Earlier this year, a New York judge issued a $454 million civil fraud judgment against Donald Trump after determining he had fraudulently inflated the value of his assets, including his prestigious and beloved golf courses, to secure more favorable loan and insurance rates. And it sounds like Trump will still face that judgment despite his recent victory in the presidential election.
Last month, Trump attorney D. John Sauer urged New York Attorney General Letitia James to drop her civil case against Trump to “cure” partisan divides and enhance “the health of our Republic.”
However, this week, James made it abundantly clear she had no intention of doing so.
On Tuesday, in a letter to Trump’s lawyer, a representative for James confirmed that even though Donald Trump is preparing to take office as President of the United States next month, he would still be held accountable for the judgment.
The letter said that since presidents do not have immunity from civil litigation, James intends to uphold her judgment against Trump during his appeal of the case.
“The ordinary burdens of civil litigation do not impede the President’s official duties in a way that violates the U.S. Constitution,” New York Deputy Solicitor General Judith Vale wrote in a letter to Sauer, according to ABC News.
This is obviously horrible news for Trump, not only due to the staggering amount of money involved but also because it could potentially result in the loss of his golf courses.
If Trump fails to win his appeal and cannot secure the funds, courts may start seizing properties and assets deemed to have “fraudulent” and “misleading” values. These assets include several of his golf courses.
In fact, Trump admitted earlier this year that this judgment might compel him to “mortgage or sell” some of his assets—potentially including his golf courses—at what he described as “Fire Sale prices” to cover the sum. James even initiated steps to seize one of those golf courses earlier this year.
Needless to say, this is horrible news for the president-elect, and it led to a lot of reactions in the comments of the story.
“This will be a good thing — no one is above the law,” one person said in the comments on NewsBreak.
“He should have to still pay it every other American has to pay restitution why shouldn’t he,” another person added.
“Thank you, Letitia James. At least someone had a spine,” someone else wrote.
“Good! He is NOT above the law, no matter what they say or do!” another person said.
“The money Trump owes on his NY judgment is not a fine for lying to the banks about the value of his mortgaged properties. The money is a conservative estimate of how much more taxes Trump would have paid to NY State if he had kept honest business records. These millions are what he stole from NY taxpayers. That’s why NY DoJ wants him to pay what he owes,” someone else added.
“Good! Nobody is above the law,” another person wrote.
“He doesn’t care, he’ll just send out a text to all of his cult members and they’ll pay it off. A fool and his money soon part, but in this case, there are millions of them,” another person joked.
Trump has hosted numerous PGA Tour and LIV Golf events on his prestigious courses over the years and is clearly opposed to selling them or having them seized.
[ABC News]
