Thread: Legal Charges Against Trump

Trump trial Day 5 highlights: Ex-Trump executive says Allen Weisselberg asked for help in committing tax fraud

• McConney admits Weisselberg asked for help in committing tax fraud

Amer goes in for the kill, asking whether Weisselberg asked McConney on more than one occasion to assist him in committing tax fraud, McConney says yes.

McConney also admitted he was directed by Weisselberg to process a payroll check to Weisselberg’s wife, who was not an employee, so she could qualify for Social Security benefits.

But he says he did not know it was illegal, prompting Amer — who is ready — to show McConney his trial testimony from the Weisselberg/Trump Org. criminal trial last year, in which he acknowledged he knew it was not lawful.

McConney said he kept engaging in this illegal conduct because Weisselberg was his boss and if he refused, he would probably have lost his job. And with that, we are not only breaking for the day, but also McConney’s questioning is finished in dramatic fashion.

• The trial is done for the week

The court is adjourned. Monday is Columbus Day, meaning the next day of the trial will be Tuesday.

It also appears that the defense does not plan to cross-examine McConney, so the AG will put Weisselberg on the stand Tuesday morning.

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• Appeals court declines to pause Trump’s fraud trial, but halts cancellation of business licenses

A New York appeals court declined to temporarily pause former President Trump’s civil fraud trial but did halt the cancellation of Trump’s business licenses until after an appeals court hears his case.

The order follows a Friday motion filed by Trump’s legal team to stay the trial and the enforcement of an earlier ruling issued by the New York Supreme Court that found Trump and his businesses liable for fraud.

In that 1,154-page court filing, Trump’s legal team wrote that Judge Arthur Engoron’s decision imposed “unauthorized, undemanded, overbroad relief” to the New York attorney general’s office, which will result in “significant, irreparable harm” to the former president and his business.

“Supreme Court clearly does not comprehend the scope of the chaos its decision has wrought,” Trump’s attorneys wrote in the filing.

Engoron’s ruling, issued before the trial began, strips some of Trump’s business licenses and orders that an independent monitor continue to oversee the Trump Organization. On Thursday, Engoron also ordered closer scrutiny of Trump’s assets, barring Trump or any other defendants in the sweeping case from transferring any assets or creating a new entity to acquire them without disclosure first.

Defense attorneys argue in the Friday filing that Engoron had “no rationale or legal authority” to dissolve Trump’s businesses or order additional directives.

“Supreme Court’s sprawling and punitive relief is both unprecedented in a civil action in this State and indefensible under the law or any reasonable view of the facts,” Trump’s legal team wrote.

“They also claimed the order would “unquestionably inflict severe and irreparable harm” to “innocent” employees who depend on Trump’s businesses for their livelihoods, suggesting it threatens termination for “hundreds of New York employees without any jurisdiction or due process.”

Trump attorney Chris Kise informed the court and prosecutors Thursday that the defense would seek a stay of the trial and the summary judgment Engoron had issued.

Prosecutors objected to Kise’s notice, which they argued was not provided a full 24 hours before, as is required, because it did not describe what type of stay the defendants would be seeking. Kise had argued that the defense had not decided whether to ask for a pause in both the trial and summary judgment, so they should not have to tell prosecutors those details in advance.

“It’s not notice to say that we’re doing something but don’t know what we’re doing yet,” said Andrew Amer, a prosecutor for the New York attorney general’s office.

• Judge pauses litigation in classified docs case while mulling Trump's request for extension

The judge overseeing the probe into former President Donald Trump's handling of classified documents has paused any litigation involving the classified materials in question as she considers a request from Trump to extend deadlines in the case, according to a new order.

At issue is how the classified materials at the center of the case are to be handled by the defendants and their attorneys, based on national security requirements.

After Judge Aileen Cannon established several deadlines for ruling on those issues, Trump's legal team last month filed a motion asking her for a three-month extension, saying that Trump and his co-defendants have still not had access "to significant portions of the materials that the Special Counsel’s Office has characterized as classified and conceded are discoverable -- much less the additional classified materials to which President Trump is entitled following anticipated discovery litigation."

Cannon's order on Friday temporarily pauses the upcoming deadlines as she considers Trump's motion.

Special counsel Jack Smith's 's office said in a recent filing that some documents are so sensitive that they cannot be stored in a secure facility in Florida with the other documents in the case. Smith's team has told the court that the documents can be made available in a secure facility in Washington, D.C., for review.

Trump pleaded not guilty in June to 37 criminal counts related to his handling of classified materials, after prosecutors said he repeatedly refused to return hundreds of documents containing classified information ranging from U.S. nuclear secrets to the nation's defense capabilities, and took steps to thwart the government's efforts to get the documents back.

The trial is currently set to begin on May 20.

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

He will be convicted well before the election.

• Judge again blocks Trump's damages expert from testifying in E. Jean Carroll trial

U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan blocked Donald Trump's damages expert from testifying for the second time in the new civil trial brought by writer E. Jean Carroll, reported MSNBC legal analyst Lisa Rubin.

Kaplan had already granted summary judgment in this case in favor of Carroll's defamation claim, making the trial only a matter of how much the damages should be.

In the order issued on Thursday, Kaplan said that Trump's proposed witness of Robert J. Fisher, an expert in defamation, is denied, in large part because Fisher's reports contain a criticism of evidence and other information that is not germane to the issue of discussing the damages to be assessed.

Carroll has alleged that the former president raped her in a department store dressing room in the late 1990s. Trump has denied doing this and accused her of fabricating the story to advance her career. Carroll sued for defamation, and won, with a jury finding Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation earlier this year.

But even after this, Trump continued to make the same claims the jury had found were false, even leading a Republican audience in laughter over it during a CNN town hall.

Carroll subsequently sued again, seeking another round of damages for continuing to perpetuate the false claims.

https://storage.courtlistener.com/re...3790.217.0.pdf

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• Giuliani's Florida condo placed under IRS lien as ex-NY mayor owes nearly $550K in taxes

A property owned by Rudy Giuliani in Palm Beach, Florida, has been placed under a federal tax lien by the Internal Revenue Service as he owes more than a half-million dollars in unpaid income taxes, according to a court filing.

The tax lien for $549,435.26, which was recorded in Palm Beach County on September 1, is the latest sign of Giuliani's financial struggles as he faces millions of dollars in legal bills amid a number of lawsuits and criminal charges. The former New York City mayor has publicly mentioned in court his struggle to pay for mounting legal fees and adverse court decisions, while even more are expected to pile up in the future.

The tax lien's existence was first reported by The Daily Mail.

Property records reveal Giuliani and then-wife Judith Nathan purchased the three-bedroom unit in the Southlake Condominium complex in 2010 for $1.4 million, and Giuliani assumed sole ownership in 2020, following their divorce.

The multiple listing service shows the Giulianis listed their condo for sale in June 2019 for $3.3 million, dropping the price to $3 million a month later before removing it from the market in 2020. Records from the Palm Beach County Property Appraiser assess the property to have a current market value of $3,070,000.

In response to the report of the lien, Giuliani political adviser Ted Goodman told CNN, "Mayor Giuliani, through his accountant, has a formal agreement with the IRS to pay off the liability."

• Justice Department fights Trump effort to push Mar-a-Lago trial until after 2024 election

The Justice Department is fighting an effort by former President Trump to delay his documents case until after the 2024 election, pushing back on claims the government hasn’t done its part to provide access to evidence.

A recent motion seeking to delay the process through a law governing the handling of classified records in court “was but a precursor to a motion to continue the trial date,” special counsel Jack Smith’s office wrote in the Monday court filing.

“None of the issues raised in the defendants’ motion warrants the continuance they request.”

