Alleging ‘Art of the Steal,’ Letitia James Moves on the Trumps

In a startling move today, New York State’s attorney general, Letitia James, made a criminal referral of President Trump to federal prosecutors for alleged crimes that the district attorney of New York County, Alvin Bragg, apparently has already decided do not stand up in court. Ms. James has also referred Mr. Trump to the Internal Revenue Service for alleged tax fraud. Both referrals were part of a legal attack on Mr. Trump, the Trump Organization, and the former president’s sons, Eric and Donald Jr., and a daughter, Ivanka.The criminal referrals are but offshoots of a sprawling civil lawsuit that snapped into focus on Wednesday as Ms. James accused Mr. Trump, his company, and three of his adult children of a widespread pattern of fraud, misleading financial statements, and overvaluations to “obtain beneficial financial terms” that totaled more than a quarter of a billion dollars. In a press conference announcing the lawsuit, Ms. James alleged that Mr. Trump “falsely inflated his net worth by billions of dollars to unjustly enrich himself and to cheat the system, thereby cheating all of us.”To that end, the filing argues that Mr. Trump “falsely inflated his net worth by billions of dollars to induce banks to lend money to the Trump Organization on more favorable terms than would otherwise have been available to the company” and to “gain tax benefits, among other things.” In other words, it alleges “financial fraud to obtain a host of economic benefits.”The lawsuit claims that “the number of grossly inflated asset values is staggering, affecting most if not all of the real estate holdings in any given year.” Ms. James called the sum total of these practices “astounding” and in “stark violation of the law” that only grew “more profitable over time.” The suit seeks to permanently bar the four Trumps, along with the one-time chief financial officer of the Trump Organization, Alan Weisselberg, from being officers of any New York corporation, and to disgorge more than $250 million that was said to be the fruit of these allegedly fraudulent practices. It also requests a five-year moratorium on the Trump Organization acquiring property in New York, and the appointment of an independent monitor. In the peroration to her news conference announcing the indictment, Ms. James noted that “white collar financial crime is not a victimless crime” and adumbrated a “tale of two justice systems.” She concluded by venturing that “claiming you have money you do not have does not amount to the art of the deal. It is the art of the steal.” The filings today met with sharp criticism from the chairman of the Republican Party in New York state, Nicholas Langworthy. “Tish James’s civil lawsuit against the Trump family 49 days before the election is one of the most brazen political publicity stunts I have seen during my lifetime,” Mr. Langworthy said. He went on to accuse Ms. James of ignoring “the blatant corruption of her fellow Democrats and the crime wave that has besieged our state. She has engaged in her own corruption of the office, launching political attacks against rivals, and her relentless obsession with not only the president, but his entire family, is disgusting.”

Alleging ‘Art of the Steal,’ Letitia James Moves on the Trumps

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