As you’ve likely heard, Donald Trump and the Trump Organization got some rather bad news on Tuesday. And according to several legal commentators, the court ruling is basically the “corporate death penalty,” according to Newsweek.
The ruling, of course, assumed that Trump and his organization were guilty of corporate fraud, namely that they overvalued a number of their properties, such as Trump’s Palm Beach, Florida residence, Mar-a-Lago Club, to receive certain bank loans and other advantages.
According to New York Judge Arthur Engoron, who has identified as a hard-core Democrat, Mar-a-Lago is only worth somewhere between $18 million and $27.6 million. And yet, to Trump, the property is worth at least $426 million, if not much more.
So what does such a ruling mean for Trump and his organization?
Per Engoron’s ruling, “independent receivers” have been recommended to “oversee the dissolution of the businesses.”
Basically, it’s supposed to cancel all of Trump’s business licenses in the state of New York – a death penalty, indeed.
However, as Newsweek pointed out, the ruling in and of itself is rather confusing and even “somewhat ambiguous.
You see, the ruling does not necessarily order that Trump’s businesses be dissolved. Instead, it merely demands “the naming of receivers who would oversee any dissolution.”
Undoubtedly, the goal here is to make sure Trump and his businesses don’t survive. After all, Attorney General Letitia James, who brought the case against Trump, has pretty much run on a “get Trump” platform for years now despite the lack of evidence on her side.
However, the case is far from being over with.
For starters, Engoron only issued a partial ruling, meaning that by law, an official trial must begin within the coming days.
Secondly, Trump’s lawyers naturally plan to appeal. After all, it’s not like this fraud affects anyone if it were committed. Besides, real estate comps in Palm Beach only prove Trump’s estimates to be more likely than Engoron’s.
These homes are about 1/30 the size of Mar-a-Lago, not on the beach (let alone the beach and intercostal), don’t span from once side of the Palm Beach Island to the other… it is a travesty of justice and an embarrassment to the court. pic.twitter.com/d59nEsTtwo
— Eric Trump (@EricTrump) September 26, 2023
