NY Appeals Court Skeptical of $454 Million Trump Verdict

The Donald may have a leg to stand on, after all.

By Liberty Nation Authors Sep 27, 2024 @ Liberty Nation News, Tags: Articles, Law, Opinion

 

A New York appeals court held a hearing yesterday, September 26, on the appeal of the $454 million civil fraud judgment imposed against Donald Trump. The former president’s appeal was greeted by a more receptive audience than the notoriously anti-Trump trial judge, Arthur Engoron.

As in all things legal, we turned to Legal Affairs Editor Scott D. Cosenza, Esq., to unpack the appeal.

Leesa K. Donner: Trump’s lawyers are arguing to have the civil fraud conviction overturned. Scott, based on what you heard from the hearing, do they have a chance?

Scott D. Cosenza: Better than just a chance. New York Attorney General Letitia James campaigned for office on a “get Trump” platform – and she has, for now. Mr. Trump has a few chances to appeal the massive penalty against him, both in state and – if it gets that far – federal court.

LKD: Weren’t Judge Arthur Engoron’s rulings and opinions always ripe for a challenge?

SDC: While I am not a New York attorney, many decisions and rulings in the case seemed to provide opportunities for reversal in the appellate courts.

LKD: Judge Peter Moulton asked: “How do you tether the amount that was assessed by the Supreme Court to the harm that was caused here where the parties left these transactions happy?” What, if anything, does this type of query suggest?

SDC: Judges are perplexed by the same thing that the common observer of the case is. How is it a fraud if there is no victim? Another assertion from the bench was that the state has never – not even one time – prosecuted a case like this, where no complaint was made and no one is claiming victim status. It’s interesting that the bench has delved so deeply into the matter, and before arguments to boot.

LKD: According to many legal experts, this civil fraud case appeared to be a stretch right from the jump. Why wasn’t Engoron able to see this, or did he see it and simply choose to ignore it?

SDC: Well, I can’t read minds. Orange Man Bad syndrome would be my guess.

LKD: A significant portion of the hearing was devoted to the valuation Mr. Trump attached to his various properties. However, the former president’s attorneys were able to shoot holes in this by saying he undervalued several of his holdings. Do you think their decision will hinge on this valuation issue?

Give Cable TV the Boot – Check This Out!

SDC: I think what’s more relevant is that Mr. Trump was dealing with New York and international banks relating to real estate in the state. They are the most sophisticated participants in the lending and real estate markets than one could contemplate. Trump is not accused of fleecing widows and orphans with shoddy shotgun shacks. Did he really “put one over” on these banks? The notion seems far-fetched.

LKD: If the judgment is vacated, what will be the takeaway for New York Attorney General Letitia James?

SDC: This is the intermediate appeals court. Almost certainly James would appeal the decision to the state’s highest court, which is not called the Supreme Court but the New York Court of Appeals.

LKD: When it comes down to the nitty gritty, do the justices’ questions – more often than not – indicate in which direction they might be heading?

SDC: Trump’s lawyer and his arguments seemed well received by many on the five-judge panel at Thursday’s hearing. Counsel for the attorney general’s office was challenged by the bench literally within the first two seconds of her argument. Appeals courts very rarely give advocates no space at all to state their case. That said, lawyers love to equivocate, and I’m no different, so I will hurry to add that questions at oral argument are often not revelatory of the judges’ opinions of an argument’s merits.

~

Liberty Nation does not endorse candidates, campaigns, or legislation, and this presentation is no endorsement.

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This Defines Each and Every One of America's Major Cities

By Rich Kozlovich

Mark Angelides in this article in Liberty Nation News, NY AG Letitia James Hit Hard by Reality, interviewed Liberty Nation’s legal affairs editor, Scott D. Cosenza, to examine this case’s future, saying:

Talk of seizing Trump's assets may have been wishful thinking.

This of course was regarding this outrageous trial conducted by these two corrupt and totally contemptible New York officials, Prosecutor Letitia James, and Judge Engoron.  She charged him with a crime that didn't happen, against a victim that didn't exist, showing no losses to anyone.  The judge made sure Trump was found guilty, and then fined him $454 million.  

Which seems to be a violation of the Constitution's Eighth Amendment against excessive fines.  This was done deliberately to make it financially impossible for him to appeal this ruling unless he deposited that amount as a bond with the state first.  Ultimately, the goal was to do everything they could to prevent Trump from becoming President.  As for the rest of New York's judiciary, this judicial corruption appears to be the consensus mentality in the New York "legal" system.  