The request from Trump’s team last week comes amid complaints from his legal team about the amount of classified evidence they’ve been able to review in the case, as well as their workload, as they manage numerous indictments filed against the former president. They asked to delay the case until “at least mid-November 2024.”

The attorneys say they have yet to get access to all classified evidence underpinning charges in a superseding indictment that accused Trump of an additional Espionage Act charge and of trying to delete security camera footage from his Florida home.

Trump’s team also complains that it “only has access to a small, temporary facility in Miami” to view the highly classified records. It must visit the facility in person while managing hearing dates for Trump’s trial on allegations he sought to block the transfer of power after losing the 2020 election.

But the special counsel’s office said Trump’s team is exaggerating its struggles.

“Reports, transcripts, and recordings of interviews with potential witnesses—essentially, the blueprint of the Government’s case-in-chief—have been made available within days of arraignment for all defendants, even though the Court’s scheduling order authorizes the Government to delay production of such materials until just before trial,” they wrote.

“In no way does the government’s record of unclassified discovery production in this case support a continuance.”

The government said delays in accessing some documents are due to the highly sensitive nature of the documents.

“To be sure, the extreme sensitivity of the special measures documents that Trump illegally retained at Mar-a-Lago presents logistical issues unique to this case. But the defendants’ allegations that those logistical impediments are the fault of the [special counsel’s office] are wrong,” the government notes, adding that Trump’s team has been able to view them in Washington, D.C., versus Florida.

The argument comes after Trump’s team was complaining about traveling between D.C. and Florida to manage the former president’s two federal prosecutions.

In Florida, Trump is facing 32 counts for violation of the Espionage Act for mishandling records, as well as numerous other charges relating to obstruction of justice in blocking their return to authorities.

https://storage.courtlistener.com/re...tag=YHF4eb9d17

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

He will be convicted well before the election.

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• Fulton prosecutors float plea deals to Trump defendants

Fulton County prosecutors are floating plea deals to a number of defendants in the election interference case involving former President Donald Trump, according to people with knowledge of the proposals.

At least a handful of the now 18 defendants have received offers from the District Attorney’s office — or prosecutors have touched base with their attorneys to gauge their general interest in striking a deal for a reduced charge in exchange for their cooperation, according to the legal sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive ongoing negotiations.

It’s common for prosecutors to float plea deals to lower-level defendants in large racketeering cases as they home in on their biggest targets. Trump and his former personal attorney Rudy Giuliani face the most charges in the 41-count indictment, which centers on efforts to overturn the results of Georgia’s 2020 presidential election.

Late last week, Atlanta bail bondsman Scott Hall became the first defendant to accept a deal, pleading guilty to five misdemeanor counts in exchange for his testimony.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has learned that Fulton prosecutors have also offered a deal to Michael Roman, who worked as director of Election Day operations for the Trump campaign in 2020. A member of Roman’s legal team told The AJC they rejected the DA’s proposal and that no agreement has been reached.

”We’re maintaining our client’s innocence,” the legal team member said.

People who were indicted for their alleged roles in the appointment of a slate of Trump electors, election data breach in Coffee County and harassment of Fulton poll worker Ruby Freeman have also been approached by prosecutors, according to multiple sources. In the case of at least two of those defendants, no concrete offer has been made.

“It’s kind of a dance,” said John Banzhaf, a professor of public interest law at George Washington University who is closely tracking the case.

“Basically, the first person who flips always gets the best deal. The next one who comes along probably will get a deal that’s almost as good,” he said. “But at a certain point the addition of an extra person… is less important (to prosecutors)… so they’re not going to get as good a deal.”

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Just for fun.

• Trump rips Forbes after removal from wealthiest Americans list

Former President Trump tore into Forbes magazine after it again dropped him from its annual list of the wealthiest Americans.

Trump ripped the magazine in a Truth Social post on Monday, calling it “very badly failing” and asserting it “lost most of its relevance long ago.”

Trump bemoaned that Forbes “took me off their Fake Forbes 400 list, just by a ‘whisker,’ even though they know that I should be high up on that now very dated and discredited ‘antique.'”

Trump fraud trial (Day 6) highlights: Allen Weisselberg grilled on financial records

• Weisselberg testimony ends for the day with more memory gaps

Court has adjourned for the day, but not before Weisselberg answered that he couldn't recall to several more of the questions from the AG's office.

The former Trump Organization CFO said he could not recall who had final sign-off on the compilation of statements of financial condition after Trump became president, repeatedly saying he could not remember.

The statements during that time period were signed off on by Donald Trump Jr. and Weisselberg. Asked if he did any independent review of the statements, Weisselberg said no.

Asked about Trump Jr., Weisselberg said he relied upon the same people Weisselberg did.

The 76-year-old became animated at one point when asked if appraisals that could have been used for the financial statements had been done for certain properties. "We had no reason to and get an appraisal. There was no purpose for it," he said.

Asked if they'd done any, he said, "I don't remember."

• Weisselberg says he knew Trump apartment size was inflated

Weisselberg said he was aware that Trump's Trump Tower apartment was 10,000 square feet and not the 30,000 square feet used to determine its value on financial statements, but testified he didn't notice it because there were other items he was more worried about.

• Weisselberg grilled on emails relating to Mar-a-Lago valuation

The AG maintains the club was massively overvalued on Trump's financial statements, while Trump has angrily declared that he believes it to be a $1.5 billion property.

Weisselberg was shown a clipping from the New York Post with a handwritten note on top; underneath, a 2019 email from Weisselberg providing more information to Patrick Birney, a Trump employee, on the sale of another property in Palm Beach. Weisselberg said he was just trying to be helpful because Birney did not know people in Florida.

The exhibit also included an article on the offering of a Palm Beach estate for $135 million and several handwritten notes, all of which Weisselberg has denied are his own handwriting.

He has then shown a Wall Street Journal clipping with a Post-it in his handwriting that he sent to Birney. The note reads, “Patrick, hold for next year’s f/s. Let’s see what it ends up selling for.”

Weisselberg testified that was because it is the selling price, not the asking price that matters, a damning admission given how Trump’s triplex was valued (e.g., by using the asking prices of inappropriate comps plus a wildly inaccurate square footage amount).

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• Prosecutors: 25 witnesses claimed attorney-client privilege in federal probe of Trump’s election subversion

About 25 witnesses in Donald Trump’s Washington, D.C., criminal case — including a family member of the former president — withheld information from special counsel Jack Smith’s team by citing attorney-client privilege, the special counsel revealed Tuesday.

In a 14-page filing, Smith’s team indicated that those witnesses described maintaining legal confidences with Trump or his campaign that barred them from sharing certain testimony or documents related to the investigation of Trump’s effort to subvert the 2020 election.

But Smith’s team says Trump himself may end up invalidating many of those claims if he chooses to argue during trial that his actions in 2020 were based on the advice of his lawyers. If he does, prosecutors say, they have a right to probe any privileged communications related to that defense.

As a result, Smith is urging U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan to require Trump to disclose his intention to raise the so-called “advice-of-counsel” defense by Dec. 18, far enough in advance of trial for prosecutors to mount any additional investigation.

In the filing, senior assistant special counsel Thomas Windom argued that Trump would not be disadvantaged by having to disclose the defense early, in part because prosecutors had already turned over relevant evidence related to the “advice-of-counsel” argument.

“In some cases the defendant’s campaign was directly involved in discussions regarding privilege during the course of the investigation,” he noted.

It’s unclear which Trump family member asserted privilege in talks with the special counsel, but Trump’s daughter Ivanka Trump and son-in-law Jared Kushner were among those reportedly subpoenaed to testify before the grand jury.

