Trump’s Civil-Fraud Trial, Explained: What’s at Stake? | WSJ

Donald Trump’s civil-fraud trial is expected to come to a close in a Manhattan court this week. The former president’s reputation as a New Yorker, businessman and socialite is at the center of the trial, where he and his adult children face allegations that they falsified the value of their assets for millions in ill-gotten gains.
WSJ looks at what’s at stake for the GOP presidential candidate, his New York empire and the business-titan persona he’s built over the course of decades.
Chapters:
0:00 Trump’s civil-fraud trial
0:49 Trump’s NYC roots
3:09 Summary judgment and pending penalties
4:39 Consequences for Trump Organization
5:41 What’s next?
News Explainers
Some days the high-speed news cycle can bring more questions than answers. WSJ’s news explainers break down the day's biggest stories into bite-size pieces to help you make sense of the news.
#Trump #Politics #WSJ

[@shawngerard]

3:20 I know nothing about this but when someone says "everything was perfect, there was no crime" I'm immediately suspicious 😂

[@progidy7]

Not only was there no crime, but when the judge ruled that there was indeed fraud Trump blamed the accountants. For the... non-crime?

[@hardren101]

Esp when the individual accepts responsibility for NOTHING and makes himself out to be the injured party and then you encounter so many on social media that appear to believe and defend him.

[@glpaschall]

They are hoping you will know nothing about it.

[@gbanks3339]

Your statement really relies on no information whatsoever. You are just like the prosecutor. My entire career is based on commercial real estate and this case is actually the biggest fraud. This video is a worthless bit of information.

[@DerekHise]

@@gbanks3339If you think fraud wasn’t committed by the misrepresentations in value and lies told to banks, then you suck at your job.

[@worldlife9834]

This whole case is nonsense. Citizens have a right to give their opinion on the value of their assets. I don't see a victim because banks can choose to accept or reject applications. Our legal system is a mess to due weaponization of the courts.

[@waneframe]

At least someone has a brain in the coment section.

[@josephkanga5533]

They hate the man so much and they don't care what they do to get him.

[@waneframe]

@@josephkanga5533 At this point it doesn't even make sense as long as they get him. It's shameful.

[@josephkanga5533]

@@waneframe they removed my comment

[@waneframe]

@@josephkanga5533 lol typically! They don't believe in free speech.

[@therealunicornselene]

If he'd paid the property taxes based on the overvalued amounts nobody would have minded all that much 😅

[@Thebobbyman]

Then that would be him being an idiot. Knowingly adjusting prices to benefit is fraud

[@therealunicornselene]

@@Thebobbyman lol okay but lookit the market lol anyway don't mind me I'm just saying if he'd paid the extra into the education system like he was supposed to it would have been better than most of the overpriced nonsense in Manhattan

[@Thebobbyman]

@@therealunicornselene okay if he had only simply over pie his taxes is one thing. But when he values his assets higher or lower based on what helps him him more. That’s fraud

[@Thebobbyman]

@@therealunicornselene I mean, are you really surprised? This is the guy whose “university.” And charity got shutdown for fraud

[@therealunicornselene]

@@Thebobbyman I heard you the first time and that was exactly my point 🤦

[@fnorgen]

Sure is nice to see so much completely legitimate, and not not the least bit sketchy financial advice in this comment section. I don't see how throwing all my savings into a bizarre penny stock could possibly backfire if it is recommended by so many living, breathing, independent humans.

[@sportingdirector1]

😂😂😂

[@TheResilient5689]

And they’re totally not troll/bot/spam accounts either! /s

[@jeffsimpson1421]

@@TheResilient5689right😂 definitely real people

[@JonathanSwift-ox9ci]

what about Equity and Inclusion ? ? ? @@loganrogers4560

[@LuisSanchez-km9jn]

If you harrass the judge and prosecutor your problems may double.

[@heyzeus9027]

What if the judge and prosecutor harass people by using the power of government behind their backs. Very totalitarian mindset you have

[@3louminati]

My goodness could you image the amount of property tax you would pay if the Assessors Valuation and Appraised Market Value were the same?

[@BK-ri4lj]

Seriously. I'm convinced these people in the comments are children that have never owned anything.

[@carolejackson8357]

You may be aware that they are rarely, if ever the same. This is clearly a bogus charge.

[@richmiko4185]

@@BK-ri4lj agreed. seriously , no one in this thread owns a home it seems. they also don't know the difference between civil and criminal court.

[@therealunicornselene]

@@BK-ri4lj or making jokes about the market that you're desperate to ignore 😘

[@needparalegal]

That used to be the reality just 30 years ago

[@anilu3021]

I don’t understand why the city would sue if the properties paid higher taxes on the properties and the banks did not bring suit themselves.

