Why Donald Trump's mysterious $48 million loan matters

[LetMyPeopleVote]

While it could be evidence of a crime, it’s likely more important, for now, in the New York attorney general’s civil fraud trial, where a ruling is expected any day.

Link to tweet

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/trump-loan-millions-civil-fraud-trial-verdict-rcna136601

In her most recent report, as many have noted, she not only identified a variety of irregularities but also flagged something potentially more significant: the absence of any loan agreement memorializing what she understood to be a $48 million loan to Trump from Chicago Unit Acquisition, an entity affiliated with his Chicago building. That loan, which reportedly was made in 2012, seems to have been repeatedly included among Trump’s liabilities in his U.S. Office of Government Ethics-required financial disclosures in 2018, 2019, 2020 and just days before leaving office in 2021. Yet in her letter, Jones noted that in her recent discussions with the Trump Organization, the company “indicated that it has determined that this loan never existed.”

What’s more, Jones’ letter implies that Trump’s present-day disclosures to the Office of Government Ethics are similarly flawed. Indeed, a review of Trump’s 2023 personal financial disclosure report, which he filed as a presidential candidate in April of last year, reflects the loan as an existing liability, not an extinguished one. If the loan never existed, that means that Trump — while under a court-appointed monitorship — was lying to the federal government and misleading the monitor......

But if there never was any loan, the consequences could be significant — though not necessarily in the way others have suggested. Yes, if Trump received $48 million but never repaid it, that should have had tax consequences. But I am far more interested in how Engoron could be influenced by the discrepancies between how Trump has reported the loan and how he has documented it...

In requesting said relief, the attorney general’s office argued that the defendants not only have “a demonstrated history of creating and using false financial documents,” but also that their conduct is likely to recur without such measures. Why? Because, the AG’s office argues, Trump and the others’ unlawful financial conduct persisted throughout the attorney general’s investigation and even after the monitor’s appointment. That Jones has uncovered what could be even further evidence of fraud, as recently as last year, could be the cherry on top of the sundae that Engoron serves Trump.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

1. Trump is attacking the financial monitor overseeing the Trump Organization in the NY civil fraud trial

Link to tweet

[gab13by13]

2. The Guardian is saying

that Engoron may not decide until mid-February.

[Uncle Joe]

3. Kicked and recommended

Thanks for the thread LetMyPeopleVote