But this is Donald Trump, and he's now gotten that amount seriously reduced to $175 million, which is still obscene, but also a lot of Judge Engoron's corrupt rulings have been sidelined also.  He will now meet this corrupt bond requirement, and will appeal, but as Brianna Lyman quotes Trump in her Federalist article, Trump’s Reduced Bond Doesn’t Make Letitia James’ Election-Meddling Lawfare Any Less Scandalous, saying:

“Judge Engoron has refused to obey the decision of the Appellate Division relative to the Statute of Limitations. This is a confrontation between a Judge and those that rule above him – A very bad situation in which to place New York State and the Rule of Law!".........“This is the 5th time in this case that he has been overturned, a record. His credibility, and that of Letitia James, has been shattered. We will abide by the decision of the Appellate Division, and post either a bond, equivalent securities, or cash,”...... “This also shows how ridiculous and outrageous Engoron’s original decision was at $450 million.”

In this Liberty Nation article the last question/statement Mark had for Scott is this:

It seems to me, Scott, that these efforts by James and even Judge Engoron have tainted New York City. A perusal of social media suggests that many people see it as a corrupt hellscape riddled with crime that goes unpunished and a legal class that would rather score political points than protect its citizens. In fact, the exodus of people indicates that even in New York, this is a widespread view. 

Scott's reply? 

 

In good conscience, I can’t imagine advising anyone to center their business or personal life in that jurisdiction. There is no party competition for leadership, with predictable results.

 

I will state categorically that question and analysis defines each and every major city run by Democrats in all of America today, and it will take decades for these cities to recover, if ever, as I don't think some will recover.  

 

Between these various cities administration's unwillingness to control crime, taxes, and regulations, businesses are going bankrupt or moving to safer cities, and even safer states, and so too are private individuals.  With the internet, more and more companies no longer need major cites in which to operate, and are leaving en masse. 

But make no mistake.  No matter how the appeal turns out, Trump is going to be President once again, and pay backs are the pits!  And in this case pay backs are absolutely necessary in order to end this lawfare nightmare being used to destroy political opponents because the financial requirements to fight all these false charges are so staggering it crushes them into submission.

 

This, at least in my mind, warrants a massive nationwide RICO investigation. Trump needs to appoint an Attorney General who has a mad dog in a meat market mentality, purge the corrupt DOJ and FBI people, and unrelentingly go after those responsible for all this corruption.  They've committed crimes, and they need to be put in jail to end this, and to make sure the Republic and the rule of law is to stand.   

 

Investors Escaping From ‘Loser’ New York After Trump Verdict

The Donald Trump case could cost New York bigly.

by Andrew Moran | Feb 22, 2024 @ Liberty Nation News Tags: Articles, Business News, Opinion

(Photo by Gary Hershorn/Getty Images)

New York Governor Kathy Hochul (D) recently delivered a message to businesses operating in the Big Apple: There is “nothing to worry about” because “they’re very different than Donald Trump and his behavior.” Her declaration came soon after the Republican front-runner was slapped with a $355 million fine and a ban on conducting business in New York for three years. But the businessmen and women of America’s financial capital are worried they could be the next target of the government’s wrath and hellfire.

Investors (Don’t) Heart New York

Celebrity investor Kevin O’Leary scolded “loser” New York and promised to no longer invest in the Empire State. Appearing in interviews with CNN and the Fox Business Network, O’Leary stated that he was “shocked” by the move and conceded that “I can’t even understand or fathom the decision at all. There’s no rationale for it.” He added: “It was already on the top of the list of being a loser state. I would never invest in New York now. And I’m not the only person saying that.”

Grant Cardone, a real estate investor and best-selling author, confirmed on X that his Cardone Capital team will “discontinue” investing in New York City real estate, citing the risk outweighing the opportunities. The political fallout will “deteriorate price and benefit states that don’t have challenges.” As a result, Cardone, like so many others before him, will be concentrating his efforts on Florida and Texas.

It isn’t just individual investors who fear they will be in the line of fire. Remington Arms, one of the oldest gun manufacturers in the country, announced it is departing from New York because of its “toxic business environment.” Experts say more organizations will likely announce similar exits in the coming months.

Of course, the giant sucking sound emanating from the streets of New York is nothing new. This past summer, Bloomberg reported that dozens of firms have been leaving the state along with $1 trillion in capital that is heading south to the Sunshine State and the Lone Star State. As the Shark Tank personality noted, New York is already an abysmal place for investors and companies, from high taxes to uncompetitive regulation. The Trump verdict might have been the straw that broke the camel’s back, especially considering that no party was defrauded in the case.