[@SolaceEasy]

"Liable" means "Guilty".

[@gerretoutdoors3710]

Yes, but also no. You can't find someone "guilty" if you have any reasonable doubts. But you CAN still find someone liable even if you have doubts.

[@hewitc]

@@gerretoutdoors3710 Liable is for civil cases. Guilty is for criminal. Liable=pay $ damages. Guilty= Go to jail

[@SolaceEasy]

​@@gerretoutdoors3710"the preponderance of the evidence"

[@SolaceEasy]

​@@gerretoutdoors3710And it's not like it's hard to tell in this case...

[@progidy7]

But it means in a real milquetoast way that WSJ wants to use in order to appear non-biased

[@oshanelaird288]

This could be brought against any Business

[@briandavis8977]

This case has no chance of making it past appeal courts.

[@-TheMaskedMan-]

If he loses the election it’s over for him.

[@KznnyL]

I work at Home Depot. Wednesday night at closing, I take $100 from the register. I drive to the nearest casino, and put it on 00. I win $3500. I go home and open the store Thursday, returning the $100 to the register. Was anyone harmed, if so, who? Did I do anything wrong?

[@-TheMaskedMan-]

@@KznnyL No one was harmed, but you definitely did something wrong by taking money from the cash register regardless if you had the intention to put the money back or not. Your are blatantly stealing in order to benefit from money that was not originally yours and which was not granted to you. You should be punished for this because if not then everyone will start to do the same thing which will lead to chaos. Rules and regulations are there for a reason and if we let one person get away with it then why should we prosecute anyone else who does it? Don’t defend bad behavior just because you fancy the person committing the wrongful act. No one should be immune to consequences, it is written in our constitution.

[@hus390]

@@-TheMaskedMan- Taking a cash from the register is indeed in itself wrong. This is different. The bankers testified and said they were not fooled by estimates and internal memos showed them decreasing his net worth and gave him an interest rate corresponding with real risk. It’s utterly a nonsensical political case by NY AG!

[@-TheMaskedMan-]

@@hus390 Oh I see. So they lenders already knew of the risk. Then your initial analogy should’ve included the fact that your boss knowingly hired someone he knew would take money from the register and had measures in place for that already. Only problem I still have with this is the wrongful act of intent to deceive. At this point I’m honestly trying to be as unbiased as possible because I know people do this all the time. Especially when they are financing a new vehicle. People prop up their income in order to qualify for a better loan. Even if it fails and the bank gives you the loan you deserve due to the fact that they assessed the true risk, the initial intent to deceive still exists. But ultimately I guess it doesn’t matter because the bank gave him what they believe he deserved. His intent to deceive did not work, thus he did not actually commit any fraud although there was intent to do so. That’s ultimately my conclusion to this🤔. He basically received the loan he deserved after lenders assessed and adjusted his true net worth. I’m no lawyer but maybe the one on this case is trying to get him with something similar to…. “Attempted Murder”- where the crime does not occur but there was intent to commit one.🤔 “Murder”- Where the crime is committed. 🤔 That’s my most logical way of viewing the situation.

[@JayTee2985]

He undervalued his assets when it came to filing taxes to defraud the IRS and overvalued them when applying for loans to defraud the banks.

[@stevesutton5498]

Jayte,not according to the banks,and expert financial people.

[@alexbowman7582]

The court undervalued Mar-a-Lago at $16 million. If Trump put it on the market tomorrow at fixed price $500 million it would sell almost instantly. A realistic valuation would have destroyed their already pathetic case.

[@johnmilovich2195]

@@alexbowman7582 Mar-a-Lago- any property - is worth what someone is willing to pay for it. Your $500 million valuation "would sell almost instantly" comment is nonsense and shows you're an amateur.

[@alexbowman7582]

@johnmilovich2195 it's worth over $1 billion. The land alone is worth several times $16 million

[@walterbo7687]

​​​@@stevesutton5498in fact: the case is not brought by the banks but by the state, coz he is a fraudster (which he is already been found guilty of) The only financial expert that claimed what you said was paid nearly a million dollars to say that: all other experts said the contrary

[@cdg715]

I guess we are going to have to charge everyone who’s done this! Oh wait that is everyone who has any real estate

[@LilyEvans1996]

So everyone triples the size of their houses?!

[@rudyk5657]

The news is just as balanced as the comments .

[@QuietStormX]

the U.S. Courts are getting wise to these delays. They do talk to other courts and read the News. Watch TV also..

[@cornelllka87]

It very obvious what’s going on here. There was no law broken. They literally said there is no law dictating what constitutes a gross misrepresentation of property value.

