“Overall, Donald Trump rarely responded to the questions asked, and he frequently interjected long, irrelevant speeches on issues far beyond the scope of the trial. In his ruling Friday, Engoron said he didn’t find Trump to be a credible witness. So I don’t know how you got those numbers,” Trump testified, adding later that he thinks it’s actually worth “between a billion and a billion five.” “The judge had it at $18 million, and it is worth, say, I say from 50 to 100 times more than that. Trump maintained during the trial the property was worth much, much more. Trump had also fraudulently puffed up the value of the property by saying it was a private residence, despite having signed an agreement that it could only be used as a social club to lower his tax burden. Trump’s financial statements from 2011 to 2021 valued Mar-a-Lago at $426 million to $612 million, while the Palm Beach County assessor appraised the property’s market value to be $18 million to $27 million during the same time frame. Trump’s complaints led to a flood of death threats against the clerk, as well as Engoron, court officials said, and Trump was fined $15,000 for twice violating the order.Īmong the examples cited as fraud by the attorney general’s office during the trial was Trump valuing his triplex home in Trump Tower in New York City at three times its actual size and value, as well as including a brand value to increase the valuation of his golf courses on the financial statements, which explicitly said brand values were not included.Īnother example pointed to by the attorney general clearly got under his skin - a dispute over the value of Mar-a-Lago, his social club and residence in Florida. Trump repeatedly complained about Engoron before and throughout the trial, and the judge slapped him with a partial gag order after he started blasting the judge’s law clerk as well. The former president was combative in his day on the stand, blasting James as a “hack” and calling the judge “extremely hostile.” The monthslong civil trial included testimony from Trump and his oldest children. “This is a case that should have never been brought, and I think we should be entitled to damages,” Trump told reporters when he attended closing arguments in the case on Jan. Trump had maintained his financial statements were conservative, and has called the AG’s allegations politically motivated and a “fraud on me.” The ruling also bars the Trump sons - who’ve been running the company since their father went to the White House - “from serving as an officer or director of any New York corporation or other legal entity in New York for a period of two years.” Both were fined over $4 million, plus interest, for their roles in the scheme. “Defendants’ refusal to admit error - indeed, to continue it, according to the Independent Monitor - constrains this Court to conclude that they will engage in it going forward unless judicially restrained,” he added. Yet, defendants are incapable of admitting the error of their ways,” Engoron wrote. Defendants did not commit murder or arson. The documents prove this over and over again. They are accused only of inflating asset values to make more money. “Their complete lack of contrition and remorse borders on pathological. In explaining the need for a monitor, the judge cited the lack of remorse by Trump and his executives after the fraud was discovered. “There is overwhelming evidence from both interested and non-interested witnesses, corroborated by documentary evidence, that the buck for being truthful in the supporting data valuations stopped with the Trump Organization, not the accountants,” he wrote. “This ‘decision’ is a complete and total sham,” he wrote. In posts on his social media platform Truth Social, Trump called the ruling “an illegal, unAmerican judgment against me, my family, and my tremendous business.” This case is just one of many he is currently facing, including four separate pending criminal trials, the first of which is scheduled to begin on March 25.Įngoron also ordered the continued “appointment of an Independent Monitor” and the “the installation of an Independent Director of Compliance” for the company. Trump is currently running for the White House for a third time. The judge’s decision is a potential blow to both Trump’s finances and persona - having built his brand on being a successful businessman that he leveraged in his first run for president. Trump did not take any questions from reporters after speaking for about six minutes. Speaking to reporters at Mar-a-Lago on Friday night, Trump bashed the ruling as “a fine of 350 million for a doing a perfect job.” He also repeated previous attacks by calling the judge “crooked” and the attorney general “corrupt.”
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