For years Donald Trump was the host of The Apprentice, a reality TV show in which contestants vied for a management job within his organisation and he would deliver the verdict: “You’re fired!”
It cemented the image of Trump as an assertive chief executive who had conquered New York, an image that still proves seductive to millions of voters who want him to run America like a business. But like much else about the 45th US president, it was all a lie.
On Tuesday a judge found that Trump’s business empire was built, at least in part, on rampant fraud. Justice Arthur Engoron of the New York state court in Manhattan said Trump and his adult sons wildly inflated the value of his properties to hoodwink banks, insurers and others.
…
The decision will make it easier for state attorney general Letitia James to establish damages at a civil trial due to start next week; she is seeking a penalty of about $250m. Engoron ordered the cancellation of certificates that let some of Trump’s businesses, including the Trump Organization, operate in New York – just possibly the beginning of the end of his empire.
Would have been a lot more of a blow to him if his crimes were tried in CRIMINAL court where such cases belong, for once!
He keeps being found guilty of crimes that would land someone less rich and powerful in jail for several years and getting only a fucking fine!
this assumes that the rich and powerful people they ripped off didn’t have them dumped at sea, or in the hudson or buried into a concrete footing…
Far as I can tell, Trump is, regrettably, still on dry land and alive, so I don’t really know what you mean…
the average person rips off a rich fuck, and it’s very likely that they’re dead. Trump is one of them. Or is perceived to be. different story for him, right?
I agree he should be in jail, but this is going to stop him from doing business in New York, where he built his empire and where a huge amount of his business is still done. So this hurts him even though it isn’t criminal.
It won’t hurt him other than financially and he’ll just get loans from various corrupt foreign entities and donations from his cult following to cover it. What are they going to do, slap his wrist harder? 🙄
Hurting him financially is a good thing, isn’t it? And not being able to do business in New York is a huge loss to the Trump family business. This isn’t a small thing. This means they have to do things like unload Trump Tower. Without making a profit.
It won’t hurt him other than financially
I promise you it will. Mar a Lago may be his home, but NY is his ‘spiritual home’ (if you can compare his lust for money and power to religious fervour).
Trump is incredibly thin-skinned. Being convicted of such large-scale fraud and banned from doing business in NY will be a massive blow to his giant ego. Further, angry people get sloppy and tend to make silly (sillier?) mistakes.