There’s an old saying about doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results, and it is with that in mind that I share the following news: Donald Trump may finally be facing real consequences for his actions. Yes, we’ve been here before. Yes, he’s always gotten away with it. Yes, I believe this time could be different. Let me explain why, and it has nothing to do with his astrological birth chart, or Pluto finally moving into Aquarius, but know that in my heart, I also believe those things matter, as well. I just know the limits of my own credibility in discussing the matter.
See, to understand this, you have to ask yourself what Trump has that you most likely don’t. The answer is not a hateful cult of bigots at your disposal. Honestly, I feel like that is ultimately more a hindrance than a help. See, what Trump has that you and I don’t is money. It’s that simple, and a New York judge in Trump’s civil case just effectively cut Trump off at the knees, financially, due to fraud. Per HuffPost:
Judge Arthur Engoron, ruling in a civil lawsuit brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James, found that Trump and his company deceived banks, insurers and others by massively overvaluing his assets and exaggerating his net worth on paperwork used in making deals and securing loans.
Engoron ordered that some of Trump’s business licenses be rescinded as punishment, making it difficult or impossible for them to do business in New York, and said he would continue to have an independent monitor oversee Trump Organization operations.
If not successfully appealed, the order would strip Trump of his authority to make strategic and financial decisions over some of his key properties in the state.
How is Trump to do anything without access to the money his business generates?!
This ruling from the judge is widely being called a “corporate death penalty” for the Trump Organization. It also sounds metal AF. What does that mean, though? Insider explains:
And the penalty is so rare that the only previous time it’s been attempted on such a grand scale — when James sought the corporate death penalty in her three-year-old, ongoing fraud lawsuit against the NRA — has failed.
“It’s a staggering judgment,” said John Moscow, a former financial-crimes prosecutor for the Manhattan district attorney’s office.
“It means you are no longer a company, and the judge is appointing someone to take over the assets and distribute them as the court sees fit.”
You’ll recall Trump once took out full newspaper ads calling for the death penalty for five Black men in the Central Park Five case. The men were later fully exonerated. I hope they’re having a good day today. No reason I bring that up.
So if Trump’s lawyers don’t appeal this ruling and win (and they’ve already said they will appeal, doesn’t look so good they’ll win since the judge is already fining them for reusing bad arguments he already threw out), this means that the Trump Organization has essentially ceased to operate, effective as of the ruling. Insider explains:
[Manhattan financial-crimes prosecutor, Diana ] Florence likens it to losing a driver’s license — it doesn’t change that you own the car, but it changes everything about what you can and can’t do with it.
“Without a corporate charter, you can’t operate as a corporation,” she said. “You can’t get loans, you can’t apply for a government contract.
“It’s comparable to once a person dies. A dead person can’t sell property. Only the executor of the estate can do that — or in this case, the receiver.”
This is why Trump can’t try to pull a fast one and transfer ownership of everything the company owns to someone else, or another company out of state. It’s already not his anymore.
The next step in the process is, once a receiver is appointed—the Judge demanded Trump’s team supply names of three suitable options—the receiver would begin the process of dismantling the company and selling it off for cash, which would go back to Trump, once debts are paid off. The receiver would be answerable to the court and no one else. Trump could, in theory, bid for the assets again, but you have to have money to do that. Does he?
This case, by the way, is why Trump’s sons, Don Jr. and the blond one, have taken to social media to scream about the cost of Trump’s tacky-ass home, Mar-a-Lago, because the Judge ruled that they grossly overinflated its value:
Donald Trump is desperate to stop this case. His team has gone so far as to sue Judge Engoron, and according to The New York Times, an appeals court is supposed to decide on that this week.
Don’t break out the champagne yet, though. According to Insider, the process of dismantling the Trump Organization would probably take awhile:
Still, she [Diana Florence] added: “I think nothing will happen for a long time. It’ll be years, I think.”
Insider
Look, as the other saying goes: You either die a hero or live long enough to see your fraud-infested criminal enterprise of a business dismantled by a court-appointed receiver and stripped down for parts. Tale as old as time, really.
(featured image: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
