Former President Donald Trump recently scored a legal victory in New York even as earlier this week he was arraigned in a Miami, Florida, federal courthouse in a documents mishandling case.
The Westchester County district attorney’s office ended a criminal investigation into the Trump Organization without bringing any charges a person familiar with the investigation told Business Insider.
District Attorney Mimi Rocah, a Democrat and former MSNBC commentator, launched the investigation into the Trump Organization in 2021, according to The New York Times.
The probe centered on whether the company was undervaluing the value of its Trump National Golf Club Westchester in order to reduce its property taxes.
Business Insider reported that Rocah shut down the investigation earlier this month.
“Elliott Jacobson, a special prosecutor hired by Rocah, departed the office in late 2022. He found that the evidence collected in the investigation couldn’t support criminal charges, regarded conduct outside the statute of limitations, or overlapped with investigations underway by other law enforcement officials, according to the source, whose identity is known to Insider but who was not authorized to speak on the record,” according to the news outlet.
Democrat New York Attorney General Letitia James brought a civil lawsuit against the Trump Organization in September.
The lawsuit alleges that Trump — his three oldest children Donald Jr., Ivanka, and Eric Trump — and the Trump Organization “engaged in numerous acts of fraud and misrepresentation in the preparation of Mr. Trump’s annual statements of financial condition” during the years 2011 through 2021.
“These acts of fraud and misrepresentation grossly inflated Mr. Trump’s personal net worth as reported in the Statements by billions of dollars and conveyed false and misleading impressions to financial counterparties about how the Statements were prepared,” the lawsuit further claims.
Will Trump get a fair trial in his most recent indictment?
Yes: 11% (46 Votes)
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The means for these purported acts of “fraud and misrepresentation” involve “inflated appraisals” of Trump Organization properties.
So the suit is alleging the opposite of what the Westchester prosecutors were reportedly investigating: the Trump Organization inflated property values, not undervalued them.
Trump responded to James’ lawsuit last fall quoting from the Times in a Truth Social post, “The New York Times: ‘Her (Peekaboo James) case against him could be difficult to prove. Property valuations are often subjective, and the financial statements include a (very strong) disclaimer.’ Thank you!”
“If there were a trial, his lawyers would most likely emphasize that Deutsche Bank and Mr. Trump’s other lenders were hardly victims; all his loans are either current or were paid off, some before they were due,” the Times further noted.
James’ case against Trump is slated to go to trial in Manhattan in October.
Additionally, Democrat Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg filed charges against Trump in March alleging the Trump Organization falsified business records regarding an alleged “hush money” payment made to porn star Stormy Daniels shortly before the 2016 presidential election.
The case is scheduled to go to trial in March 2024, right in the heart of the Republican presidential primary season.
On Tuesday, Trump was arraigned in federal court in Miami on a 37-count indictment concerning the mishandling of classified documents.
The case is being brought by President Joe Biden’s Justice Department against the Democrat’s most likely opponent, as polling now stands, in the 2024 presidential race.
