On Tuesday, a Manhattan judge ruled that former President Donald Trump committed fraud by exaggerating his wealth.
As a result of the ruling, the judge canceled the former president’s New York business licenses. That could hinder his longtime company’s ability to operate in the Empire State.
In a 35-page-ruling, Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron sided with New York Attorney General Letitia James. The attorney argued that Trump made several indisputably false statements in business documents to secure favorable terms with banks. For example, she said that Trump claimed Trump Tower was 30,000 square feet when it was in fact closer to 11,000 feet. You can do the math. That claim is nearly triple the actual size.
“A discrepancy of this order of magnitude, by a real estate developer sizing up his own living space of decades, can only be considered fraud,” Engoron wrote.
Trump responded as he usually does. He went to Truth Social where he posted, “The widespread attack against me, my family, and my supporters has devolved to new, un-American depths, at the hands of a DERANGED New York State Judge, doing the bidding of a completely biased and corrupt “Prosecutor,” Letitia James.”
According to Trump’s attorney, he plans to appeal the ruling.
“Today’s outrageous decision is completely disconnected from the facts and governing law,” Christopher Kise, a lawyer for Trump, said in a statement. “President Trump and his family will seek all available appellate remedies to rectify this miscarriage of justice.”
The goal of this lawsuit is to get Trump out of New York. They want to make him pay the state millions, halt his ability to run businesses in New York, and prevent him from buying commercial property for the next several years.
James, in a statement, said she looks forward to presenting the rest of her case at trial.
Trump spokeswoman Alina Habba called the ruling “fundamentally flawed at every level” and “an affront to our legal system.”
“We intend to immediately appeal this decision because President Trump and his family, like every American business owner, is entitled to their day in court,” she said in a statement.
To hear Tony Katz’s thoughts on the ruling, click the link below.
