New York AG's political hit job on Trump family
Former U.S. Attorney General William Barr slammed New York Attorney General Letitia James’ civil lawsuit against the Trump family on Wednesday, saying that it was hard for him “not to conclude it’s a political hit job.”
The lawsuit targets the former president, his business, and many associates. In addition to the former president, the lawsuit targets Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump, Ivanka Trump, Allen Weisselberg, Jeffrey McConney, The Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust, The Trump Organization, Inc., and others.
The lawsuit seeks to punish the targets with a $250 million penalty and a ban on operating any businesses in New York. James also seeks to ban Trump and the Trump Organization from purchasing any real estate in New York for the next five years. The New York attorney general is also referring her investigation into Trump to the Department of Justice for criminal charges.
Barr responded to the lawsuit during an interview on Fox News with anchor John Roberts.
“It would seem that her goal is to eviscerate the family business,” Roberts said. “What do you think of what she’s doing?”
“It’s hard for me not to conclude it’s a political hit job,” Barr responded. “And this is a woman who campaigned for office saying that — promising she was going to go after Trump, which I think is a tremendous abuse of office to go head-hunting and targeting individuals. So, I think she was targeting Trump. And this is, after three years, a civil lawsuit, the gist of which is that, when the Trump Organization borrowed money, Trump personally guaranteed those loans.”
“And to support that, she’s claiming that he inflated his assets on his financial statements. Now, I’m not even sure she has a good case against Trump himself. But what ultimately persuades me that this is a political hit job is, she grossly overreaches when she tries to drag the children into this,” Barr continued. “Yes, they had roles in the business, but this was his personal financial statement. It was prepared by the CFO. Accounting firms were involved in it. The children aren’t going to know the details of that and be able — and nor are they expected in the real world to do their own due diligence and have it reviewed independently.”
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This is a case that makes little sense on several levels. Early in my legal career, I prosecuted fraud cases and this does not look like one. I eventually became general counsel for an investment banking firm and participated in several major financial transactions. When making loans of the size involved in major building projects the due diligence of the lenders is significant. The borrower's financial statements are reviewed in detail and the company's accountants certify their accuracy while the lender also looks at the assets. Lawyers will also look at the appraisals. They will look at the lease agreements and the cash flow anticipated from a building. In this case, there appears to be no evidence that the Trump company is in default on the loans in question. That would appear to be a prerequisite for such a case and that case would be brought by the lenders and not James.
See, also:
And:
Townhall’s Kurt Schlichter lays out how New York’s lawsuit against Donald Trump will go
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