Prosecutors noted that judges often don’t require defense attorneys to disclose their strategies significantly in advance of trial. However, in this case — when several Trump lawyers are alleged coconspirators and the advice of so many attorneys is at the heart of the case — it would amount to an unfair disadvantage for the government if Trump waited until the eve of trial to make his plans clear, Windom contended.

https://storage.courtlistener.com/re...149.98.0_1.pdf

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• Jack Smith seeks protections for potential jurors in Trump election case

Special counsel Jack Smith is urging the judge overseeing former President Trump's 2020 election interference case to impose protections for potential jurors in the case, according to a Tuesday court filing.

Why it matters: The request comes after Trump last week publicly attacked a law clerk in his New York civil fraud trial, which resulted in a gag order on the former president.

Driving the news: "Given that the defendant—after apparently reviewing opposition research on court staff—chose to use social media to publicly attack a court staffer, there is cause for concern about what he may do with social media research on potential jurors in this case," Smith wrote in the motion.

• Smith wrote that protections for prospective jurors are necessary for a number of reasons, but "chief among them is the defendant's continued use of social media as a weapon of intimidation in court proceedings."

Zoom in: Smith requested "reasonable and standard restrictions" to limit the ability of parties in the case "to conduct research on potential jurors during jury selection and trial and to use juror research."

• He also urged strict enforcement of "standard practices in this District designed to shield juror identities from the public."

The big picture: Trump, who has made violent rhetoric and personal attacks central to his political brand, has repeatedly criticized Smith and U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan, who is overseeing the 2020 election interference case.

• Federal prosecutors have called for a gag order on Trump in the 2020 election case, accusing him of waging "a sustained campaign of prejudicial public statements" against witnesses and prosecutors.

https://storage.courtlistener.com/re...58148.97.0.pdf

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• Georgia prosecutors: Trump elector strategy was political — not legal — advice

Georgia prosecutors say a key Trump campaign legal adviser’s memos — which guided efforts to subvert the 2020 election despite former President Donald Trump’s defeat — cannot be shielded by attorney-client privilege because they were about politics, not law.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis argued Tuesday that the memos by Ken Chesebro, one of 18 defendants charged alongside Trump in a sprawling racketeering conspiracy related to the 2020 election, were not about a litigation strategy or legal advice, which would typically be protected by confidentiality rules.

Rather, she contended, Chesebro had developed a strategy to derail the transfer of power from Trump to President Joe Biden by advocating efforts aimed at Congress, not the courts.

“[T]he animating concern was creating political strategy to be used in Congress, not the judicial branch,” Willis argued. “In particular, the January email begins with the premise that the judicial system has not allowed the Trump Campaign to accomplish its goals. The memo explicitly gives up on pursuing any judicial process in order to pursue political strategy in Congress.”

The argument sets up a crucial decision for Judge Scott McAfee, with potential repercussions for Trump and other attorneys like Rudy Giuliani and John Eastman who worked closely with the former president to undermine the 2020 election results. Chesebro contends that the memos should be excluded from his upcoming trial — set for Oct. 23 — because they were privileged work on behalf of his client, the Trump campaign.

Willis’ argument hewed closely to the rulings of a federal judge in California, who found that many of Eastman’s emails in the aftermath of the 2020 election were not subject to attorney-client privilege because of their political character — or because they were shared with non-lawyers and lost their confidentiality. That judge, U.S. District Judge David Carter, also found that some of Eastman’s emails would be disclosed to the House Jan. 6 select committee because they constituted evidence of a likely conspiracy between Eastman and Trump. Eastman is among the defendants charged alongside Trump and Chesebro in Georgia.

Chesebro’s string of memos began in November 2020, with an exhortation that the Trump campaign should convene slates of presidential electors in several swing states in which Biden defeated Trump, contending they would be a backstop if Trump were to prevail in ongoing legal fights.

But Chesebro’s memos took a turn in early December when he noted that Trump could use the elector strategy to prevail in the 2020 election even if his lawsuits failed — by using the Trump-backed electors to disrupt congressional proceedings on Jan. 6, 2021, the day that valid Electoral College votes were required by federal law to be counted.

https://s3.documentcloud.org/documen...response-3.pdf

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• Alex Jones to fight Georgia prosecutors’ bid to call him as witness in trial of Trump co-defendants

Alex Jones intends to resist efforts by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis to compel him to testify in this month’s trial of two Donald Trump co-defendants, his attorney said Tuesday.

Norm Pattis, an attorney for the far-right broadcaster, said Jones has nothing to offer in the trial — and that even if a court were to order him to testify, he would simply plead the Fifth, as he did when subpoenaed to testify to the House Jan. 6 select committee last year.

“We’re not going to help Fani’s fantasy life come true any more than we did that of the J6 committee,” Pattis said.

Willis indicated her intent to compel Jones’ testimony in a court filing posted publicly Tuesday. The filing indicated that Jones had contacts with Kenneth Chesebro, an attorney who helped craft Trump’s last-ditch strategy to upend Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 election and keep Trump in power. Chesebro and attorney Sidney Powell are slated to go on trial Oct. 23, the first batch of Trump’s 18 co-defendants in an alleged racketeering conspiracy to face jurors.

https://s3.documentcloud.org/documen...petition-3.pdf

Trump fraud trial live updates: Bank relied on Trump’s financial statement to secure loan

• Trump had to maintain $2.5B net worth for loan, banker says

When Donald Trump negotiated a $125 million loan from Deutsche Bank related to his Trump National Doral golf club, the former president agreed to maintain a minimum net worth of $2.5 billion as a condition of the loan, former bank executive Nicholas Haigh testified.

The loan memorandum prepared by Deutsche Bank included a covenant that the "Guarantor shall maintain a minimum net worth of $2.5 billion excluding any value related to the Guarantor's brand value," according to a document marked as evidence today.

The New York attorney general alleges that Trump's actual net worth at the time of the loan agreement was only $1.5 billion, an amount that would have triggered a default.

Retired Deutsche Bank executive Nicholas Haigh testified that he was involved in the decision to set the $2.5 billion figure, which he believed would protect the bank from exposure if the property failed or the broader market declined.

"It was set in order to make sure the bank was fully protected under adverse market conditions," Haigh testified.

To calculate Trump's net worth, Deutsche Bank looked at what Haigh described as Trump's four "trophy properties," all in Manhattan: Trump Tower, 40 Wall Street, Trump Park Avenue, and Niketown -- a ground lease for a property adjoining Trump Tower.

Since the properties themselves were not provided as collateral for the loan, Deutsche Bank did not commission independent appraisals for the properties, and instead used a modified version of Trump's own numbers.

"The bank normally only commissions appraisals on assets taken as collateral," Haigh said.

Deutsche Bank adjusted their assessment in 2012, when they learned of a separate appraisal of Trump Tower that offered a lower value of the property than what Trump had provided.

"The bank felt that it had an independent view on the value of the asset," Haigh said of the appraisal that prompted his bank to lower their value for Trump Tower from $1.2 billion to $992 million.

• Bank wouldn't extend Trump credit to buy Buffalo Bills, exec says

Former president Donald Trump and his company bid $1 billion in 2014 in an attempt to purchase the Buffalo Bills football team.

The only problem was that Trump needed a bank to help finance his bid.

Former Deutsche Bank executive Nicholas Haigh testified that when Trump turned to his bank for help, bank executives declined, fearing it would increase their financial exposure to Trump.

"Deutsche Bank was not willing to increase its credit exposure to Donald Trump at that time," Haigh said.

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• Trump wants to subpoena 'missing' Jan. 6 committee records in election interference case

Former President Donald Trump wants to subpoena the successor to the Jan. 6 committee and several other entities in connection with the federal election interference criminal case, contending that there are "certain missing records" that could be relevant to his defense.