[@worldlife9834]

This whole case must be handled by a jury.

[@ryskajo2859]

Well, it just was handled by a jury 😬

[@worldlife9834]

@@ryskajo2859 Verdict is nonsense since the judge biased.

[@HealthElites]

Clean up your comments section WSJ

[@sportingdirector1]

This comment section is ridiculous for the spam

[@SolaceEasy]

Meaning: Monitor your monitors. They're spending work time watching Tik-tok.

[@richinoable]

😅😅😅😅😅it's not theirs. Property is a hard concept

[@techcafe0]

the "Trump brand" 🤣so much for American values 🤑

[@jackd8345]

This person isn't honestly trying to point out the truth. The banks aren't made at him this is completely political

[@alfavhunter7010]

Its amazing how even the bank who gave the loan says there was no fraud. Because they did their own asset assessment and chose to still approve the loan. This fraud case is a political hit job.

[@EviLLivEClan]

there* was no fraud. Doesn't surprise me that you can't speak basic Kindergarten English.

[@alfavhunter7010]

@@EviLLivEClan phone auto correct changed "therre" into their didnt notice so ty for pointing it out.

[@carolejackson8357]

​@@EviLLivEClanis that all you got? A Personal Slur. I left a couple for you too, just for kicks.

[@DerekHise]

You are missing every point that matters: 1. What the manager says irrelevant. The reasonable person standard determines how much a real estate value can be misrepresented, and how much he can lie about square footage etc. A victim excusing his bad numbers doesn’t mean the act wasn’t a crime. 2. The bank stands to benefit from pretending those properties are worth more and protecting their reputation that they weren’t tricked. 3. Most importantly, Trump used the extremely inflated numbers for loans, investment solicitations, Forbes articles, etc. WHILE he used undervalued prices on those same properties to pay minimal taxes every year. The bank isn’t relevant to him committing tax fraud.

[@alfavhunter7010]

@DerekHise fraud requires a victim. The bank would be the victim here and has said there was no fraud. And the bank does their own assessment of assets. They do not just take people's word for it. And your tax fraud argument is irrelevant in this case. It is a civil case for fraud against the bank that is saying there is no fraud. Tax fraud would be a criminal case and is not what this case is. The bank would stand to benefit from fraud being shown because the money he is fined would in part go to the bank that got fraud Ed. Yet thats not where the money will go if trump has to pay for this "fraud" case. They might have a case on tax fraud, but that isn't the place for a civil trail. That would be a criminal trial.

[@rb95051]

Nowhere you mention that the same assets were down estimated for tax reasons. If that is not fraud, then what is it?

[@JoseMorales-sw4uc]

The part I do not get is: do banks not estimate the value of assets themselves? How can you inflate them unless banks are that stupid to just take your word for it? When I took a mortgage (different country) the bank sent someone to check the place and estimate its value and they only proceeded with the credit once they got his approval, do things work differently for bigger loans or are American banks outright dumb? Can I then claim my house is worth a billion dollars and get super-cheap money in the US? (or, what did I misunderstand here?).

[@user_not_addicted]

Y'all are not Bankers.. if they say it's okay.. its okay.. they give Philosophy Students Billions in student loan knowing very well they are unlikely to get a job ..

[@theprinceofpie]

@@JoseMorales-sw4uc The banks do an estimate based on information provided but Trump lied about objective facts like the square footage and whether Mar a Lago was approved for development. Even then, the banks repeatedly told Trump's to stop inflating the values.

[@holysmokes3723]

@@JoseMorales-sw4uc I was thinking the same thing also but came across this article written by Forbes a well respected business magazine it's called How Trump Fooled Deutsche Bank.

[@JCB576]

​@@JoseMorales-sw4ucI think there are 3 possibilities 1) the bank didn't do check (which I don't believe) 2) If the banks would have sued and not the IRS then we would have seen somewhere falsified documents 3) he said his brand was worth x amounts based on some underlying calculations. The underlying calculations were wrong based on fraud I think it's a mix of all three personaly, but we'll see

[@twrourke6557]

He's guilty. Period.

[@user-mf1xb7rt1v]

Love the phrasing “Adult Children”

[@wockyslush666]

That’s just the proper use of the word..?

[@edwardrumick2311]

This is a bunch of silly nonsense. They are saying the tax appraised value is the real value and that the banks appraisal of the property is fraud. You don't decide the appraised value of your own property when you take a loan.

[@kdenso3196]

When he is actually seen as Hitlr, it is then excusable to abuse him in any manner, lawful or not. There. Explained.

[@carolejackson8357]

True. Go a little further. Dig a little deeper. Read the Marxist Playbook. One of the tactics is to call your opponent what you actually are. Trump is no Hitler. Like him or hate him, he is not the one using tyrannical tactics to attemptto control us. Also note that those who are called antifa are behaving like the brown shirts of Germany. Look at the actions beyond the words.

