By Mary Alice Miller
Remember those pre-Apprentice days when tabloid gossip columnist Liz Smith dished the dirt on Trump, helping to boost his image as one of the world’s wealthiest real estate moguls?
No one knew it at the time, but Trump, his sons, and several business associates colluded to inflate the value of Trump real estate holdings to get favorable rates from banks and insurers while undervaluing Trump Organization properties to reduce New York State property taxes.
Numerous twists and turns later, New York State Attorney General Letitia James successfully brought fraud charges against the Trump Organization, culminating in February 2024 with a $354.8 million penalty. That judgment has grown to a current $478 million, including penalties.
In addition, Trump was barred him from running a business in New York for three years. Trump is appealing the verdict.
Trump posted a $175 million bond to prevent the state from seizing his assets to collect what he owes.
Trump’s two adult sons, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., executive vice presidents of the company, were banned from running New York companies for two years. Both were fined more than $4 million each.
A court-appointed monitor was placed to oversee the company’s operations for three years, and requires Trump Organization to seek the monitor’s approval prior to submitting any financial disclosure to a third party.
Former Trump Organization executive Allen Weisselberg was fined $1 million.
Trump has not forgotten. He has a history of holding grudges against those he perceived as doing him wrong, even while he is wrong.
Last Friday, word leaked that the Department of Justice is in the beginning stages of an investigation into the office of NYS Attorney General Letitia James.
“Any weaponization of the justice system should disturb every American,” said Geoff Burgan, spokesperson for the attorney general’s office. “We stand strongly behind our successful litigation against the Trump Organization and the National Rifle Association, and we will continue to stand up for New Yorkers’ rights.”
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of New York – which covers the Capitol region – is leading the investigation. Acting U.S. Attorney John Sarcone’s office issued the subpoenas. In 2022, Sarcone withdrew from the Republican state attorney general nomination during James’ run for her second term.
The probe’s focus is whether James violated Trump’s civil rights related to the civil fraud lawsuit.
Additionally, the investigation will look into the NYS Attorney General’s office fraud case against the National Rifle Association (NRA), in which longtime CEO Wayne LaPierre was accused of financial mismanagement and lavish spending of the organization’s funds. The NRA is incorporated in New York.
“Investigating the fraud case Attorney General James won against President Trump and his businesses has to be the most blatant and desperate example of this administration carrying out the president’s political retribution campaign,” said James personal attorney, Abbe D. Lowell.
““Weaponizing the Department of Justice to try to punish an elected official for doing her job is an attack on the rule of law and a dangerous escalation by this administration,” Lowell added. “If prosecutors carry out this improper tactic and are genuinely interested in the truth, we are ready and waiting with the facts and the law.”
The Trump Organization had a lot to hide.
Suspicions were raised as to what he had to hide when during the 2016 presidential election Trump refused to release his tax returns. It took years of stonewalling and a 2022 Supreme Court ruling that rejected Trump’s request to block the disclosure of his tax returns to the House Ways and Means Committee and a 2021 SCOTUS decision that allowed the Manhattan District Attorney’s to subpoena Trump’s financial records, including tax returns as part of a grand jury criminal investigation.
There is no legal requirement for a president or presidential candidate to disclose their tax returns, since they are private information. Released tax returns can help expose conflicts of interest and tax compliance, and help the public evaluate those seeking the office of president. The practice became tradition since 1968.
The former Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance was investigating hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels and former Playboy playmate Karen McDougal, both of whom said they were paramours of Trump, as well as financial and insurance fraud by the Trump Organization.
In James’ case against the Trump Organization, Trump’s financial statements claimed that his triplex in Trump Tower was 30,000 square feet, when the true size is 11,000 square feet based on a 1994 document signed by Trump. The valuation of Trump’s Florida property Mar-a-Lago was found to be fraudulent for 10 years, from 2011 to 2021. One commercial property total square footage was inflated 300%. Rent-controlled buildings were valued equally to market rate buildings.
Trump’s defense claim was no one, not the banks nor the public, were harmed by the inflated valuations. During a campaign event in Iowa, Trump said, “I did nothing wrong” and later opined, “… the judge and the AG should be arrested and punished accordingly.”
Reacting to the attorney general’s civil prosecution of his businesses, Trump called it “a New York political scam” and described James as “racist.”
The Trump DOJ is investigating James for mortgage fraud related to a property in Norfolk, Virginia. The DOJ is examining whether James signed documents attesting that the property is her primary residence. But James made it clear the property would not be her primary residence.