In a court filing in one of the two cases brought by special counsel Jack Smith, Trump's lawyers said they would like to subpoena the U.S. Archivist; the clerk of the House of Representatives; the Committee on House Administration (which took over material from the defunct Jan. 6 committee); the special counsel to the president; the Department of Homeland Security's general counsel; Rep. Barry Loudermilk of Georgia; and Rep. Bennie Thompson, who chaired the Jan. 6 committee.

Loudermilk, a Republican on the House Administration committee, wrote in an earlier letter that only written transcripts were transferred after the Jan. 6 committee dissolved, and that "video recordings of transcribed interviews and depositions, which featured prominently during the Select Committee’s hearings, were not archived or transferred."

Trump's team said that material is important to his defense.

"Needless to say, there is significant overlap between the Select Committee’s investigation and this case, and there is a strong likelihood that individuals discussed in the Missing Records could be called as trial witnesses," Trump's lawyers wrote.

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• Georgia defendants, prosecutors spar over validity of RICO charge in 2020 election case

Fulton County prosecutors and attorneys for two defendants in the sweeping Georgia election interference case involving former President Trump on Wednesday sparred over the validity of a racketeering charge that all 19 alleged co-conspirators face.

Defense attorneys for Kenneth Chesebro and Sidney Powell — two Trump-aligned lawyers — argued before a Georgia judge Wednesday that the state Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act counts the defendants face were wrongly charged.

Snip

McAfee’s future decision on the motion, which will determine whether the RICO charge stands, could significantly alter the course of the case. Georgia’s broad RICO Act allows prosecutors to weave the seemingly disparate defendants and their alleged actions into one enterprise with a common goal: returning Trump to the White House. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’s (D) case presents a multitude of schemes prosecutors say were meant to undermine the outcome of Georgia’s election.

Trump fraud trial live updates: Bank relied on Trump’s financial statement to secure loan

• Ex-Trump CFO testifies about family members' roles

Ex-Trump CFO Allen Weisselberg, under questioning from state attorney Louis Solomon, addressed the degree to which Donald Trump's three adult children -- Don Jr., Eric, and Ivanka -- were involved in the day-to-day running of the Trump Organization during the period from 2011-2022.

"They wanted to get up to speed on how the business was running," Weisselberg said, noting that Trump's run for president accelerated their engagement in the company.

Emails entered into evidence from around that time suggested that the three Trump children requested financial information about the company's operations.

During one email exchange, Weisselberg directly asked Eric Trump to delay paying off a loan related to Trump's Seven Springs estate so it wouldn't affect the former president's cash balance.

"If we have to pay off the loan I would like to do it post June 30th as that is the date of your dad's annual financial statement ... to keep his cash balance as high as possible," the April 2015 email said.

• Trump Organization assistant VP takes the stand

Former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg has completed his direct examination, although he might be called back to testify by either the attorney general or the defense, Judge Arthur Engoron said.

"I am lifting the prohibition on discussing the case with counsel or anyone else," Engoron said about Weisselberg.

Trump Organization assistant vice president Patrick Birney, who took over managing Trump's statement of financial condition after controller Jeffrey McConney, took the stand following Weisselberg.

• Trump Organization assistant VP says CFO had final say

Trump Organization assistant vice president Patrick Birney testified that CFO Allen Weisselberg and controller Jeffrey McConney had the final say on Trump's financial documents when he worked under them.

"I was not the final decision maker," Birney said.

Birney joined the Trump Organization in 2015, a few years after he graduated from the University of Michigan. He began helping with Trump's statement of financial condition in 2016 and eventually took over preparing the vital financial document, though he acknowledged in court that he initially lacked some basic knowledge about accounting and finance.

Asked if he ever had valued a property using a capitalization rate, he replied, "I don't think so."

Birney said he would often turn to McConney if he needed specific documents, and that he reviewed drafts of the statement with Weisselberg.

"He would review drafts with me that I would provide him," Birney said. He later added, "Allen Weisselberg had the authority to approve everything."

• Trump Organization assistant VP explains valuations

Patrick Birney had been working for the Trump Organization for more than two years when a magazine article prompted him to change Trump's financial statement, the assistant VP testified.

"There was an article written that stated that Mr. Trump's triplex was actually 10,900 or so square feet," Birney said, referring to a 2017 Forbes magazine article that alleged Trump had been lying about the size of his residence. (Judge Engoron decided in his partial summary judgment last month that the size was misrepresented.)

Birney testified that Trump Organization employees, including former CFO Allen Weisselberg, "verified" the size and adjusted the next year's statement of financial condition. As a result, the penthouse was valued at $116 million in 2017 -- a steep drop from the 2016 valuation of $327 million.

Birney testified that he looked up comparable properties to come up with the value of the apartment going forward.

Trump Tower is shown in this photo, in New York on March 21, 2023.
"I Google searched recent penthouse sales in Manhattan," Birney said, eventually landing on an web article about a penthouse purchased by billionaire Ken Griffin that set the record for most expensive home ever sold in the United States.

A price-per-square-foot for Trump's penthouse was determined based on that record-breaking sale, Birney said.

When Birney was tasked with finding comparable properties to value Trump's Mar-a-Lago Club, he similarly searched for nearby Palm Beach homes. However, Trump signed a deed in 2002 that limited Mar-a-Lago's purpose to a social club, the New York attorney general alleges, making the price of nearby residences irrelevant.

Asked if he was ever told about the deed by anyone at the Trump Organization, Birney replied, "I don't believe I was." Instead, he said he first learned about it during an "interview with the attorney general's office."

Court then adjourned for the day, with Birney's testimony scheduled to resume tomorrow morning.

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• Judge scolds prosecutors as she delays hearing for co-defendant in Trump classified documents case

A judge on Thursday scolded federal prosecutors in the classified documents case against former President Donald Trump as she abruptly postponed a hearing to determine if the lawyer for a co-defendant had a conflict of interest.

U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon accused prosecutors of “wasting the court’s time” by raising new arguments that they had not made in earlier court filings. She said she would set a hearing for a later date for Walt Nauta, a Trump valet charged with conspiring with Trump to conceal classified documents from investigators.

Special counsel Jack Smith’s team had asked for hearings to ensure that Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira were aware of potential conflicts because their lawyers previously represented other key figures in the case. Both men were charged alongside Trump with obstructing government efforts to recover classified documents hoarded at Mar-a-Lago, the former president’s Florida estate.

Prosecutors have said in court filings that the multiple representations could create a conflict by causing a lawyer to betray the confidences of a current or former client, or “pull punches,” during cross-examination.

De Oliveira said during questioning from U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon that he understood the concerns arising from his lawyer’s former representation of three government witnesses. Nonetheless, he wanted to keep his attorney, John Irving. Cannon ruled that he could.

Irving told the judge that he did not foresee a conflict, saying there was nothing the witnesses — who are now represented by a new lawyer — could reveal that is not already known by the government or that would be problematic for De Oliveira.

https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-...ocuments-case/

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

He will be convicted well before the election.

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Just for fun.

• SPAC returns remaining $533 million raise for Trump social media deal

Digital World Acquisition Corp (DWAC), the blank-check acquisition company that plans to merge with former U.S. President Donald Trump's social media firm, said on Thursday it would return to investors $533 million raised for a cash infusion in the deal, after some already backtracked on another $467 million of commitments.

The development is the nail in the coffin of the $1 billion investment that DWAC had raised for the merger with Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), which runs the Truth Social platform. It raises further doubts about whether the former U.S. president will go ahead with the deal, now that TMTG no longer stands to receive $1 billion if and when it closes.

The move leaves DWAC with the $293 million cash it had raised in its initial public offering in September 2021, which is set to go to TMTG upon the deal's closing. That pot of money could also shrink if investors opt for redemptions.