[@needparalegal]

Orange Man Bad

[@JonathanSwift-ox9ci]

Walking Dead Biden - Good@@needparalegal

[@Jwdude123]

Trump 2024!

[@FriedrichOettingen]

Trump saying „everybody profited“ doesn’t necessarily mean that it was legal.

[@stevesutton5498]

Freidrich,they actually haven't proved anything yet .the judge found him guilty before tha trial even started.doesn't sound like justice to me.

[@ericcarlon]

I could be sarcastic, and really rude to you, but I’ll take a different approach. The narrative that nothing was proven, and he was found guilty is false. That is something he’s putting in your head. It was plenty of evidence turned over in the ruling that he was guilty, was due to that evidence. Now, whether or not Donald Trump wants to acknowledge that evidence is a completely different story, and frankly, he does not have to acknowledge that evidence, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.

[@carolejackson8357]

​@@ericcarlonwhat evidence that Markey value and tax value are different? THAT is the norm. It's not illegal. Ask anyone with experience buying and selling property. What's surprising is that this was not dismissed as frivolous. Even the loan officers are testifying FOR Trump.

[@DerekHise]

⁠​⁠@@carolejackson8357What you are choosing to ignore because you have no intellectual integrity, is that market value and tax values rarely diverge by more than 15%, even when those values are both fluctuating year to year, due to market conditions. Decades of Trump being off by more than 6,000% isn’t “the norm” or legal.

[@ozymandias8523]

How is illegal if you loan somebody 500 dollars and some time later he gives you 600 back? Both parties agreed to the loan and valued their risk/gain.

[@davidsanabria4993]

They did it for years. What about Atlantic city

[@taylorbranson7790]

He definitely played the system for sure but that doesn’t change the fact that politicians are playing the system as well, to make it hard on him. This will only continue to make people hate the government and politicians.

[@jaylm4112]

Um also if trumps name comes off the buildings it'll be worth more many buildings petitioned to take his name off it all over the USA

[@needparalegal]

Until TDS burns itself out. Insanity can only go on so long.

[@mcGill746]

Oh boy i can’t wait to see what the Wall Street Journal’s take is!

[@peetgikeri5245]

Thanks for the info

[@Augie_Primo]

Judge Engoron and AG James have used valuations that ignore federal banking regulations. The loan transactions fall under the regulations established for making real estate loans. A formal appraisal is required to be done by the banks for loan transactions where the source of repayment or the collateral pledged is real estate. It has to be done by a qualified appraiser using the accepted valuation methods. Borrower valuations and tax valuations are not considered, and can vary widely, based on several accounting methods and the taxation policies of the various localities. The bank regulators (U.S. Treasury, FDIC, and Federal Reserve), have repeatedly established in the courts that they and their regulations have primary jurisdiction over the banks. But what can one expect from a judge that declared the defendant guilty before the trial began, refused him a jury trial, and reportedly kibbitzed with his clerk while the defense was trying to present their evidence. Not to mention the conflict of interest of the AG, who ran for office promising repeatedly to "get Trump".

[@gund89123]

Trump: I was speeding, I got a ticket, nobody was hurt, no accident, I am not paying fine. Trump jr: my speedometer was showing that I was 5 below speed limit, its car’s fault.

[@ratboy4169]

It’s been repeated over & over how the trump’s discredit everyone else in the courtroom, to makes themselves seem smarter then everyone else but when asked the simplest of questions, they don’t have any answers.

[@ichiro5384]

This argument is always used by the other side of comment section. "If the banks are satisfied then it's not fraud."

[@cultofmodernism8477]

Terrible analogy. The point is that the banks, that made the loans, conducted their own financial due diligence and valuation/appraisal analysis, before they made the loan. The banks didn't take Trumps word on the value of the underlying properties before making the loan. Laetitia James is not an appraisal expert, cannot retroactively determine the terms on market loans and there is no fraud here at all.

[@colliswilliams8992]

Trump 2024!!

[@ozymandias8523]

​@@ichiro5384who was the victim of the fraud? In the speed ticket is to avoid the killing or harm of third parties.

[@TheAZPro-yi8bu]

Corrupt to the core.

[@user-rs2wl1kw4l]

Legitimately confused. I remember trying to buy a house a few years back. We applied for a loan based on the asking price (let's call it $200,000). The bank then sent their own person to appraise the house. If they called it at $180,000, then that's what they approved us for..... did the banks just.... not do that for trump?

[@PalleRasmussen]

It will not matter to his cult.

