Thread: Legal Charges Against Trump

Real estate firm turns in documents in Trump civil probe

A commercial real estate firm said Monday that it has turned over some 36,000 documents on its appraisal of Trump Organization properties to the New York Attorney General's office.

Driving the news: Cushman & Wakefield was held in contempt last month and ordered to pay $10,000 a day after it failed to turn over documents subpoenaed by Attorney General Letitia James in an investigation into former President Trump's business.

• The attorney general's office said it discovered "serious problems" with some of Cushman & Wakefield appraisals for the Trump Organization, including for 40 Wall Street, his Seven Springs property in New York, and his Los Angeles golf club, according to NBC News, which first reported the story.

What they're saying: "Cushman has fully responded to the OAG subpoena that was recently at issue, and Cushman is pleased that OAG has fulfilled our agreement by asking the Court to dissolve its previous Contempt Order," a company spokesperson said in an email to Axios on Monday.

• "Standing by the work of our appraisers, Cushman has gone to great expense and effort to identify, collect, review and produce the massive set of documents requested by the OAG," the statement reads. "We will continue to work in good faith with the OAG.”
• In a letter to the judge last Friday, AG James wrote that it had received the documents. The attorney general requested the court "dissolve the Contempt Order and hold any contempt purged, without any fines due or owing."

The big picture: New York Attorney General Letitia James has been investigating Trump's business practices for over three years.

• Trump was held in contempt of court in April and was fined $10,000 each day he refused to turn over documents, as required by another subpoena issued by James' office. That order was lifted in late June.
• Representatives for the attorney general's office and the Trump Organization did not immediately respond to Axios' requests for comment.

https://www.axios.com/2022/08/09/tru...robe-documents

I said this before he even got elected:

If they prove he has overvalued properties to obtain loans, and undervalued them to avoid paying tax, he's going to prison for fraud.

Having to be pardoned by Biden would be the biggest smack in the face this wanker could get, although personally I'd let him shit a few bricks in prison for a while first.

Originally Posted by baldrick

He agreed to testify

Going to be funny as fcuk

I missed that. In the land fraud case though right?
I saw some footage of him answering questions in a deposition about something years ago (I think maybe the Trump umiversity fraud or some other scam he was involved in).
He was really beligerent and his whole body language roared "who do you think you are to question me". It was very satisfying.
Not the Jan 6 committee.

Originally Posted by nidhogg

I have to think that for the FBI to get and carry out a search warrant on Trumps home, they gotta have a great big fat smoking gun in their sights. It has to be way more than a simple failure to return documents to the National Archive, whichever document they are after has to be a doozy.

Not just the FBI, a judge had to agree also.

"So there are five people taking the Fifth Amendment, like you see on the mob, right? You see the mob takes the Fifth. If you're innocent, why are you taking the Fifth Amendment?"
Trump told the crowd at an Iowa rally in September 2016.



Trump Says He Invoked Fifth During Testimony In Civil Investigation

Donald Trump says he invoked the Fifth Amendment and wouldn’t answer questions under oath in the long-running New York civil investigation into his business dealings.

Trump arrived at New York Attorney General Letitia James’ offices Wednesday morning, but sent out a statement more than an hour later saying he declined to answer the questions under the rights and privileges afforded to every citizen under the United States Constitution.”


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Edit.

What Trump's pleading the Fifth means for New York AG Tish James

• Garland says he “personally approved” search warrant at Trump’s residence

Attorney General Merrick Garland said Thursday that the Department of Justice is filing a motion to unseal parts of the search warrant for former President Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence.

Driving the news: Garland also said that he "personally approved the decision to seek a search warrant in this matter."

"The department does not take such a decision lightly. Where possible, it is standard practice to seek less intrusive means as an alternative to a search and to narrowly scope any search that is undertaken," Garland said.

The big picture: The FBI on Monday searched Trump's Florida residence in what is likely related to documents Trump took from the White House that may have been classified, two sources familiar with the matter told Axios' Jonathan Swan.

When a search warrant is requested for a major figure, such as a former president, "it goes through a long review process," Gene Rossi, a former federal prosecutor, previously told Axios.

Details: "Both the warrant and the FBI property receipt were provided on the day of the search to the former president's counsel, who was on site during the search," Garland said.

The Justice Department has moved to unseal the search warrant signed and approved by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida on Aug. 5, "including Attachments A and B" and "the redacted Property Receipt listing items seized pursuant to the search, filed with the Court on August 11, 2022."

"In these circumstances involving a search of the residence of a former President, the government hereby requests that the Court unseal the Notice of Filing and its attachment (Docket Entry 17), absent objection by former President Trump," the filing states.
State of play: Garland also addressed "unfounded attacks on the Justice Department agents and prosecutors" in the aftermath of the search.

"I will not stand by silently when their integrity is unfairly attacked. The men and women of the FBI and the Justice Department are dedicated patriotic public servants every day."

"Every day they protect the American people from violent crime, terrorism and other threats to their safety, while safeguarding our civil rights."

"They do so at great personal sacrifice and risk to themselves. I am honored to work alongside them," he said.

Trump said in a Truth Social post Thursday after Garland's press conference that Mar-a-Lago was raided "out of nowhere and with no warning" by "very large numbers of agents." He claimed he and his representatives had been cooperating fully.

" The government could have had whatever they wanted, if we had it," he said.

"They got way ahead of themselves," he added.

Between the lines: Hours before Garland's remarks, an armed person tried to break into the FBI building in Cincinnati, leading to a lockdown in the nearby area.

What he's saying: "Faithful adherence to the rule of law is the bedrock principle of the Justice Department and of our democracy. Upholding the rule of law means applying the law evenly, without fear or favor," Garland said.

"Much of our work is by necessity conducted out of the public eye. We do that to protect the Constitutional rights of all Americans and to protect the integrity of our investigations."

https://s3.documentcloud.org/documen...17854180_3.pdf

• Garland delivers remarks after FBI search at Mar-a-Lago

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Edit.

• "Top Secret" documents are recovered from Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence

Last month, the National Archives, the government agency that manages presidential records, noticed that documents were missing from the Trump presidential archives. They found 15 boxes of documents at the former president's Mar-a-Lago home. According to The Washington Post, some of them were clearly marked as classified, including some that were top secret. So should the Department of Justice be investigating? Let's ask.

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• Trump took 'top secret' documents to Mar-a-Lago, Washington Post reports

Former President Donald Trump took documents that were clearly marked as "top secret" with him to his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, The Washington Post reported Thursday, citing two unnamed sources.

"Top Secret" is the highest level of classification, referring to material that could harm national security if released.

According to The Post, the documents were found by the National Archives, which stores and preserves presidential records.

The revelation comes after The New York Times reported earlier on Thursday that National Archives officials had uncovered suspected classified material among 15 boxes of letters and other documents that had been taken from the White House to his Florida compound when he left office in January 2021. https://www.businessinsider.com/trum...go-wapo-2022-2

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2nd Edit

• FBI searched Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence for classified nuclear documents

The FBI sought to locate classified documents related to nuclear weapons, among other items, when agents searched former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, this week, people familiar with the investigation told The Washington Post.

The people did not offer additional details to the Post about what the agents were seeking or whether any documents were recovered. https://edition.cnn.com/2022/08/11/p...nts/index.html