It was unclear how TMTG will fund itself if the deal does not go through. TMTG previously raised $22.8 million in financing from private investors, Reuters reported last October.

Trump fraud trial live updates: Bank relied on Trump’s financial statement to secure loan

• Firm mulled using presidential 'premium' to boost net worth

Trump Organization executives considered adding $144 million to Trump's net worth based on a "premium for presidential property" in 2017, according to testimony of executive Patrick Birney.

The premium, which was applied to draft versions of Trump's financial statements, varied between 15% and 35% for Trump's properties, including his Mar-a-Lago Club, which was described in documents as the "presidential winter residence," according to materials entered into evidence.

The potential adjustment followed a $200 million shortfall between Trump's 2016 and 2017 statements, after a Forbes magazine article prompted executives to revalue the former president's penthouse, state attorneys said.

"Who directed you?" state attorney Eric Haren asked Birney about adding the premium.

"I don't really remember, but probably Allen Weisselberg," Birney said.

• Ex-CFO wanted inflated value for Trump Tower, exec says

Trump Organization executive Patrick Birney was once pressured by his former CFO, Allen Weisselberg, to use an unrealistic metric to inflate the value of Trump Tower, Birney testified.

Birney testified that he consulted a generic real estate report to determine a 2.67% capitalization rate to measure the value of Trump Tower -- despite an executive at real estate company Cushman and Wakefield recommending a higher rate, which would have decreased Trump Tower's value.

When Weisselberg and Birney discussed the topic in a Trump Tower restroom, Birney said he encouraged the CFO to use a higher, more realistic capitalization rate that would be more sustainable, in order to maintain the building's value in the future, Birney testified.

"I think he said, just use 2.67%," Birney recalled. "I said I am fine using that capitalization rate, but I am worried that if we are only using 2.67, the building is so old, next year there might not be a cap rate as low as 2.67."

The New York attorney general alleges that Weisselberg "systematically rejected" multiple valuations of Trump Tower in 2019 that would have lowered its value between $161 and $224 million.

Court has adjourned for the day, with Birney scheduled to continue his testimony on Monday morning.

________

• Donald Trump fails to dismiss insurrection clause lawsuit

‘It is in the public’s interest’: Judge refuses to toss voters’ insurrection clause lawsuit to kick Trump off 2024 ballot, speeding the case towards trial

At least one lawsuit seeking to kick Donald Trump off of the 2024 ballot under the insurrection clause of the 14th Amendment is speeding towards a late October trial after a state judge rejected the former president’s free speech arguments and refused to grant his “special motion to dismiss” on Thursday.

Judge Sarah Wallace of the 2nd Judicial District Court in Denver, in a 21-page order, sided with a group of voters represented by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) who, citing Jan. 6, sued in September to “challenge the listing of Respondent Donald J. Trump as a candidate on the 2024 Republican presidential primary election ballot and any future election ballot, based on his disqualification from public office under Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.”

The judge noted walked through three separate arguments that the suing voters made to defend their lawsuit against Trump’s assertion that the case was a Strategic Lawsuit Against Participation (SLAPP).

“Petitioners argue that the anti-SLAPP statute does not apply for three reasons: (1) there is no cause of action against Intervenor Trump and he, therefore, lacks standing; (2) this lawsuit falls within the public interest exemption to the anti-SLAPP statute; and (3) the anti-SLAPP statute is incompatible with C.R.S. § 1-1-113 and, therefore, is inapplicable,” the judge summarized.

• Rudy Giuliani Suffers BIG Loss In Court

A D.C. Court has ruled in favor of Georgia polls workers suing Rudy Giuliani for defamatory statements in 2020

In advance of an upcoming defamation trial in a lawsuit brought by Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, former Georgia poll workers, against Rudy Giuliani, today D.C. Federal Judge Beryl Howell issued an order that is a major blow to Giuliani and his ultimate defense. Freeman and Moss are suing Giuliani for remarks he made following the 2020 election in Georgia accusing the two of them of fraudulently manipulating ballots on Election Day. This statement was untrue. Today's late afternoon ruling comes after months of legal battles over Giuliani's failure to disclose discovery to Freeman and Moss.

As part of Giuliani's attempts to evade accountability, the Court ruled that he actively hid his assets from Freeman and Moss, and gave them permission to seek over $130,000 in sanctions from other jurisdictions where Giuliani may have income or assets, granted their request for adverse inferences concerning Giuliani's financial state, and required that the jury be instructed that Giuliani intentionally failed to produce discovery and tried to hide his assets.

This is a significant blow to Giuliani defense and comes at a time when Giuliani is bleeding money, facing lawsuits from his former attorney for unpaid legal fees, and has been cast out of Trump world. meidastouch.com

Judge penalizes Giuliani for ‘continued and flagrant’ disregard of court order in 5-page ruling

https://s3.documentcloud.org/documen...eord101323.pdf

____________

• Georgia Judge Sets Monday Hearing to Decide Jury Questionnaire in Upcoming Trump Co-Defendants’ Trial

A Georgia judge has scheduled a hearing for Monday morning to decide on the questions that prosecutors and defense attorneys can use to scrutinize potential jurors in the first trial against two co-defendants of Donald Trump.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee's Friday order said District Attorney Fani Willis' team and lawyers for Kenneth Chesebro and Sidney Powell have submitted their “proposed questions” to help them sort through the pool of 900 area residents who have been summoned for jury duty.

Which questions will make it onto the final questionnaire may be a hotly debated issue. Chesebro lawyer Scott Grubman on Tuesday already raised concerns about questions Willis' team proposed asking about political activity, saying they were “inappropriate.”

“This is a political case, so yeah, we should all know what political party [jurors are, but] what they ask is – they don't even try to pretend–what they say is, are you a Republican? " he said, adding “to me, that's inappropriate.”

Powell and Chesebro have pleaded not guilty to seven state felony counts against them in the election racketeering grand jury indictment that also included charges against Trump and 16 others.

https://s3.documentcloud.org/documen...-hearing-1.pdf

• Trump faces reckoning as D.C. judge mulls gag order

Can Donald Trump be gagged?

That’s the question at the heart of a federal hearing Monday, when U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan will consider whether to order the former president to stop attacking potential witnesses, prosecutors and court officials involved in his federal case over election fraud.

If Chutkan agrees that Trump’s penchant for public invective should be restrained, it will be his first brush with court-ordered consequences in a criminal case — consequences that, at least in theory, could be backed by the threat of jail time.

And a gag order would immediately raise two questions that could define his bid to retake the White House: Is Trump capable of abiding by a court-ordered restriction on his speech? And what is Chutkan prepared to do if he isn’t?

Monday’s hearing in Washington, D.C., will feature the first clues on the answers to both of those questions.

Special counsel Jack Smith has urged Chutkan to impose a gag order, citing a barrage of Trump’s recent statements and social media posts aimed at Smith and his team, the court and several people who might testify against him on charges related to his effort to subvert the 2020 election. Trump’s statements may intimidate witnesses, stoke threats of violence and taint the D.C. jury pool as Trump’s March 4 trial approaches, Smith argued in court papers.

Chutkan, for her part, has already warned the former president about his out-of-court comments. She notified Trump in August that his incendiary commentary related to the trial might lead her to expedite his case to avoid sustained efforts to prejudice the jury pool. Prosecutors say Trump has nevertheless used his Truth Social platform to attack known witnesses against him, including most recently his suggestion that Mark Milley, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, might deserve to be put to death.

Trump fraud trial live updates: Bank relied on Trump’s financial statement to secure loan - ABC News

• Assets on statement were apparently overstated, exec says

Trump Hotels chief accounting officer Mark Hawthorn testified that in 2018 he inadvertently overstated the value of Trump's assets by relying on Trump's statement of financial condition.