[@KB-ld6ql]

He'll have to sell many properties because they are all leveraged to the hilt.

[@THE_WOAT]

That is a false statement. Please cite proof before making BS OMB statements.

[@KB-ld6ql]

@THE_WOAT Don Von ShitHisPants has transfered political donations to pay his personal legal fees. Over $50 million in 2023. Give your head a shake.

[@KB-ld6ql]

@@THE_WOAT Huh??

[@rhondajones4007]

NY is finished with Trump!!🙌🙌

[@KB-ld6ql]

Has been for a long time

[@richmiko4185]

the USA is done with NY, thats why everyone is leaving that state.

[@KB-ld6ql]

@richmiko4185 Lol. Just say'n what Don Von ShitHisPants says doesn't make it true. The taxpayer's rejoice proudly. So Mikey grow up and get a brain with some real knowledge in it. Make mommy somewhat proud at least

[@KB-ld6ql]

@@richmiko4185 Btw, name one??

[@richmiko4185]

@@KB-ld6ql easy google search. do you know how to do a google search?

[@freedom2noisemedia]

Gov Mafia 101: Operation Get Trump

[@Csett1]

This makes no sense. This is a garbage ruling. When an asset is overvalued it can only go to a revaluation reserve. It never actually materializes. It is literally just on a piece of paper. Is that a crime? Yes, because it misleads the public so Financial reporting standards are violated. The risk is to the shareholders and/or lenders. Banks are required to do due diligence when creating a lean on an asset. I (as the borrower) cannot tell the bank the valuation of my house, the bank needs to get an independent valuation of the asset. There is no way that there would be a mismatch of valuations of assets held on lean that would cause a large enough discrepancy to creat a high degree of risk for a financial institution. If the offended party was a creditor or shareholder or investor then I could understand the large fine but with the information provided this is a real attack. $20 million - $50 million would be a reasonable price but this is by far unreasonable.

[@dandykema1090]

I agree. I am not a fan of him but this is excessive.

[@homo-sapiens-dubium]

Trump for Russia 2024

[@SolaceEasy]

Make America Russia 2024

[@413smr]

I want Trump for ADX Florence 2024. ADX Florence is the supermax in Colorado where they put El Chapo, the Boston Marathon Bombing kid and the Unabomber.

[@prooveditt4839]

You advertise your stupidity with that comment. Such bravery.

[@homo-sapiens-dubium]

@@prooveditt4839 right? Dare.

[@ultraspicypineapple3405]

Trump for Norillag 2024

[@Primo_extracts]

Trump cannot sit in office. The bathroom, fine. But not the office🗣️🗣️

[@holysmokes3723]

😂😂😂😂

[@Jcs57]

What were his property taxes based on, his inflated value or undervalue.

[@rickwalden7022]

This will tell us a lot!

[@Pr0toPoTaT0]

Well this is what happens when you hire My Pillow Mike Lindell as your accountant.

[@Royale_with_Cheeze]

Conmen see their marks (suckers) and take their money. The best conmen make their mark willingly give their money. The "con" in conman is short for confidence. This conman sure has a lot of marks, willingly giving him their money. Others see a conman for what he is snd stays clear.

[@patsevigny5044]

The biggest con job of all. His fans r paying his legal fees but it's called a campaign donation. So dumb.

[@Bill-vo1wn]

What about NO STANDING you don't GET. WAKE up People.

[@debbie7104]

How much taxs will new York lose if they outs president Trumps business.?

[@bimopi]

0

[@nzs316]

It's reassuring t see and hear quality reporting. Thank you WSJ.

[@YetiTurmoil]

quality reporting to you is just anything that reaffirms your bias. If they said it would lessen his value you would be angry and calling it fake news xD

[@nzs316]

@@YetiTurmoil My comment was quite neutral.

[@413smr]

From the WSJ? LOL

[@gund89123]

@@413smrWSJ is actually biased to the right, it is owned by Murdoch. So I would trust WSJ as fair in here.

[@carolejackson8357]

​@@nzs316but the report is not neutral. Out of context reporting to spin a narrative is happening here. And, the WSJ once was a mostly reliable source. Sadly, that is no longer true.

[@taxpert87]

All of this makes me want to vote for the man more than ever…

[@quesoblanco444]

Why?

[@nameofmychannel8802]

I guess he’s saying because trump is being prosecuted by the same people who encourage fraud and do fraud aswell. Is the only thing I can think of… why

[@atedinahalf6288]

​​@@quesoblanco444Because the American populace hates the government and the uni-party. They also like a underdog. Trump gets treated just like we do. He just has the funds to continue to battle them.

