The Tiny Scandals and Trials

[ponchi101]

No.
It is "Oh, (expletive) FINALLY".
So tempted to override our banned words list.
(No, I won't).

[Owendonovan]

I'm wondering what medication will get me through his trials and an election year at the same time? This case seemed pretty open and shut as it's basically just numbers. I hope jury pools aren't too hard to come by, I can't imagine a trump lawyer agreeing to any juror outside of maga. I suppose a judges patience will determine that.

[skatingfan]

I'm wondering what medication will get me through his trials and an election year at the same time? This case seemed pretty open and shut as it's basically just numbers. I hope jury pools aren't too hard to come by, I can't imagine a trump lawyer agreeing to any juror outside of maga. I suppose a judges patience will determine that.

Sleeping pills?

[ti-amie]

Trump tells court he had no duty to 'support' the Constitution as president
Matthew Chapman
October 11, 2023 5:25PM ET

Former President Donald Trump is arguing to a judge in Colorado that he was not required to "support" the Constitution as president, reported Brandi Buchman from Law & Crime.

The argument came as he seeks to dismiss a lawsuit filed in the state by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), seeking to have him disqualified from the ballot in the state under the 14th Amendment. The Insurrection Clause of the amendment prohibits those who have "engaged in insurrection" against the United States from holding a civil, military, or elected office without unless a two-thirds majority of the House and Senate approve.

But Trump's lawyers are arguing that the specific language of the Constitution argues that this requirement only applies to people in offices who are bound to "support" the Constitution — and the presidency is not one of those offices.

"The Presidential oath, which the framers of the Fourteenth Amendment surely knew, requires the President to swear to 'preserve, protect and defend' the Constitution — not to 'support' the Constitution," said the filing by Trump's attorneys. "Because the framers chose to define the group of people subject to Section Three by an oath to 'support' the Constitution of the United States, and not by an oath to 'preserve, protect and defend' the Constitution, the framers of the Fourteenth Amendment never intended for it to apply to the President."

The former president has already tried to remove the 14th Amendment case to federal court, but this motion was denied.

Other lawsuits are trying to disqualify Trump on the same grounds in other states, including Minnesota. However, these cases face obstacles, chiefly that the 14th Amendment doesn't lay out a clear enforcement mechanism, according to experts.

https://www.rawstory.com/trump-wont-sup ... stitution/

[ponchi101]

There is no floor for these people.

[ti-amie]

This is...I don't know why people put themselves at risk for a sociopath/psychopath who doesn't give a rat's patootie about them.

Ex-Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg’s Testimony Abruptly Ended After Forbes Story Accused Him of Perjury
A source close to New York Attorney General Letitia James confirmed that her office is looking into the latest report about the former Trump CFO's testimony
Published 10/12/23 04:41 PM ET|Updated 21 hr ago
Adam Klasfeld

The Trump Organization’s former chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg’s testimony reached an abrupt and unexpected end on Thursday afternoon, just hours after Forbes magazine accused the convicted tax cheat of perjuring himself during an earlier stint as a witness.

Weisselberg insisted on Tuesday from the witness stand that he “never focused” on calculating the square footage of the former president’s Trump Tower triplex, a three-floor penthouse in his namesake skyscraper.

Two days later, on Thursday, Forbes reported that emails not currently in the attorney general’s possession show otherwise.

A source close to New York Attorney General Letitia James confirmed that her office is looking into the latest Forbes report.

Hours after the publication of that story, Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron convened a sidebar with attorneys for the state and defense, but the subject of their private huddle remains unknown. Weisselberg was excused for the day shortly after that conversation, as attorneys for both sides reserved the right to call him back.

Former Trump Organization Executive Allen Weisselberg sits in the courtroom during the civil fraud trial of former President Donald Trump at New York State Supreme Court on Oct. 10, 2023 in New York City.Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
On Tuesday, Weisselberg kept trying to distance himself from Trump’s false computation of his triplex at 30,000 square feet instead of 10,996 square feet, repeatedly claiming “never” to have focused on the topic.

https://themessenger.com/politics/allen ... es-perjury

[ti-amie]

The original story from Forbes.