When an outside accounting firm requested the amount of Trump's liquid assets, Hawthorn said he consulted the financial statement that listed "cash equivalents in excess of $290 million."

• Trump wanted his net worth to 'go up,' exec says he was told

Trump Organization executive Patrick Birney testified that then-CFO Allen Weisselberg told him that Trump wanted to see his net worth "go up."

"Did Allen Weisselberg ever tell you that Mr. Trump wanted his net worth on the statement of financial condition to go up?" state attorney Eric Haren asked Birney.

"Yes," Birney said. "I think that happened in Allen Weisselberg's office."

Birney said the meeting with Weisselberg happened sometime between 2017 and 2019, but could recall a specific date.

• Michael Cohen could testify next Monday, judge says

• Trump Hotels chief accounting officer concludes testimony

State attorney Andrew Amer concluded his direct examination of Trump Hotels chief accounting officer Mark Hawthorn by applauding Hawthorn's skills and experience.

Amer highlighted that Hawthorn successfully conducted cash flow analysis, understood estimated current value, and applied the generally accepted accounting principles to his work.

Asked by Amer if he was ever asked to work on Trump's statement of financial condition -- a job that was handled by other executives like CFO Allen Weisselberg and controller Jeffrey McConney, who in earlier testimony acknowledged their lack of knowledge regarding foundational accounting principles -- Hawthorn replied that he was never approached about the task.

"I would be qualified to give it a try," said Hawthorn.

Hawthorn then stepped down from the witness stand to make way for Trump Organization assistant controller Donna Kidder to begin her testimony, after which court was adjourned for the day.

Kidder's testimony is scheduled to resume tomorrow morning, when former President Trump is expected to return to the courtroom.

related

How Trump’s Team Twisted His Bank Fraud Trial Into a Farce

Two weeks into Donald Trump’s bank fraud trial in New York, it’s clear that the former president has no intention of actually trying to win the legal battle at this stage.

Instead, Trump’s legal team is working diligently to repurpose the trial as pretext for a future appeal—not to mention warping the proceedings into both a fundraising spectacle and an excuse to skip out on his other court dates.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/how-do...=home?ref=home

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• Judge imposes gag order on Donald Trump in D.C. trial

A federal judge has barred Donald Trump from attacking witnesses, prosecutors and court staff involved in his Washington, D.C., criminal case, imposing a gag order that sharply escalates the tension between Trump’s 2024 bid for the presidency and the realities of his status as a criminal defendant.

“First Amendment protections yield to the administration of justice and to the protection of witnesses,” Judge Tanya Chutkan said Monday as she issued the gag order. “His presidential candidacy does not give him carte blanche to vilify … public servants who are simply doing their job.”

“This trial will not yield to the election cycle and we will not revisit the trial date,” Chutkan said.

Acknowledging Trump’s broad right to weigh in on public policy issues as he pursues a second term in the White House, Chutkan said nevertheless that Trump could not launch a “pretrial smear campaign” against those who might testify against him. She said she would consider “sanctions” if she observes any violations. She did not elaborate on those sanctions, although she said she planned to issue a written order with further details.

trump 'does not have the right to say and do exactly what he pleases,' Judge Chutkan says

Trump fraud trial live updates: 'The government got caught in a lie,' says Trump - ABC News

• 'You lied yesterday,' Trump attorney accuses witness

With Donald Trump sitting just feet away, lawyers for Trump and New York Attorney General Letitia James engaged in a heated argument about whether an expert real estate appraiser committed perjury during his testimony yesterday.

"You lied yesterday, didn't you?" defense lawyer Lazaro Fields asked Newmark real estate executive Doug Larson -- a line of questioning that prompted Larson to be excused from the courtroom while the attorneys sparred.

• Jack Weisselberg begins his testimony

Ladder Capital executive Jack Weisselberg, the son of ex-Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg, has begun his testimony.

The younger Weisselberg testified that he began his career at the investment bank UBS as an analyst, moved to the now-defunct hedge fund Dillon Read Capital Management, then returned to UBS.

"There were layoffs at UBS and across the entire industry," Weisselberg said about his eventual exit from UBS. He testified that he began working at Ladder Capital in 2008.

The New York attorney general alleges that the Trump Organization obtained favorable loan terms with Ladder Capital based on an inflated appraisal of Trump's 40 Wall Street property.

• Judge bars attorneys from holding courtroom press conferences

Before the court's afternoon session got underway, Judge Engoron announced he was prohibiting attorneys from holding press conferences or addressing the media inside the courthouse.

• Court employee arrested for approaching Trump

A court employee is under arrest after she tried to approach former President Trump while he was seated in the courtroom.

As the trial was going on, the woman "disrupted the proceedings by standing up and walking towards the front of the courtroom and yelling out to Mr. Trump indicating she wanted to assist him," according to a spokesperson for the New York State Unified Court System.

• 'We are here to enforce the law,' says AG

New York Attorney General Letitia James denounced Donald Trump as "performative" during brief remarks outside the courthouse after court was adjourned for the day.

"He's called me disgraceful. He's called me radical. He's called me a racist, and this is only Week Three," James said of the former president.

She added that she looks forward to seeing Trump again, likely during the testimony of his former lawyer Michael Cohen, which could happen next week. Trump earlier told reporters he likely will not attend court tomorrow.

"We are here to enforce the law, and nothing will change that," James said.

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Extra.

Another (updated) lawsuit against trump.

• Washington, D.C. Black Voter Disenfranchisement

Lawsuit brought by the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund challenging former President Donald Trump, the Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee’s (RNC) efforts to disenfranchise Black voters. The lawsuit asks the court to stop Trump and the Republicans from violating the Voting Rights Act through their attempts to undo the results of the 2020 presidential election. On Nov. 28, 2022, a trial court issued an order that allowed the plaintiffs to amend their complaint and held that Trump is not absolutely immune. Trump appealed the Nov. 28 order to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Litigation is ongoing.

https://www.democracydocket.com/wp-c...nt-of-case.pdf

six years probation, agreed to pay a $6,000 fine and restitution of $2,700

• Sidney Powell, attorney who aided Trump’s bid to subvert election, pleads guilty

A former attorney for Donald Trump who was at the center of his effort to subvert the 2020 election has reached a plea deal and will cooperate with Georgia prosecutors in the racketeering case against Trump and many of his allies.

Sidney Powell, who advised Trump during the final frantic weeks of his bid to remain in power despite losing the election, pleaded guilty Thursday to six misdemeanor counts of conspiracy to commit intentional interference with performance of election duties.

Powell’s guilty plea, which she entered in a court hearing in Atlanta, makes her the first member of Trump’s close advisers to admit to crimes related to the 2020 election. She had been slated to go on trial Monday in Fulton County, Ga., on charges that she joined Trump in the alleged racketeering conspiracy and helped engineer the breach of election equipment in a Georgia county.

Powell was sentenced to six years probation and will be left without a criminal record if she complies with all aspects of the agreement, Judge Scott McAfee indicated. She also must write an apology letter to Georgia citizens.

McAfee told Powell the plea deal requires her to take the witness stand against co-defendants if requested.

“You’re to testify truthfully against any and all co-defendants in this matter at any upcoming proceedings,” the judge told Powell.

Powell provided a recorded statement to prosecutors Wednesday night and agreed to turn over documents to the district attorney’s office, a prosecutor said in court.

Powell became a key figure in Trump’s legal orbit in the weeks following the 2020 election, stoking conspiracy theories about foreign governments manipulating voting machines. Trump’s campaign pushed her away in November 2020 amid clashes with Rudy Giuliani, another leader of Trump’s post-election legal efforts, after the two of them appeared at a bizarre press conference in which Powell promoted her discredited notions.