[@t.m9341]

Shut up queso

[@jonihaynes-haasch8988]

They seem to be unaware of how much we despise Biden, Trump has done nothing that even compares to Biden, we know

[@ice1012001]

Not one charge before Trump announced he was running for office again. Then charge after charge after charge...

[@ngauruhoezodiac3143]

I would pay to watch TRUMP being removed from Trump Tower.

[@DB-ub3wx]

What he has done is so dodgy and illegal anyone who try’s to defend him is just as delusional as he is.

[@hus390]

The bankers testified and said they were not fooled by estimates and internal memos showed them decreasing his net worth and gave him an interest rate corresponding with real risk. It’s utterly a nonsensical political case by NY AG!

[@cynthiaforequity]

How firing someone became interesting is beyond my understanding. I think it is cruel and mean.

[@Dakotako]

Peaceful divorce

[@tfking10]

Baron just became the youngest CEO. Time magazine here he comes

[@omgnowairly]

He committed fraud and this is the penalty process. Seems like effort was made to make that unclear.

[@jamapx]

Fraud requires intent to commit fraud, a victim, and damages. None of these elements were proven in the case against Trump.

[@ozymandias8523]

Whom he commited fraud against?

[@mcyclonegt]

Not fraud if there is no victim.

[@ShhhHhhhz]

with so much heat on him, you bet if he sits on that throne again, swear to god, hes not gonna let it go this time round.. ever. Its up to y'all Americans to view it whether is it a good thing or not

[@alexandermilbank8833]

And who will go up there instead? Sleepy Joe? 😂

[@jonjone661]

@@alexandermilbank8833someone under 60 ideally

[@geggilishes5286]

RFK Jr 2024!🇺🇲

[@geggilishes5286]

​@alexandermilbank8833 RFK Jr 2024!🇺🇲

[@iankatz6487]

Thanks for your expert input, random non-American internet stranger. Good luck with your crusade against **checks other comments** American automobiles. 🫡

[@mdmonroe82]

If the realtors and the banks confirmed his estimates, the debts were paid, where does the fraud come in?

[@worldlife9834]

I don't see fraud either. I see a big scam and abuse of power.

[@MarioRodriguez-gr8wc]

This is why I’m a big Trump supporter now. I hated the man at first. But I started realizing the media, politicians, and even judges are out to get him. Even if he didn’t do anything wrong.

[@acarroll6842]

This is all they had to throw at him. You go through anyone financial records you'll find something that sticks. Meanwhile women are being punching in the face in broad daylight in NYC streets.

[@moyo2850]

Does nobody else think its odd that hes not facing prison time for this???? Take a bag of chips from walmart and they jail you for 3 months.

[@angiepangie989]

Everyone is too busy being mad at each other they don't even think to question the big picture. You're right, but unfortunately most people are too stupid to realize it.

[@blueskynet7926]

Because he's rich.

[@richmiko4185]

this is a civil trial. obviously there is no evidence to convict him for criminality otherwise this would be a criminal case. the judge does belong in prison or to lose his license to practice law though.

[@jamapx]

Are you free to sell your house to a party for more than its market value? Of course you are. Are lenders required to have an independent appraisal on any property offered as collateral? Of course they are. Why? Because borrowers and sellers always overstate the value of their property. And are damages and intent essential elements of criminal fraud? Yes of course. Here, the guilty parties are the prosecutor and the judge, namely Leticia James and Arthur Engoron. It will be interesting to see how they're doing a year from now.

[@Gwen3344]

And are you required by law to pay taxes at the rate of those overstated values? Of course you are! trump didn't.

[@aikanae1]

My 1,000 sq ft apt is now 10,000 sq ft. No problem.

[@jamapx]

It literally makes no difference whatsoever. Lenders are required by federal law to perform their own independent appraisals of property offered as collateral. Do you know why? It's because borrowers (and sellers) have an incentive to overstate the value and extent of their own property. @@aikanae1

[@leosingleton3119]

Why is youtube so anti trump all the time

[@gilvillamaria632]

banks should be the one filing the cases isnt it? but theres no one. they are paid already with profits. so its business talks.

[@hellotheremyolfriend]

Woke Street Journal and other Fake News Media' relentless political persecution against Donald Trump makes me want to vote for him even more. Down with the cult of wokeism.

[@omgnowairly]

Seems like you don't like facts or reality.

[@hellotheremyolfriend]

looks like you love media telling you how to think@@omgnowairly

[@richinoable]

The boom is lowering

[@michellen2325]

What a BS!!!

[@damoneboyd9945]

So the accounting is at fort

[@effingsix3825]

They don’t mention that Trump has been found liable in the civil fraud case in a bench trial. They are only determining damages at this point. Criminal fraud is not at issue, the prosecutor would have to formally lay charges, though criminal fraud charges can be brought in light of the findings of the court.