Trump’s Longtime CFO Lied, Under Oath, About Trump Tower Penthouse
Dan Alexander
Forbes Staff
Senior editor at Forbes, covering Donald Trump's business.

In trying to distance himself from Donald Trump’s false financial statements, Allen Weisselberg kept lying.
Allen Weisselberg, the longtime chief financial officer of the Trump Organization, lied in sworn testimony on Tuesday when questioned about Donald Trump’s penthouse atop Trump Tower.

Weisselberg was on the stand as part of a $250 million lawsuit that the New York attorney general is waging against Trump and his associates, including Weisselberg, accusing them of lying about Trump’s net worth to financial institutions. To arrive at inflated figures, the Trump Organization used demonstrably incorrect facts, such as valuing Trump’s penthouse as if it contained 30,000 square feet, when it in fact consisted of 10,996.

Under questioning, Weisselberg acknowledged that the 30,000-square-foot figure was wrong. He tried to suggest, however, that he had little to do with the bogus calculation, batting away a series of questions about the financial documents and discussions with Forbes, which has been valuing Trump’s fortune since 1982. “I never focused on the triplex, to be honest with you,” Weisselberg said. “It was almost de minimis relative to his net worth, so I really didn’t focus on it.”

He repeated similar lines as his testimony continued. “I never focused on the apartment Mr. Trump owned,” he said at one point. At another: “I didn’t correlate the square footage of Donald’s apartment. I never focused on it. It was always in my mind a de minimis asset of the overall of Donald J. Trump’s statement of financial condition. That was never a concern of mine. I never even thought about the apartment. It was de minimis in my mind.”

But that’s not true. A review of old emails and notes, some of which the attorney general’s office does not possess, show that Weisselberg absolutely thought about Trump’s apartment—and played a key role in trying to convince Forbes over the course of several years that it was worth more than it really was. Given the fact that these discussions continued for years, and that Weisselberg took a very detailed approach in reviewing Trump’s assets with Forbes, it defies all logic to think he truly believes what he is now saying in court.

The saga started in 2009, on a relatively friendly note. Forbes had been valuing Trump’s fortune for decades at that point, though some of his smaller assets remained absent from the overall calculation. Weisselberg and Trump summoned a Forbes reporter to a meeting, according to the reporter’s notes. The reporter was hesitant to add Trump’s personal home to the valuation, something Trump and his underlings seemed to be okay with at the time. “They understand if we don’t want to include the penthouse at Trump Tower,” the reporter noted.

Three years later, in 2012, a different reporter wrote, “Allen asked why we count large private estates for other billionaires and not Trump. He said we should be including his NY penthouse. He thinks it’s worth more [than] $88m.” Weisselberg had a point. The penthouse wasn’t worth $88 million, but it was worth something. The reporter added it to the calculation with an estimated $64 million valuation.

Weisselberg kept pushing. The next year, a reporter explained, “Now Allen says it’s worth $200M, and there’s no debt.” Believing the penthouse was nearly 30,000 square feet, the figure that the Trump Organization would eventually claim on its internal documents, the reporter decided to bump up the estimate to $90 million.

A year later, in 2014, Weisselberg once again weighed in on the value. “Now Allen says it’s $163m with 0 debt,” a reporter wrote in her notes. “He is sending us sales records for One57”—a luxury apartment building nearby, which Trump’s financial statements also referenced—“and then applying a per-square-foot rate, based on 30k sf.”

The reporter opted to leave the valuation at $90 million in her calculation and sent a summary of her estimates to Weisselberg and his deputy, Jeff McConney. Weisselberg then set up a phone call, which was followed by an email exchange, titled “Mr. Trump’s penthouse.” “Hi Jeff, Allen— I just wanted to let you know that I was not able to bump up the value of Mr. Trump’s penthouse this time. While I understand your point that it may indeed sell for more than $90 million due to its large square footage, this is still an untested market. Since no apartment in New York is known to have sold for more than that sum to date, we’re not comfortable upping the number at this time.” Weisselberg replied at 5:02 p.m. on a September Friday, delving into the weeds on the penthouse. “Thank you for the response, but keep in mind that his apartment is a triplex which consists of 6 apartments.”