Powell, however, would continue advising an increasingly desperate Trump. She appeared at a Dec. 18, 2020, Oval Office meeting alongside her former client, Trump’s ex-national security adviser Michael Flynn, to push Trump to use the military to seize voting machines. Trump came close to appointing her special counsel to empower her to lead that effort before rejecting it amid pushback from White House advisers.

Trump, at times, privately described Powell as “crazy,” according to testimony obtained by the Jan. 6 select committee.

Federal prosecutors pressing a similar election-subversion case in Washington against Trump have also identified Powell — without naming her — as an alleged co-conspirator in Trump’s effort to subvert the 2020 election.

The charges Powell pleaded guilty to on Thursday stem from her effort to access voting machines in Coffee County, Ga. after the 2020 election. Powell and others involved in that effort claimed they were investigating allegations of voter fraud.

Powell’s plea came as a surprise because she and her defense attorney had vigorously insisted in recent days that she had done nothing wrong and that she had explicit permission from local officials to access the machines.

But at the hearing Thursday, she said the state had the proof needed to convict her.

“Are you pleading guilty today because you agree that there is a sufficient factual basis, that there are enough facts that support this plea of guilty?” McAfee asked

“I do,” Powell said.

In addition to serving probation and writing the apology letter, Powell agreed to pay a $6,000 fine and restitution of $2,700.

The Texas attorney becomes the second of Trump’s 18 co-defendants in the racketeering case to plead guilty following Scott Hall, a bail bondsman who reached a plea deal last month on similar charges.

It’s unclear what the sudden plea deal means for Kenneth Chesebro, another 2020 Trump attorney who is set to go on trial alongside Powell next week.

Trump fraud trial: Witness disputes Eric Trump's recollection of appraisals

• Witness disputes Eric Trump's recollection of appraisals

Over three hours of testimony, real estate executive David McArdle described multiple phone calls, emails, and meetings with Eric Trump to appraise several of the Trump Organization's trophy assets.

But when prosecutors played a video in court of the deposition Eric Trump gave in the case, the Trump Organization VP said he didn't recall working on the appraisals with McArdle.

"I recognize the name very vaguely," Eric Trump said of McArdle on the deposition video. "I really haven't been involved in appraisal work on this property."

"Do you believe that Eric Trump was not involved in the appraisals you worked on?" state attorney Sherief Gaber asked McArdle.

"No," McArdle replied.

Court was subsequently adjourned for the day.

• AG requests forensic review of Trump Organization data

New York Attorney General Letitia James is requesting a forensic review of Trump Organization electronic data after identifying a missing set of emails between former CFO Allen Weisselberg and a real estate executive.

"The failure to produce these later emails indicates a breakdown somewhere in the process of preserving, collecting, reviewing and producing documents," state attorney Kevin Wallace wrote in a letter to Judge Arthur Engoron.

The request follows an accusation from Forbes Magazine, reported in a story last week, that Weisselberg committed perjury on the stand, based on "old emails and notes, some of which the attorney general's office does not possess." Despite Weisselberg testifying that he "never focused on the apartment," the Forbes story said that he "played a key role in trying to convince Forbes over the course of several years that it was worth more than it really was."

• Lender says he partially relied on Trump's financial statement

When Ladder Capital executive Jack Weisselberg worked on a $160 million loan for the Trump Organization, he partially relied on Donald Trump's financial statements, according to his testimony this morning.

"The liquidity was really what we were paying attention to," said Jack Weisselberg in reference to the $302 million in cash and marketable assets Trump claimed in his 2014 statement of financial condition.

Pressed on direct examination, Jack Weisselberg declined to say he fully relied on the statement, which the New York attorney general alleges was fraudulently inflated.

"The net worth was one of many statements we were looking at in the underwriting process. It was a factor," Jack Weisselberg said.

• Eric Trump sought higher valuation of golf course, appraiser says

Eric Trump personally pushed for a higher valuation for 71 undeveloped residential units at the Trump National Golf Club in Westchester County outside New York City, a real estate executive testified.

David McArdle of the real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield said he was hired to appraise the future value of the duplex units to be built along the golf course's 18th hole fairway. McArdle said he personally worked with Trump Organization VP Eric Trump on the project in 2013.

"Eric loved this project. He thought it was very special," McArdle said.

When McArdle eyed a value between $40-$45 million, Eric Trump pushed for a higher value, McArdle said.

_________

• Hugo Lowell - NEW: Trump valet Walt Nauta’s lawyer Stanley Woodward acknowledged he won’t cross-examine two trial witnesses bc he previously represented them/is conflicted. Also acknowledged he’s constrained from discrediting them: https://twitter.com/hugolowell/statu...40982791876932

https://storage.courtlistener.com/re...8653.189.0.pdf

_______

• DOJ urges court to reject trump effort to toss election interference case

The Justice Department vociferously urged the court to reject an effort from Donald Trump to toss his election interference charges, arguing his status as a president while seeking to block the transfer of power offers no immunity from prosecution.

The 54-page brief comes after Trump earlier this month asked the judge overseeing the case to toss the charges, arguing he is protected by presidential immunity.

“That novel approach to immunity would contravene the fundamental principle that ‘[n]o man in this country is so high that he is above the law.’ The defendant is not above the law. He is subject to the federal criminal laws like more than 330 million other Americans, including Members of Congress, federal judges, and everyday citizens,” DOJ wrote in the Thursday brief.

“None of the sources the defendant points to in his motion—the Constitution’s text and structure, history and tradition, or Supreme Court precedent—supports the absolute immunity he asks the Court to create for him.”

Trump’s earlier motion to dismiss the case was a vigorous defense of his actions leading up to the riot, actions the Justice Department has argued stripped citizens of the right to have their vote counted and which were built on a mountain of fraudulent claims.

• Appeals court upholds broad use of obstruction law that prosecutors have deployed against Trump

Federal prosecutors on Friday narrowly avoided an appeals court ruling that could have upended their criminal prosecution of Donald Trump, but the legal battle will continue over a federal obstruction statute that has become a cornerstone of cases stemming from the storming of the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

A divided panel of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, in a long-awaited opinion, ruled that there are numerous ways for the government to prove that Jan. 6 defendants acted “corruptly” when seeking to obstruct Congress’ proceedings. The decision is a bullet dodged for special counsel Jack Smith, because a D.C. Circuit ruling that narrowly construed the meaning of “corruptly” could have derailed Smith’s prosecution of Trump on an obstruction charge.

The judges ruled, 2-1, that efforts by some Jan. 6 defendants to sharply limit the conduct covered by the federal obstruction law were misguided. The ruling, which upheld a jury conviction for former Virginia police officer Thomas Robertson, concluded that efforts to install the losing presidential candidate could be enough to support an obstruction conviction.

The opinion is likely to be appealed to the full bench of the D.C. Circuit or to the Supreme Court. But it nevertheless is an important milestone with repercussions for hundreds of Jan. 6 prosecutions, including Trump’s. The judges have labored for months to navigate the complexities of the federal “obstruction of an official proceeding” statute, a felony with a 20-year maximum sentence that was passed in the wake of the Enron scandal.

Special counsel Jack Smith has charged Trump with three conspiracies connected to his effort to subvert the 2020 election, including one to obstruct Congress’ proceedings that day, the same charge faced by Robertson and more than 300 Jan. 6 rioters.

The majority opinion Friday also held that interfering with or impeding the electoral-vote certification on Jan. 6 in a bid to get Trump declared the victor of the 2020 election would be enough to sustain a conviction for obstruction of Congress.

