Politico: Trump Made N.Y. Attorney General's Fraud Case Virtually Unbeatable

[brooklynite]

The attorney general’s lawsuit doesn’t contain damning emails or text messages, the kind that prosecutors typically rely on to prove a defendant’s intent. But that might not be necessary under the New York law that James cited which focuses on repeated acts of deception. (And given that his own accounting firm Mazars USA has said it won’t stand by the statements it prepared for a decade, it’s going to be hard for Trump to argue the valuations were proper.)

But perhaps the biggest reason James has such a winning hand is this: Trump dealt her the cards.

In early August he invoked the Fifth Amendment some 440 times during his deposition in this case. It was undoubtedly the right move for him to make because he faces criminal investigations in multiple jurisdictions, and his words, even though they are ostensibly about matters unrelated to election interference could nevertheless be useful to prosecutors seeking to demonstrate his capacity for deception. Prosecutors could also use his words to bring criminal charges based on the alleged scheme that James uncovered.

But taking the Fifth has severe consequences in this case. Unlike in a criminal case, in a civil proceeding like the suit brought by James, the jury will likely be instructed they can infer that when Trump took the Fifth, his answer would have been adverse to him. Trump’s repeated insistence that James’ politically motivated suit left him no choice will not withstand the effect of the jury inferring that Trump broke the law and has no good answer to the questions he was asked.

That essentially screws Trump and his family in this case. It is no coincidence that James put in her lawsuit that when Trump was asked whether he “had an ongoing agreement from at least 2005 to the present with Mr. Weisselberg, Mr. McConney and others to prepare the Statement of Financial Condition in a manner that included false and misleading valuation statements, Mr. Trump invoked his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination and refused to answer.”

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2022/09/22/trump-attorney-general-fraud-case-00058377

[live love laugh]

1. SWEET!

[Jarqui]

2. Beyond the NY Civil case and her request SDNY & the IRS look into the criminal aspects

Trump has properties in other jurisdictions. This has opened up tax queries there.

His creditors world wide are going to have their hands out.

He's going to have problem closing deals or making deals with this hanging over him.

[fescuerescue]

3. Glad to see that Fifth Amenedment protections are falling.

This was a bridge to far in the founding papers.

Hopefully we can get this treatment for criminal cases next.

Way to many crminals escape justice because of this loopholes.

And the number of innocent people it protexts is miniscule.