Trump appeared voluntarily Monday at the courthouse. The case has high stakes for the Republican, who built his political career on his fame as a billionaire real estate ace.
Trump’s holdings are “Mona Lisa properties” that can command top dollar, attorney Alina Habba said.
“That is not fraud. That is real estate,” she said, accusing the attorney general’s office of “setting a very dangerous precedent for all business owners in the state of New York.”
Oh no! Are you saying that NY landowners might have to [checks notes] pay the taxes that they owe and not defraud their lenders? How will they ever survive?
Trump denies wrongdoing. He says ... that it didn’t matter what he put on his financial statements because they had a disclaimer that says they shouldn’t be trusted.
My financial records are in such good shape. I have to lie about them 'cause people won't believe me. They'll say 'Donald, how are you so good at business?' , and I'll say 'You know, I know, and everybody else knows, especially my uncle involved in the nuclear aspect of things.' So here we are, and here I go, to where? Who knows. Everyone is saying it."
I think the judge gives him an extremely stern last-chance warning tomorrow and if he does it again, he gets cited for contempt. Doesn't have to be much, chuck him in a private cell in the Manhattan Detention Center for 1 night with Secret Service outside the door, but it seriously hurts the rule of law to have him able to get away with this sort of crap with no consequences.
I’m so glad he’s got this ridiculous attorney for this case. If he somehow avoids prison for everything else, at least he’ll probably be losing all his NY shinies here.
I find it so weird, how this article just lists people as "Democrat", as if everyone was dropped into a red or blue paint bucket at birth and not allowed to have political opinions beyond that.