“That evidence was plainly sufficient to support a finding that Robertson intended to secure the unlawful benefit of installing the loser of the presidential election, Donald J. Trump, as its winner,” Pan wrote.

________

• Trump’s claim of immunity from prosecution defies American history, special counsel argues

Donald Trump’s argument that as a former president he enjoys “absolute immunity” from criminal prosecution is sharply refuted by nearly all of American history, special counsel Jack Smith argued Thursday.

In a 54-page filing taking on Trump’s sweeping bid to derail the federal criminal case against him over his efforts to upend the results of the 2020 election, Smith’s team cited the prosecution of Aaron Burr, the pardon of Richard Nixon, the civil lawsuit against Bill Clinton and Trump’s own comments on his impeachment trial in 2021 for allegedly inciting an insurrection at the Capitol.

In every instance, prosecutors said, the Constitution and those tasked with upholding it make clear that former presidents can be prosecuted criminally for actions they took while in office.

“The implications of the defendant’s unbounded immunity theory are startling,” prosecutor James Pearce and other lawyers from Smith’s team argued. “It would grant absolute immunity from criminal prosecution to a president who accepts a bribe in exchange for a lucrative government contract for a family member; a president who instructs his FBI Director to plant incriminating evidence on a political enemy; a president who orders the National Guard to murder his most prominent critics; or a president who sells nuclear secrets to a foreign adversary.”

The dispute is the first substantive showdown over the legal framework that will define the prosecution of Trump for conspiracies he allegedly led while attempting to subvert the 2020 election.

Well into their brief, Smith’s prosecutors cited one authority the judge overseeing the case, Tanya Chutkan, is undoubtedly familiar with: her 2021 decision rejecting Trump’s bid to shield his presidential papers from the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection. “Presidents are not kings,” Chutkan famously wrote.

While that was a civil dispute, prosecutors contend the rationale she cited two years ago applies even more strongly to criminal prosecutions.

“The principle that no one is above the law underlies the universal consensus that a president may be subject to criminal prosecution at some point,” the brief says.

DocumentCloud

__________

• Trump fined $5,000 for violating gag order, as judge threatens jail for future violations

A state judge fined Donald Trump $5,000 Friday after finding that the former president’s campaign website continued to display a social media post attacking the judge’s law clerk in violation of a gag order imposed by the judge earlier this month.

Justice Arthur Engoron also indicated that he would consider jailing Trump for future violations of the gag order.

Engoron, who is overseeing a $250 million civil fraud trial against Trump and his business empire, issued the gag order on Oct. 3 after Trump used his Truth Social platform to attack Engoron’s principal law clerk. Trump quickly took down the post from Truth Social that day, but it remained on his campaign site until Thursday night.

Engoron wrote in a two-page order that while Trump’s lawyers had called the violation of the gag order “inadvertent,” “the effect of the post on its subject is unmitigated by how or why it remained on Donald Trump’s website for 17 days.”

“In the current overheated climate, incendiary untruths can, and in some cases already have, led to serious physical harm, and worse,” Engoron wrote.

In stern terms, he warned Trump against further violating the order. “Make no mistake: future violations, whether intentional or unintentional, will subject the violator to far more severe sanctions, which may include, but are not limited to, steeper financial penalties, holding Donald Trump in contempt of course, and possibly imprisoning him,” Engoron wrote.

Trump fraud trial: Judge fines Trump $5,000 for violating partial gag order

• Thousands saw false post on Trump's website, attorney says

According to Donald Trump's attorney Chris Kise, 3,701 people viewed a screenshot of Trump's false Truth Social post about Judge Engoron's clerk that was added to Trump's 2024 campaign website.

Engoron had requested that Kise provide specific information about the reach of Trump's post after it was removed from Truth Social but remained on the campaign site. A screenshot of the Truth social post was available on Trump's campaign site for more than two weeks after it was removed from the Truth Social platform, according to Engoron.

Kise said that the post was initially emailed to 25,810 people from a "press" email list. A total of 6,713 people opened the email, which directed recipients to a post on Trump's campaign website.

Of the 114 million people who visited Trump's campaign website between Oct. 3 and Oct. 19, a total of 3,701 users viewed the actual post, including the people directed to the post via email.

"You have to click through layers to get there," Kise said.

• Judge to hold hearing on Ivanka Trump subpoenas

Judge Engoron will hear oral arguments from the New York attorney general and Ivanka Trump's attorney about whether Ivanka Trump will be required to testify at her father's civil fraud trial.

New York Attorney General Letitia James issued three subpoenas to Ivanka Trump, who was no longer a part of the Trump Organization by 2016, in order to compel her testimony -- but Ivanka Trump's lawyer argues they should be quashed because the AG lacks jurisdiction.

The hearing will likely take place one morning next week, before the trial gets underway for the day, according to Engoron's clerk.

• Court adjourns for day

Prior to adjournment, former Trump Organization vice president Raymond Flores testified about his limited role in reviewing Trump’s 2020 statement of financial condition and assessing the value of Trump’s golf courses.

Flores, who had a limited recollection of events, is expected to return to the witness stand to complete his testimony on Monday.

• Judge fines Trump $5,000 for violating partial gag order

Judge Engoron has fined Donald Trump $5,000 for what the judge called Trump's "inadvertent" violation of his limited gag order that occurred when the former president's false Truth Social post about Engoron's clerk was not removed from Trump's campaign website.

"Donald Trump has received ample warning from this Court as to the possible repercussions of violating the gag order," Engoron wrote in a ruling after court had ended for the day. "He specifically acknowledged that he understood and would abide by it. Accordingly, issuing yet another warning is no longer appropriate; this Court is way beyond the 'warning' stage."

The judge said he decided to impose a nominal $5,000 fine "given defendant's position that the violation was inadvertent."

However, the judge wrote, "Make no mistake: future violations, whether intentional or unintentional, will subject the violator to far more severe sanctions, which may include, but are not limited to, steeper financial penalties, holding Donald Trump in contempt of court, and possibly imprisoning him pursuant to New York Judiciary Law 753."
_________

• No New York Trump trial on Monday due to COVID: AG

The Donald Trump fraud trial won't happen on Monday because there is a "COVID issue," according to New York Attorney General Letitia James' office.

While details are unclear about the specific issue, it isn't targeting the Trump trial specifically, but the entire New York courthouse, where all cases will be paused on Monday. Typically, when there are infections in a given space the area is treated and disinfected.

Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen is scheduled to testify on Tuesday by Alina Habba, so it's unclear if that will be delayed as a result of the virus exposure. If so, it will mean Cohen will testify on Wednesday.

Going to be hard for the orange turd to beat this one!

Donald Trump compared himself to Nelson Mandela as he addressed his legal issues in a speech at his latest campaign rally.
The former US president likened himself to the anti-apartheid activist on Monday as he claimed he is being targeted by federal and state prosecutors because of his politics.

Donald Trump compares himself to Nelson Mandela as he rallies against criminal charges | US News | Sky News

Yet another one of Team Crazy pled guilty...dear Jenna Ellis. When Rudy does the same thing Fani will have a collector's set.

Jenna Ellis: Former Trump campaign lawyer pleads guilty in Georgia case | CNN Politics

Originally Posted by Topper

Yet another one of Team Crazy pled guilty.

Another deal struck.

You'll walk if you snitch or lie

Corrupt much ?

Originally Posted by Topper

Yet another one of Team Crazy pled guilty...dear Jenna Ellis. When Rudy does the same thing Fani will have a collector's set.

Jenna Ellis: Former Trump campaign lawyer pleads guilty in Georgia case | CNN Politics

These first few are getting sweetheart deals. No jail time.

Soon Willis and team will have enough flippers and have rock solid cases against the rest. The slow defendants will get jail time.

trump is so screwed