[@jannarkiewicz633]

The piece was heavily biased toward Trump. It was just pro-Trump propaganda.

[@atedinahalf6288]

​@@jannarkiewicz633If you think this is pro trump, wait till you see what the average citizen thinks. Especially after all these crimes against humanity come out.

[@410cultivar]

I tell you what, I won't call you a liar, I say this. Prove it

[@jamapx]

This will be overturned. In the meantime, Leticia James and Arthur Engoron have made some powerful enemies. Couldn't happen to a more deserving couple.

[@effingsix3825]

There’s more. Criminal indictments to come!

[@user-vf6tr6yt2u]

Put him in prison, so we can save America 🇺🇸

[@billridarelli5691]

Trump better start taking his gold out of his pile.

[@jessieratcliff3824]

He fires everyone like its a game we dont need a family affair in the white house

[@LawtonDigital]

I "like" Trump's logic: "they got their money back. There was no crime." He sounds like an embezzler who gave back what he embezzled. See? No crime!

[@patsevigny5044]

I went into the store and robbed them. So I gave the money back. All set. He's so entitled its pathetic

[@carolejackson8357]

I guess you don't know that everybody involved profited off of this deal ? The bank got the interest as with any other loan. So tell me how is that robbery?

[@carolejackson8357]

​@@patsevigny5044I guess you don't know that everybody involved profited off of this deal ? The bank got the interest as with any other loan. So tell me how is that robbery? There was nothing at all unusual about this the loan negotiations.

[@KznnyL]

@@carolejackson8357 I work at Home Depot. Wednesday night at closing, I take $100 from the register. I drive to the nearest casino, and put it on 00. I win $3500. I go home and open the store Thursday, returning the $100 to the register. Was anyone harmed, if so, who? Did I do anything wrong?

[@jamapx]

Signing a promissory note kind of obviates embezzlement.

[@arnolddavis-cu7nh]

Awe poor Donnie is not immune

[@Alexrogan0311]

All you need to know is what Latisha James said the Judge made up his mind before the trial began, and the trile is the fraud, and everyone knows it!

[@maggievedrenne7379]

Tell the TRUTH.

[@joeperry2065]

So the way i see this is if u got a loan from a bank and terms were agreed upon, and everything went fine with repayment, who am i to step in aftetwards and say oh that wasnt right now your going to jail !!!! Especially when the bank had issue with the transaction . Pressung charges should be the banks decision

[@Ryan125y]

He misvalued his properties for financial gains. It's clear and blatant fraud.

[@Dudevegaslv]

He is not the only one does that . All the wealthy do that for the record!!

[@holysmokes3723]

​@@Dudevegaslv I agree with you but those other rich people didn't have there own personal lawyer " Micheal Cohen" tell a Congressional hearing under oath and on live TV that Trump over valued his properties to get better loans and devalued them when he filed taxes. Once he did that the feds came knocking and rightfully so we have laws that he violated and got caught.

[@skyking6989]

But the banks still loaned him the $ and the banks do there own research and the numbers must line up on there end as well or loans aren't given out. Stop the nonsense. No crime was committed. Witch hunt plain and simple

[@uglifist309]

Stop watching cnn

[@dee5778]

​@@Dudevegaslvcool story, they can go to trial as well.

[@skyking6989]

So it's a civil trial which means he won't be going to prison even IF he's found guilty. Civil trials are about $ not criminal wrong doing

[@Patt12]

For this he only need to pay back the state about 500 million dollars , Criminal cases are the capitol attack ,steal document and the election issue for bribe electoral official to put 11,000 vote to his account

[@mattsmith9270]

There is no IF he's already been found guilty. This is to determine the penalty.

[@Patt12]

@@mattsmith9270 $500million been set up and ban for doing business in New York

[@MarioRodriguez-gr8wc]

@@mattsmith9270guilty is NY nothing new. It’ll go through appeals and probably in from of the Supreme Court.

[@user-fd4sd7qb2b]

Not a fearful God, I meant an ANGRY God. Sorry about that error.

[@neilpollicino80]

ouch

[@nwcigotbetter2001]

A fraud from the start

[@artemasward5842]

$250,000,000 or $370,000,000 yep.

[@faisalmahmood3420]

If that's the case he can pay fines that's all going jail it's not the right point

[@sundial-el3nt]

===========🌟🌟🌟======== 81% of Americans supported Israel but did not support Hamas hostage deal as too many Hamas terrorists would be released and go back to terrorism. 75% supported President Trump and wanted him to be next President although Americans supported funding for Israel but did NOT support more money for Ukraine and thought EU should pay for the cost of war in Ukraine..Gallop polling..22 Dec 23..====🌟🌟🌟===

[@Xylos101]

The bots are more informative than most WSJ comments.

