Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance will be back in the federal court of appeals later this week arguing (again) that the subpoenas it issued fit within the SCOTUS’s test for when a state may subpoena records from a president. The subpoena is from a state court, Trump sought injunctions in federal court. It went to the Supreme Court, which outlined a test for subpoenas. The federal district court applied the SCOTUS test and said the subpoena could go forward, Trump appealed that ruling. The appellate court is near sure to rule against Trump and Trump will then seek relief – again – from the SCOTUS. Trump will play out the clock as long as possible, certainly until after the election.
But according to CNBC, Vance’s briefing indicates for the first time that Manhattan prosecutors were investigating possible tax fraud. That may sound familiar but it’s not. Two months ago we reported that the initial briefing stated that prosecutors sought records on possible bank fraud and insurance fraud, given that Trump would inflate values and deflate estimated values of property, depending upon the advantage.
Today, for the first time, New York said it might be going after the big one, tax fraud itself. It seems self-evident, even to the MAGAs – most likely, that Trump’s taxes contain evidence of several crimes or he would not be paying millions of dollars to keep them hidden. Tax fraud likely represents the biggest financial crime and often includes things like money laundering. It may also reveal that Trump has “transactions” with unsavory folks from all over the world who may hold undue influence that limits Trump’s independence.
According to CNBC [1]:
But Vance’s team said in Monday’s court filing that the subpoena is more than justified by news reports that have raised the prospect that Trump and his company misstated the values of their business properties at different times.
The filings said that if misstatements about business properties were conveyed from the Trump Organization’s headquarters in New York to business partners, insurers, potential lenders or tax authorities, that could mean the breaking of state laws such as scheme to defraud, falsification of business records, insurance fraud and criminal tax fraud, the filing said.
Yes, yes it would.
Remember when you played Monopoly when you were a kid? Remember the goal? Buy as much property as possible, bill the shit out of people who landed on your spots, collect salary as you pass go? But remember the other wild care in the game? All those transactions were always risky: “Go to Jail, Go Directly to Jail. Do Not Pass Go, Do Not Collect $200”
Life in high stakes real estate is just that way. It can be done without breaking laws. It just takes someone with real ethics and a business plan that doesn’t require shortcuts. If people are in the business but don’t have any ethics and whose business plans are always on the edge of boom and bust, well, they often go directly to jail. Sound like anyone you know?
****
Peace, y’all
jason
[email protected] and on Twitter @MiciakZoom