Dem
51
GOP
49
Also in Trump legal news, the case NY AG Letitia James brought against the Trump Organization for manipulating property values to get better deals from banks has concluded. All the witnesses have been heard and all the evidence has been presented. There were 40 witnesses and it took 10 weeks, with plenty of fireworks, but now it is history.
A lot of the trial was very technical, involving spreadsheets, accounting rules, property appraisal rules, and loan underwriting. There were photos of Trump's properties, drone videos of them, and then pages of details with accounting rules and how Trump violated them. In the end, the case hinges on whether Trump violated the accounting rules and evaluated his properties in ways that are not allowed. For example, Trump claimed that his Trump Tower penthouse was 30,000 square feet when it is actually only 10,000 square feet. Then he assigned it a value three times what it is really worth. Additionally, he valued Mar-a-Lago at $612 million based on its sale as a private home. However, an agreement he signed with the Palm Beach town council in 2002 specifically stated that the property could only be operated as a club and could not be sold as a private home.
For some obscure reason, the judge didn't want to hear closing arguments this week. He postponed them until Jan. 11. Maybe he just can't bear to hear all of Trump's lies again. For whatever reason, each side will get a month to prepare the summary of its case. Once he has heard the closing arguments, the judge will thank the lawyers, then go off and scratch his head and write his opinion. He said he expects to have it done by the end of January. There is no jury in this case, just judge Arthur Engoron.
This means that Trump will hear the decisions of not one, but two civil cases in January. Both could be very expensive. The E. Jean Carroll case could cost him tens of millions of dollars. The Letitia James case could cost him hundreds of millions of dollars. He could try to appeal both of them, but winning an appeal usually hinges on showing that the judge made a serious mistake. Both of the judges are aware that they are under a massive spotlight and are being super careful about playing everything by the book.
Will two adverse judgments have a political effect? Our guess is not much, maybe a small one at most. These are both civil cases, so Trump will not go to prison, no matter what the jury and judge decide. The cases are just about how much money he owes. We don't think they will move the needle much the way a criminal conviction would. On the other hand, if Engoron fines Trump $500 million and the Carroll jury awards her $50 million, Trump will be hopping mad. Engoron could also rule that Trump is forbidden from operating a business in New York State. That would necessitate the judge hiring a receiver to sell Trump Tower and his other NYS properties, something Trump really, really, does not want. He loves money more than Scrooge McDuck does. Adverse rulings will put him in a very bad mood, just as the primaries are getting going. The rulings might cause him to lose control and say things that alienate some voters. Trump is not very good at controlling himself. (V)