In 2015, Trump hosted three Forbes journalists inside Trump Tower, with Weisselberg by his side. “This is the entire floor of Trump Tower, just so you know,” Trump said, showing off his penthouse. “Now, this wraps all around the building. All around the elevators. And I have three times three. So there’s like 11,000 feet on a floor. So I have three. So 33,000—and I have the roof.”

The next year, Forbes uncovered property records that showed that the penthouse was only 10,996 square feet, not 30,000 square feet or 33,000 square feet. Reporters reached out to Weisselberg and others at the Trump Organization to ask about the discrepancy, emails that are now being used as evidence in the case.

Even after receiving those messages, the Trump Organization apparently continued to value the penthouse on its documents as if it had 30,000 square feet. It wasn’t until after Forbes published a story in May 2017, exposing the lie publicly, that the Trump Organization seemed to change its internal documents, reducing the square footage to 10,996.

Weisselberg was demoted from his role as CFO after he was criminally charged in a separate tax case in 2021. He remained with the Trump Organization until January, when he was sentenced to five months in jail as the result of the other case, which also implicated the Trump Organization. Weisselberg signed a separation agreement with the firm that month, which promises to pay him $2 million over two years, if he complies with his obligations under the agreement.

An attorney for Weisselberg did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Weisselberg is expected to retake the stand in the attorney general’s case to continue his testimony in the coming days.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/danalexand ... penthouse/

[ti-amie]

I guess the accommodations at Riker's are not as bad as they're said to be.

[ti-amie]

[ti-amie]

Adam Klasfeld @KlasfeldReports

The next witness is up now in People v. Trump:
Jack Weisselberg, who is Allen Weisselberg's son and a director at Ladder Capital, takes the stand in the civil fraud case.

The AG's counsel Colleen Faherty leads the direct examination.

The NYAG has the witness run down lingo regarding fixed-rate loans, asking the witness to describe "pooling" loans, senior tranche, junior tranches, and other such terms.

The testimony so far has been setting the stage for the facts at issue.

NYAG pivots to the evidence:

Email from Allen to Jack Weisselberg on Oct. 19, 2011

"As discussed we are looking for a forward commitment in the amount of $65 mil., and a term of ten years to take effect in August 2012. Thanks talk to you soon."

Subject line for the email:

"TTCOML Oct 2011 RENT ROLL FIVE YEAR PROJECTION"

Jack Weisselberg says TTCOML is short for "Trump Tower commercial loan," one that was ultimately effectuated.

Just so the significance isn't lost on anyone:

This email appears to show the father (on the borrowing side) engaging directly with his son (on the lending side) on a 10-year, $65M loan.

Here's the body of another email from Allen to Jack Weisselberg from Oct. 20, 2011.



Chris Kise (TFG lawyer) raises a series of statute of limitations objections, overruled by the judge in that the state is allowed to show a pattern or practice.

Trump, visibly displeased even sitting behind him, crosses his arms tightly and shakes his head.

A reply:

Larry Frank @tdbt71

The savings and loan scandal repeat - borrowing from yourself to fund yourself

[ti-amie]

Lisa Rubin
@lawofruby
I am headed back to the office after yet another long day in court that ended with a bang, not a whimper. But what was today’s latest skirmish about Judge Engoron’s principal law clerk really about? Controlling what we, the media, say and write tonight—and depriving the AG’s team of a major dunk on Eric Trump. 1/

Let me explain. Andy Amer of the AG’s office was focused on a 2021 conference call about Trump’s statement of financial condition that one participant, Patrick Birney, testified was convened to apprise Don Jr. and Eric of a change in the valuation methodology for their golf courses. 2/

Despite Eric’s agreeing that he likes Birney very much and his inability to refute Birney’s testimony, nothing Amer showed Eric shored up any recollection of the call whatsoever. 3/

That call, however, was not only just over 2 years ago, but as Amer pointed out, took place well after the AG’s investigation was underway and nearly two years after Eric Trump gave his first of two depositions related to this case. 4/

At that first, October 2020 deposition, Eric Trump took the Fifth more than 500 times, a fact that the attorney general highlighted in a Jan. 2022 court filing. 5/

And that’s where Amer was headed. He was going to show that especially once Eric perceived that he was at sufficient risk that he had to plead the Fifth hundreds of times in fall 2020, his lack of recollections as to how they handled later statements of financial condition (and related valuation changes) was not credible. 6/

