Former President Donald Trump blasted a Manhattan judge’s ruling against him as “horrible” and “un-American” in a rambling social media post after he was found liable for fraud, resulting in the revocation of his New York business licenses.
“The widespread attack against me, my family, and my supporters has devolved to new, un-American depths, at the hands of a DERANGED New York State Judge, doing the bidding of a completely biased and corrupt “Prosecutor,” Letitia James,” Trump, 77, railed on his Truth Social platform after the ruling.
“This is Democrat Political Lawfare, and a Witch Hunt at a level never seen before. It is an attempt to badly injure the opposing Party’s Leading, by far, Political Candidate,” he fumed.
Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron found Trump, his family and his business, the Trump Organization, committed fraud by greatly overvaluing his wealth on business documents for years to get sweet deals from banks — a claim first made by New York Attorney General Letitia James in her lawsuit against the defendants.
“Nothing like this has ever happened in our Country before. My Civil Rights have been violated, and some Appellate Court, whether Federal or State, must reverse this horrible, un-American decision. If they can do this to me, they can do this to YOU!” Trump added.
In a 35-page ruling, Engoron sided with James, who alleged that Trump made several indisputably false statements to secure favorable loans.
The judge revoked the Trump Organizations New York “business certificates” and any other New York-based business run by Trump or his family. An independent third party will be tasked with “managing the dissolution of the canceled LLCs,” according to the ruling.
Trump’s attempts to get the court to dismiss James’ fraud and other claims was also denied by Engoron. The former president claimed that Engogron refused to let the case move to the state courts’ “commercial division” where he said it belonged.
He also complained that the decision was made without a trial by jury.
“[The Trump Organization] is a great company that has been slandered and maligned by this politically motivated Witch Hunt,” Trump said in a separate Truth Social post.
Trump and his family members appeared to be particularly upset with the judge’s valuation of Mar-A-Lago, his sprawling Florida estate, which was estimated to be worth $18 million. He said the property could be worth “almost 100 times that amount.”
Eric Trump, the ex-president’s son, said that Mar-A-Lago may be “the most valuable residential property in the country.”
“In an attempt to destroy my father and kick him out of New York, a Judge just ruled that Mar-a-Lago, in Palm Beach Florida, is only worth approximate “$18 Million dollars”…” he tweeted. “Mar-a-Lago is speculated to be worth we’ll [sic] over a billion dollars making it arguably the most valuable residential property in the country. It is all so corrupt and coordinated.”
“If Mar-a-Lago is worth $18 million… I’ll take 10 please!!!” Eric’s brother Donald Trump Jr. tweeted.
“The real estate circles in Florida are laughing at this foolishness,” Eric Trump responded. He also shared several listing for nearby properties going for significantly more than $18 million.
“If my father tried claiming the property was worth $18 million, he would probably then get charged with trying to underpay his real estate taxes!” Donald Trump Jr. wrote in another tweet. “They’ve set the game up so it’s always lose/lose in these blue states. If you don’t abide by their narrative they will target you.”
“I AM WORTH MUCH MORE THAN THE NUMBERS SHOWN ON MY FINANCIAL STATEMENTS,” Trump yelled on Truth Social.
The judge’s ruling means Trump could be stripped of control over some of his namesake properties – including Trump Tower in Midtown Manhattan.
The 45th president plans to appeal the decision, his attorneys said.
A non-jury trial is set to start Oct. 2 for Engoron to hear arguments on the other claims in the suit, before deciding on those allegations.
James’ office has previously alleged that the former president, the Trump Organization, and Eric and Donald Trump Jr. overstated the value of his assets by as much as $3.6 billion a year.
