A New York court found the Trump organization guilty of fraud, which could cost him and his family $355 million. This is a major blow to Trump and his campaign, as he needs all the cash he can get to continue his campaign.
The trial stemmed from a politically motivated takedown. The NY Attorney General asserted that Trump had manipulated his net worth for his benefit. Trump’s legal team relied on a bench trial, knowing that a New York jury would be highly hostile to it. The NY Times says:
A New York judge on Friday handed Donald J. Trump a crushing defeat in his civil fraud case, finding the former president liable for conspiring to manipulate his net worth and ordering him to pay a penalty of nearly $355 million plus interest that could wipe out his entire stockpile of cash.
The decision by Justice Arthur F. Engoroncaps a chaotic, yearslong case in which New York’s attorney general put Mr. Trump’s fantastical claims of wealth on trial. With no jury, the power was in Justice Engoron’s hands alone, and he came down hard: The judge delivered a sweeping array of punishments that threatens the former president’s business empire as he simultaneously contends with four criminal prosecutions and seeks to regain the White House.
The judgement could have a serious impact on New York’s business culture as well. Legal experts are predicting that this could cause a flood of businesses to leave New York to go South and West. Due to New York’s highly charged Blue politics, businesses who cross woke orthodoxy could be in the crosshairs of rabid juries and judges. Fox News says:
Legal experts analyzed what they called “breathtaking” civil penalties against former President Donald Trump, Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump, former Trump Organization Comptroller Jeffrey McConney and ex-CFO Allen Weisselberg – warning other corporations based in the Empire State may realize they could suddenly be put out of business by the state on a political whim.
“You just say goodbye to New York, which fits a pattern that many successful people have been doing and leaving New York because New York is just too political, too blue and too punitive – you’re seeing that in the business community and among upper income New Yorkers already,” he said – adding the state’s crime wave accentuates the issue.
Donald Trump still has to contend with Federal, New York, and Georgia cases. If he manages to win the presidency despite this, it would solidify his legitimacy and open the way for a counterattack against his political enemies.
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