Don’t Forget Delaware

While all the focus is on New York, there is another place in the country that has seen the courts become infected with the woke mind virus and embrace progressive politics. Delaware, known as America’s corporate law capital, is going scorched earth on various individuals and entities. Most notably, a bull’s-eye was placed on billionaire CEO Elon Musk’s back. As Liberty Nation reported, a Delaware judge voided Musk’s 2018 $56 billion pay package at Tesla Motors. Despite shareholders agreeing to the arrangement and Musk hitting all targets ahead of time, the courts determined that the company’s board of directors failed to prove “that the compensation plan was fair.” This prompted him to poll his X followers and ask if he should modify Tesla’s incorporation to Texas. His audience concurred, and now Musk is working to achieve this aim.

Barry Diller (Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images for Semafor)

Others are attempting to change things in the First State. Billionaire Barry Diller is fighting Delaware by trying to reform how the courts scrutinize business transactions. Tripadvisor is seeking to reincorporate in Nevada amid the objection of minority shareholders. Match Group, the owner of Match and Tinder, is asking Delaware to diminish its inspection of transactions.

Delaware has largely enjoyed a monopoly in the world of corporate law and, as a result, possesses the power to examine dealings between publicly traded companies and shareholders harshly. Businesses often register in Delaware, which is home to an estimated two-thirds of Fortune 500 companies and 80% of initial public offerings (IPOs). Experts note that attorneys like the ease of functioning in one state due to the decades of precedence and specialized judges.

However, like New York, businesses are searching for alternatives – and several states are obliging. Texas is poised to launch a specialized business court in September, while Nevada has been working to slash litigation costs and provide better protections for executives. According to Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regulatory filings, Tripadvisor projects that relocating to Nevada would save the company approximately $250,000 per year in legal costs and taxes.

Deep in the Heart of Texas

Is Texas on track to become the nation’s new financial epicenter? It might not occur overnight, but the state is gradually chipping away at New York’s stranglehold on capital. While the Big Apple remains the chief urban center for finance, Dallas is ranked second – and the trend could persist.

A plethora of financial titans, from Bank of America to Wells Fargo, are investing significantly in the southern United States. Jamie Dimon, the head of the country’s largest bank, confirmed in March 2023 that JPMorgan Chase is expanding in Florida and Texas by opening new branches. “We now have more employees in Texas than in New York state,” Dimon told Bloomberg News. “It shouldn’t have been that way, but Texas loves you being there.”

Outside of banking, the list of big names planting new roots near the southern border is growing: Hewlett Packard, Oracle, Caterpillar, NRG Energy, Dropbox, and many more.

Escape From New York?

Indeed, Texas is quickly transforming into a state that offers more than energy. It is shifting into an oasis of all things, be it Big Tech or Big Finance. Does this mean New York will metastasize into a wasteland of progressivism? The big money is signaling that it does not want to wake up in a city that never sleeps because politicians, lawyers, and regulators are on a perpetual neo-McCarthyist hunt. Communism is no longer the question, but rather: “Are you now or have you ever been a part of the MAGA movement?”

 

Read More From Andrew Moran

The Stalinist New York Attorney General Scores A Big Win Against Trump (For Now)

February 20, 2024/ Francis Menton @Manhattan Contrarian 

Stalinist New York Attorney General Scores A Big Win Against Trump (For Now) Josef Stalin set the example for the world as the most ruthless practitioner of the art of using a thoroughly corrupt and subservient “justice system” to eliminate all political opposition. Many, many others have since followed Stalin’s lead. 

Current notable examples include the recent murder of Alexei Navalny in prison in Russia; Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido, who fled that country in late 2023 after his arrest was threatened by the Maduro regime; and Pakistan’s former Prime Minister and current opposition leader Imran Khan, convicted in January 2024 of “disclosing a state secret” and sentenced to 10 years in jail. Funny how the countries that engage in such practices virtually always have failed economies as well.

The United States has been remarkably free of such practices during its history. But we have seen a sudden complete reversal of that commendable history with the efforts of multiple political actors and prosecutors to use the courts to take down former President Trump. Readers here are likely familiar with the long list of such efforts, from the two federal Jack Smith criminal prosecutions, to the Fani Willis criminal prosecution in Georgia, to the Alvin Bragg criminal prosecution in Manhattan (supposedly for incorrectly recording the blackmail payment to Stormy Daniels in financial statements), to the many efforts to remove Trump from primary and general election ballots.