[@redmustangredmustang]

He's already been found liable and the summary judgment. It's just all this time. This has been the penalty portion of the trial. We are going to see how much he's gonna have to pay out and penalties and if you can ever do business in New York again.

[@Alexrogan0311]

All you need to know is what Latisha James said the Judge made up his mind before the trial began, and the trile is the fraud, and everyone knows it!

[@jamapx]

What ever it is will be overturned on appeal. The case is politically motivated and the law as applied in this case is unconstitutional.

[@johnharris6655]

That is the first issues, this should have been before the commerce commission, not a judge. That is appeal #1. #2.

[@XiJiping12.]

Total BS

[@ranchobrien6235]

Now it comes around goes around now you're fired

[@MaxRuso]

Lock him up

[@gund89123]

Fair & clear reporting.

[@carolejackson8357]

Only if you think that it's appropriate to omit salient facts surrounding the case.

[@jeff5534]

“The banks got back their money” - that’s obviously not the issue, he committed fraud in order to obtain the money and that’s what he’s on trial for.

[@carlitos431]

A fraud ?? Against who?? Who is or are the victims ?

[@carlitos431]

@@bimopi that’s absurd to say the least . The man paid all his taxes and paid off his debts before the agreement was even due . This is all politics at its lowest . Banana republic all the way as it’s done in underdeveloped countries. Tried and jail you political foes before they even get to try to get to power by people’s votes .

[@jiconcha]

This is a fraud trial where the parties that were supposedly defrauded did not sue and did not suffer losses. I am curious as to whether it is common to charge fraud when the victims have not complained and have not suffered losses.

[@johnniequinn3215]

The state of NY was defrauded. And yes, class action lawsuits are a common example of holding an entity responsible for bad actions when many if the people affected are not aware that they may have been defrauded.

[@twigg43]

Would you arrest a bank robber, their crime didn't affect me. A crime is a crime

[@TheResilient5689]

Local, state, and the federal government bring lawsuits like this all the time on behalf of people and organizations who were defrauded. It doesn’t always have to be the aggrieved parties bringing the cases here.

[@aj_darkblade]

In that case you should lie about your property value next time you have to pay property taxes and make that defense 🤡 Its really sad how much you and others try to spin the law to defend your cult leader.😂😂

[@holysmokes3723]

We can't forget that he was also found guilty of fraud in the fraudulent Trump University case which he had to pay the defrauded students $25million and also the Trump Charity fraud case that he was also found guilty of and it was shut down he was made to pay $2 million dollars and banned for life from running a charity in NY. There is plenty of victims he is a true CONMAN.

[@joebullwinkle5099]

I do really hope that the US justice system will hold the carpetbagging lier that Trump and his family are whole accountable for their never ending dishonest behavior.

[@worldlife9834]

He is a victim of political persecution. Case after case in the legal system.

[@LilyEvans1996]

Maybe he should be a better person?

[@simplertimes1293]

It's called Karma.

[@johnnydoe3603]

Banks take No Losses. If Trump got Dirt Cheap Loans, then the People who took Small Loans are made to Pay Higher Interests. 😊

[@bsting601]

You forget that it affects tax and the fairness to others ! At the least you should be taking hes a liar and a conman for doing it !

[@user_not_addicted]

Where did you find this breaking news 😂😂😂

[@johnniequinn3215]

That is if they get loans at all, since the banks gave money to Trump thst could have generated business elsewhere.

[@bsting601]

@@johnniequinn3215 Shame its illegal to do 🙂

[@holysmokes3723]

Based on expert testimony Trump costed his lenders $168,040,168, which the banks would have made if Trump was given the appropriate interest rate corresponding to the actual value of his assets.

[@onlybuilt4cubantwins500]

Pretty amazing how a guy goes from being universally loved to disliked and even hated by half the country because he switched from democrat to republican and the mainstream media made people believe he was the devil😂. Every rich political donor could be prosecuted on the same charges as Trump, the question is, why aren’t they?

[@carolejackson8357]

These charges are not illegal. But yes, not the two teared court system

[@DerekHise]

Trump has always been hated by people who knew him. Example 1. New Yorkers voted overwhelmingly against him as president is first time running. I recall about 75% opposing him. Example 2. He was the inspiration for Biff Tannin in “Back To The Future” long before he entered politics. Drawing national attention to himself was the only change. They see him for the abomination he is, but in greater numbers.

[@nouneyhill9795]

if the loans were repaid; then the fraud yielded no liability. Let President Trump run in theprimary and the people decide for themselves.

[@gladysluna8520]

We want NO more lies.