That’s likely where we would have ended the day but for vociferous objections from Cliff Robert & then Chris Kise, who, in supposedly trying to shut down that line of questions sideswiped the judge’s principal law clerk. 7/

Predictably, that enraged the usually droll Engoron, and we were off to the races about a potential expansion of the gag order, the legitimacy of the notes the judge and his clerk exchange, and whether Kise’s First Amendment rights trump (no pun intended) the clerk’s right to safety. 8/

Lawyers joke if the law’s not on your side, argue the facts. If the facts aren’t on your side, argue the law. And if you’ve got neither, pound the table and yell. That’s what happened today with the added factor that Trump’s team timed their outrage to strip the AG’s team of a last, devastating word today.

Don’t buy it. As Amer himself said with a grin, today was a great day for the AG’s team, even if Don Jr.’s joviality and Eric’s stinginess disguised that at times. More on why later…. FIN.

[ti-amie]

Judge Gags Trump’s Lawyers From Statements About Communications With Staff, Threatening ‘Serious Sanctions’
The judge said "hundreds of harassing and threatening phone calls, voicemails, emails, letters, and packages" poured into chambers since trial began
Published 11/03/23 03:14 PM ET|Updated 6 min ago
Adam Klasfeld

AManhattan judge expanded his gag order against former President Donald Trump on Friday to bar his lawyers from mentioning his "confidential communications" between him and his staff.

"Failure to abide by this directive shall result in serious sanctions," New York County Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron warned in a three-page ruling.

Engoron justified his order on his efforts to keep his staff from violent harm. Judges and prosecutors whom Trump have criticized have received death threats in the past, including U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.

"The threat of, and actual, violence resulting from heated political rhetoric is well-documented," Engoron wrote. "Since the commencement of this bench trial, my chambers have been inundated with hundreds of harassing and threatening phone calls, voicemails, emails, letters, and packages. The First Amendment right of defendants and their attorneys to comment on my staff is far and away outweighed by the need to protect them from threats and physical harm."

On Oct. 3, 2023, Engoron imposed a gag order narrowly barring Trump from making statements about his staff after he smeared the judge's law clerk on Truth Social, baselessly accusing her of having an affair with Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. The judge ordered Trump to delete the "untrue" and "disparaging" post, then gagged him later in the day. The narrow order did not prevent Trump from making any statements about the judge or New York Attorney General Letitia James, who brought the lawsuit threatening the former president's business empire.

"As I have made clear, as the Judge in this case and the trier of fact, the gag order does not apply to me," Engoron wrote. "However, I will not tolerate, under any circumstances, remarks about my court staff."

Trump has attacked both the judge and the attorney general via social media repeatedly since that time, without violating the terms of the gag order.

https://themessenger.com/politics/judge ... -sanctions

[Owendonovan]

It's as though they're asking to be jailed so they can call themselves martyrs and use it politically, though not quite understanding martyrdom requires your death.

[ti-amie]

I love that Judge Engoron wrote this is plain English not legalese in response to Tiny's lawyers request for a mistrial pretty much because the Judge is being mean to them.
TL;dr




https://iapps.courts.state.ny.us/fbem/D ... ystem=prod

[ti-amie]

Frank G. Runyeon
@frankrunyeon

NEW: Death threats & antisemitic rants "inundated" Justice Engoron & his law clerk after Donald Trump attacked them on social media, says top NY court security official, citing 275 transcribed pages.

The threats are "serious and credible and not hypothetical or speculative."



"You should be assassinated," one threat reads.

A NY court security official links Donald Trump's statements to the threats.

"When Mr. Trump violated the gag orders, the number of threatening, harassing and disparaging messages increased," Capt. Hollon said.



The information was filed today as part of Justice Engoron's opposition to Trump's motion to lift the gag orders. The judge argued they were necessary for the safety of this staff.

This affidavit by court security is meant to support that position.

"Although Mr. Trump did not directly threaten Ms. Greenfield, the comments made in his post resulted in hundreds of threatening and harassing voicemail messages that have been transcribed into over 275 single spaced pages."


https://www.law360.com/articles/1769677