Trump Organization, in a surprise ruling, is found liable for fraud: In a catastrophic ruling for the former president and his company, a New York judge found Donald Trump, his two oldest sons and his company liable and canceled their business certification.
Donald Trump Hit Hard In Latest Legal Setback
Following a shocking ruling by a judge in New York on Tuesday, the Trump Organization has been stripped of its business certification, along with Donald Trump himself and his two oldest sons.
According to CNBC, Judge Arthur Engoron ruled that Donald Trump has artificially inflated the value of his properties by billions of dollars, and announced that a receiver will be appointed to “manage the dissolution of the corporate entities whose business certificates he canceled,” CNBC said.
The ruling came as a result of the lawsuit against Trump and the Trump Organization by New York Attorney General Letitia James. James had sought partial summary judgment in the case, which was scheduled to go to trial next week. That trial will continue, on issues in the case not related to Tuesday’s ruling, and while also determining how large the penalties will be for the organization, if there are such penalties.
It was a court setback unrelated to any of the four cases in which Donald Trump is facing criminal indictment. The New York attorney general had filed the lawsuit last year. The judge had “slapped down” Trump’s attorneys earlier this month, and they were issued sanctions as part of Tuesday’s ruling.
“In defendants’ world: rent regulated apartments are worth the same as unregulated apartments; restricted land is worth the same as unrestricted land; restrictions can evaporate into thin air; a disclaimer by one party casting responsibility on another party exonerates the other party’s lies,” the judge wrote in his ruling this week. “That is a fantasy world, not the real world.”
The judge also found that Trump had inflated the values of specific assets, including his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
“Time and time again, the Court is not comparing one appraisal to another; it is comparing an independent professional appraisal to a pie-in-the-sky dream of concocted potential,” the ruling says.
In a post Tuesday night on both X and Truth Social, Eric Trump disputed the judge’s ruling about the value of the Mar-a-Lago estate.
“In an attempt to destroy my father, a Judge in New York just ruled that Mar-a-Lago, in Palm Beach Florida (seen below) is worth approximate “$18 Million dollars” (Mar-a-Lago is speculated to be worth over a billion making it arguably the most valuable residential property in the country),” the former president’s son said. “It is all so coordinated and corrupt.”
The former president himself also reacted predictably negatively.
“Today’s Ruling about a Company that has done a magnificent job for New York State fails to acknowledge the fact that Murder and all other forms of Violent Crime have reached record levels in New York State,” the former president said on Truth Social.
“Can you imagine ruling against me for having done business perfectly, and yet letting people go on a rampage on the sidewalks of New York? This is the Judicial conduct that is forcing thousands of companies to flee New York for other environs, while virtually nobody comes back to the City or State. A very sad Day for the New York State System of Justice!”
Trump spent most of the rest of the night posting positive poll results for himself, including several which show him leading in New Hampshire.
The former president will not be participating in Wednesday night’s presidential debate in California, opting instead to go to Michigan and address auto workers. And while President Biden appeared at a picket line Tuesday to show solidarity with striking workers, Trump on Wednesday will speak at a nonunion auto parts supplier, where the audience will consist of “several hundred current and former UAW members,” the AP said.
Donald Trump won Michigan in the 2016 election, but lost the state to Biden in 2020.
Author Expertise and Experience
Stephen Silver is a Senior Editor for 19FortyFive. He is an award-winning journalist, essayist and film critic, who is also a contributor to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Broad Street Review and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. Stephen has authored thousands of articles over the years that focus on politics, technology, and the economy for over a decade.