Of all the multitudinous “get Trump” efforts, the most proudly and nakedly Stalinist is the civil fraud case brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James. What distinguishes the James crusade from all the others, as political as those might be, is that the others all have had at least a pretext of investigating some known or suspected wrongdoing. With James, by contrast, from the start it has always been about finding some way, any way, to take out the man. James initially ran for AG in 2018 on a campaign explicitly promising to get Trump, who was President of the United States at the time. My first post covering James’s vendetta against Trump was on December 13, 2018, shortly after her first election victory and before she took office. That post quoted at length from an interview James had just given to NBC News. In her interview, James emphasized that her focus in office would be on somehow getting Trump, and she essentially conceded that she had no basis at the outset to believe that wrongdoing had occurred. A short excerpt:

"We will use every area of the law to investigate President Trump and his business transactions and that of his family as well," James, a Democrat, told NBC News in her first extensive interview since she was elected last month. James outlined some of the probes she intends to pursue with regard to the president, his businesses and his family members. They include: - Any potential illegalities involving Trump's real estate holdings in New York.

In other words, when the investigation began, James had no inkling of what, if any, wrongs might have been committed “involving Trump’s real estate holdings,” and no complaining party asking for redress.

I had a second post about the James jihad against Trump on September 21, 2022 — shortly before James was re-elected to a second four year term in November of that year. The September 2022 post was titled “A New Low For New York Attorney General Letitia James.” The occasion for the post was that James, now nearing the end of her first term, had finally announced the big Complaint against Trump that everyone had been waiting for. The Complaint listed some ten attorneys in the AG’s office as participating — a truly extraordinary investigatory team. My comments in that post have stood the test of time, so rather than re-writing them, I will quote a few of the more notable items:

• First, there are no criminal charges.
• [T]his is almost entirely about . . . alleged over-valuation of properties when preparing unaudited personal financial statements as part of getting loans.
• I can’t find any allegation that any of the loans in question has ever been in default or not paid on time. (Indeed, the proof at trial was that all of the loans were always paid on time.)
• [T]here is no one claiming harm.
• [H]ow much equity was there? The Complaint doesn’t say. If there’s lots of equity to spare, then various overvaluations are just so much meaningless puffery, and likely would be immediately obvious to a reader with any sophistication.
• I have no doubt that Trump gave some ridiculously high values for some of his properties on his financial statements. My reaction is, so what? Particularly in the absence of any defaults after many years. Nothing about that is nearly as serious a matter as the ethical violation of New York’s chief law enforcement officer in misusing the office to select a target on the basis of politics without any reason to suspect particular wrongdoing. Such conduct should get the AG disqualified from running for office and even disbarred.

Well, James drew for the case a judge worthy of a Stalin show trial named Arthur Engoron. After previously granting summary judgment to the AG on one count, Engoron conducted a trial from October through January to determine liability on the other counts, and also to determine damages, if any. Justice Engoron issued his 92-page decision on Friday, February 16. Readers likely know that Engoron found the defendants liable on all seven counts (not all defendants on all counts). As monetary relief (technically he calls it “disgorgement” rather than “damages”) the judge ordered a total of some $355 million payable by Trump himself, plus interest from various dates, which could add tens of millions more.

Here are a few legal notes:

• This case is brought under something called Executive Law Section 63(12). That statute gives authority to the Attorney General to enjoin someone who is engaging in “repeated fraudulent or illegal acts” or “persistent fraud or illegality.”
• The judge notes — correctly — that the statute does not require three elements that are usually part of actionable fraud, namely intent, reliance, and damages. However, the judge skips over the problem that the statute does not do away with the element of “materiality.” Materiality is a critical element of a claim of fraud, and proof of it was completely missing here.
• The State Comptroller at the time the statute was passed in 1956 was a guy name Arthur Levitt. Engoron quotes Levitt as saying at the time “Why not grant the Attorney General authority to enjoin anyone from continuing in a business activity if such person has been guilty of frequent fraudulent dealings?” Well, Mr. Levitt, now you know your answer. To remove the ancient common law requirements of intent and reliance from proof of fraud is to give a politicized Attorney General way too much power to attack political adversaries.
• Several bankers from Trump’s lender, Deutschebank, testified that they did their own valuations of Trump’s properties instead of using the valuations provided by the borrower. That testimony completely undermines any finding of materiality.
• The monetary relief is characterized as “disgorgement.” The idea is that Trump paid less interest than he would have paid if he had honestly valued the properties, and therefore he should have to give up that ill-gotten gain. But where does the “disgorgement” go? The answer is that Engoron orders the money to go to the “plaintiff,” or in other words, the AG’s office. (Does it even go to the state general fund? Good question.).

