© 2024
By Don Frost
Some months back I asked the question (without expecting an answer), “When banks grant loans hadn’t they first checked the applicants’ claims as to the value of their collateral?”
To my pleasant surprise, columnist Byron York answered it, and I am deeply indebted to him for much of the research that went into this column. Yes, he said, they do check the applicant’s claims; they don’t just take his word for it.
It’s simply a sound banking principle, part of routine due diligence. Everybody knows that, except the legal brains in New York State. Apparently, they thought several major banks took Donald Trump at his word when he exaggerated the value of the properties he cited as collateral when applying for loans.
The state wouldn’t wait for defrauded banks to complain that they’d been duped. It volunteered to do their job for them: Investigate whether Trump had truthfully reported his wealth to them. Surprise! They found he’d overstated his wealth.
This evil cannot be tolerated, New York State decided. Accordingly, it spent a considerable sum to prosecute Trump for falsely stating the value of his properties. He was found guilty and was fined $350 million which will expand to $450 when interest is tacked on.
Perhaps this is how New York figures to recoup their expenses for filing the lawsuit in the first place.
Or perhaps the Democratic attorney general of the state, Letitia James, had another purpose in mind when she launched the suit.
Or perhaps Democratic Judge Arthur Engoron had another purpose in mind when he imposed a fine of such mind-boggling proportions.
James and Engoron can repeat to their last breaths that Trump’s was not a victim-less crime. That will not make it so. James had no one to put on the witness stand to testify how they’d suffered at Trump’s hands. Her entire case was Trump’s numbers vs. the numbers of independent analysis of the value of his properties. Little noticed by the Trump-hating press was that all the loans not only were repaid on time, but the banks profited, and they remain willing to do business with Trump again.
So what if Trump fudged the value of his properties when he applied for the loans? The banks due diligence had revealed their true value. But they granted the loans anyhow. And they made money. Move along; there are no victims to see here.
Engoron, acting as judge and jury, issued a 92-page report explaining his actions. In it he admitted several things that make clear that Trump was right in accusing him and James of conducting a political witch hunt.
This entire case was persecution disguised as prosecution.
(For the record, I am no fan of Trump. I voted against him twice. I hope I never have to do it again. I do, however, believe in equal justice under the law. But more to the point, I am vehemently opposed to using the judicial system for political purposes and that is clearly what this lawsuit was all about. That crime is worse – more dangerous – than anything Trump did.)
Engoron couldn’t cover up the politics that permeated this trial from start to finish. In his report he:
Admitted that despite Trump’s fraudulent claims, the banks independently investigated those claims and happily granted him the loans he sought.
Admitted there were no victims because the loans were repaid.
Admitted that exaggerating Trump’s wealth – the alpha and omega of why the suit was brought – was not a serious offense.
Admitted what he found unforgivable was Trump’s refusal to admit he was wrong to bloat the value of his properties. And that was why he imposed the draconian fine.
It sounds awfully like Engoron was saying that if Trump had merely bowed his head and mumbled an apology for doing wrong, Engoron would have given him a slap on the wrist and sent him back to Mar-a-Lago.
Think about that: The judge admits the charge against Trump was not serious, but he’s going to expose him to financial ruin anyhow (and, perhaps, cripple his presidential aspirations?) because he wasn’t contrite. As the Wall Street Journal put it, Engoron’s $450 fine was like “using a Hellfire missile to annihilate a shoplifter.”
The verdict and Engoron’s fine had a chilling effect on the New York business community. Individually, they expressed fear that they would face similar crippling penalties should they err. This raised the frightening specter of businesses moving to less vindictive states. New York’s Democratic governor, Kathy Hochul, reassured them. She acknowledged the outcome of the Trump case might make some businesses nervous, “but this is really an extraordinarily unusual circumstance that the law-abiding, rule-following New Yorkers who are businesspeople have nothing to worry about.”
“Extraordinarily unusual circumstance.” Translation: Not to worry; we were after Trump, not you.
Trump is appealing, though James promised she’s not going to wait for an appeal to play out. She’s going to start seizing his properties immediately.
A vindictive attorney general and a petty judge. Shameful. Embarrassing. Disgusting.
Trump may very well end up paying a heavy fine, but New York State and its legal bureaucrats exposed themselves as the biggest losers in this case.
Hunter Biden is under investigation, his apologists claim, because his name is Biden. Engoron’s report, James’s actions, and Hochul’s assurances to New York business leaders make clear that Trump was sued and convicted because his name is Trump.