump in investigation of Trump's finances
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By Sonia Moghe and Kara Scannell, CNN

Updated 2:15 PM ET, Mon August 24, 2020



(CNN)The New York state attorney general is asking for a court to compel Eric Trump to be deposed in an investigation of the Trump Organization.


In court filings Monday, Letitia James' office said Eric Trump initially agreed to sit for a deposition on July 22, only to refuse, "balking less than two days before he was scheduled by agreement to give testimony."
James' office outlined the scope of the investigation into whether the Trump Organization "improperly inflated the value of Mr. Trump's assets on financial statements in order to secure loans and obtain economic and tax benefits."


READ: New York AG's filing to compel Eric Trump to be deposed

The attorney general's office has been investigating President Donald Trump and the Trump Organization since 2019, when Trump's former attorney Michael Cohen testified before Congress that Trump's annual financial statements inflated the values of his assets in order to secure favorable loans and insurance coverage, but deflated the value of other assets in order to reduce real estate taxes.

Manhattan DA agrees to delay enforcement of subpoena of Trump's tax returns

In the filing, James' office states Eric Trump's attorney sent a letter to the attorney general saying he would invoke "those rights afforded to every individual under the Constitution" as justification not to testify.
CNN has reached out to an attorney for Eric Trump for comment.
Alan Garten, chief legal officer for the Trump Organization, downplayed the development.


[url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/22/politics/stormy-daniels-trump-judge-order/index.html]Court orders Donald Trump to pay legal fees in Stormy Daniels suit

"There has been no lawsuit filed by the NY Attorney General," Garten said. "This is simply a discovery dispute over documents and the like. As the motion papers clearly state, the NY AG has made no determination that anything was improper or that any action is forthcoming. We will respond to this motion as appropriate."

This story has been updated with details of James' filing.

And I'll just leave this here...again.



Not because we do not have the right but because once again Trump's arrogance and big mouth has come back to bite him

[*Nately120*]

(08-24-2020, 04:15 PM)GMDino Wrote: Not because we do not have the right but because once again Trump's arrogance and big mouth has come back to bite him

Trump can do and say whatever he wants and his base will support him...which makes it even more damning that he doesn't actually try to say logical or decent things.  Go figure.