United States President-elect Donald Trump had been hoping that his massive $454 million civil fraud judgment would be dropped after he was elected president. But that’s not going to happen.
Donald Trump currently faces a $454 million civil fraud judgment after courts found that he fraudulently inflated the value of his assets – including many of his prestigious golf courses – in order to obtain more favorable loan rates. As a result, Trump will be on the hook for the $454 million plus interest if he does not win an appeal. If he cannot come up with the money, courts could begin seizing his assets, including some of those golf courses.
Last month, Trump’s attorney, D. John Sauer, asked New York Attorney General Letitia James to drop the civil fraud case against Trump. Sauer said that dropping the charges would “cure” partisan divides and improve “the health of our Republic” after Trump won the 2024 election.
However, it’s pretty clear that’s not going to happen.
In a letter to Trump’s lawyer on Tuesday, a representative for James confirmed that she will continue to pursue the charges against Trump even as he prepares to take office as President next month.
The letter said that because presidents do not have immunity from civil litigation, James plans to continue defending her judgment against Trump during his appeal, even while he serves as president.
“The ordinary burdens of civil litigation do not impede the President’s official duties in a way that violates the U.S. Constitution,” New York Deputy Solicitor General Judith Vale wrote in a letter to Sauer, according to ABC News.
This is obviously horrible news for Trump as it will cost him a lot of money and could potentially result in the loss of his beloved golf courses.
Trump actually admitted earlier this year that this judgment would force him to “mortgage or sell” some of his assets — potentially including his golf courses — at what he called “Fire Sale prices” to cover the debt. This nearly became a reality when James took initial steps to seize one of those golf courses earlier this year.
Needless to say, this sparked a lot of reactions from readers in the comments of the story.
“You go, girl! Trump was found guilty and has to pay the price. He has no interest in ending partisanship since he is constantly calling dems evil. He just doesn’t want to pay up. What a low life we have coming to the White House. Shame. Shame. Shame!” one person wrote in the comments on the NewsBreak app.
“Trump should be required to settle this case and the ones against E Jean Carroll before being allowed to take the oath of office on Jan 20. After all, in these cases Trump was found liable for huge damages that will only grow with interest in the next four years, not to mention the unfairness to the plaintiffs to have to sit by waiting for these monies to be paid. It doesn’t matter that Trump disagrees with these verdicts as it is sure he would never agree with them, so the courts need to direct him to pay without delay,” another person added.
“The money Trump owes on his NY judgment is not a fine for lying to the banks about the value of his mortgaged properties. The money is a conservative estimate of how much more taxes Trump would have paid to NY State if he had kept honest business records. These millions are what he stole from NY taxpayers. That’s why NY DoJ wants him to pay what he owes,” someone else added.
“He should have to still pay it — every other American has to pay restitution, why shouldn’t he?” another person added.
“Thank you, Letitia James. At least someone had a spine,” someone else wrote.
“Good! He is NOT above the law, no matter what they say or do!” another person said.
Trump has long dreamed of hosting a major championship at one of his golf courses. If they are seized by the state, that obviously would not be able to happen.
[ABC News]
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