Trump at least theoretically gets two levels of appeal from here — first to the Appellate Division, First Department; and then to the state’s highest court, the Court of Appeals (which only takes cases by its own discretion, like the U.S. Supreme Court). Unlike the federal courts, the Appellate Division in New York has the statutory authority to review findings of fact. Likely before the appeals proceed there will be a battle as to whether Trump is entitled to have enforcement of the judgment stayed pending the appeals.

The Appellate Division, First Department has long had a reputation as a non-politicized court. I do not have any confidence that that reputation remains deserved today, and particularly in this case. Should it so choose, the Appellate Division has ample authority to reverse or drastically reduce the judgment, the most obvious grounds being lack of materiality and lack of damages.

All business leaders in New York, including those who hate Trump, should rightly be concerned about what has happened here. If a Stalinist Attorney General and one judge can do this to Donald Trump, they can do it to anyone they want. Jamie Dimon, David Solomon — this means you. Trump also thought he had the politicians bought off with political contributions.

The New York legal establishment has also shamed itself in this matter. Where are the lions of the bar calling out Letitia James for her conduct? I can’t find that. A few days ago, somebody finally brought an ethics complaint against James for the obvious conflict of campaigning to “get” a particular individual and then remaining involved in the subsequent investigation and trial. The complainant is Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, a known Trump ally.

Every day New York becomes more known for descending to third-world country status.

Creep Judge Engoron Demands ‘I Want to See Ivanka In Person.’

Pulse Wires

Ivanka Trump, daughter of former President Donald Trump, has been ordered by a New York judge to

testify in person at her father's civil fraud trial. Judge Arthur Engoron creepily stated from the bench, "I want to see her in person." Ivanka's attorney Bennet Moskowitz sought to dismiss the subpoena, arguing that her required physical presence in court "falls on its face" given that she has neither worked nor lived in New York since 2017. However, State Attorney Kevin Wallace countered, stating that her role in the Trump Organization and her possession of property in the state make the subpoena legitimate. To Read More...

• “He’s Crazed in His Hatred of Me – An Out of Control ‘Nut Job'” – President Trump Goes Off on Lawless Judge Engoron Who Continues to Prosecute Case Against Trump After It Collapses in Court - by Jim Hoft Oct. 28, 2023 11:00 am395 Comments - President Trump went off on the crooked leftist judge overseeing his lawfare case in New York City these past two weeks.President Trump was sued by Marxist AG Letitia James for inflating his assets in order to acquire bank loans for his multi-billion dollar business empire.This week the case fell apart when convicted perjuror Michael Cohen denied Trump pressured him to inflate the value of his assets. The judge in the case has Mar-a-Lago, one of the most expensive properties in the world, valued at only $18 million, which is total nonsense.
• Trump Fully Cleared After 4-Year Probe Into FBI HQ Location. The Justice Department has concluded no improper influence was exerted by then-President Donald Trump over a decision by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to keep its headquarters in downtown Washington D.C.................
• Silencing Trump is an Affront to American Democracy - The effort to silence Trump is not only an affont to him but to all Americans - By Matthew Boose October 24, 2023 - The saying, “I may not like what you say, but I will die to defend your right to say it,” captures an American ethos that was, until recently, taken for granted. The death of that ethos and its underlying principle, the freedom of speech, is plain to see in the brazen, unprecedented effort to silence Donald Trump by the government of his rival. Days ago, Trump was slapped with a gag order by Tanya Chutkan, the Washington D.C. judge handling the Biden Justice Department’s “election subversion” case. Although audacious, the gag order is quite predictable. Chutkan and Star Chamber prosecutor Jack Smith have shown contempt for Trump and his rights, and by extension, the common rights of the people, throughout this entire process........... 
• Michael Cohen’s Testimony Against Trump Wasn’t The Slam Dunk The Media Thinks It Was -William Upton - Testimony given by Michael Cohen against his former boss Donald Trump this week does not appear to be the slam dunk the corporate media thinks it was. Cohen was expected to corroborate accusations made by NY Attorney General Letitia James, alleging former President Trump instructed aides in the Trump Organization to produce false estimates for the value of his properties. Once on the stand and under oath, however, Cohen proved unable to corroborate in any mean way.........