Trump supporters and conspiracy theory - Part 2

[Rick Plant]

Donald Trump’s legal woes threaten to engulf him as accountants abandon ship
Mazars’ cutting ties with ex-president mark significant step in New York investigation of his financial affairs, among 19 current cases



The news that the longtime accounting firm for the Trump Organization has cut ties with the company and retracted 10 years of its financial statements is a new and serious blow to Donald Trump’s increasingly frenzied battle to fend off the legal investigations that are rapidly engulfing him.

The revelation that Mazars USA last week ended its relationship with the Trump family comes at a perilous moment for the former president as he strives to protect himself, his family and his business from legal threats that are now coming thick and fast.

A Guardian tally this month found that Trump was facing a total of 19 legal challenges, six of which involve alleged financial irregularities.

By withdrawing its stamp of approval from the documents, Mazars leaves Trump potentially exposed to substantial legal and financial trouble.

The papers, known as statements of financial condition, were used by Trump and his family business to attract and secure hundreds of millions of dollars in loans. They are also at the centre of an escalating investigation by the New York state attorney general, Letitia James.

Last month James tightened the screws on Trump and the Trump Organization by releasing details in a filing of several instances involving golf courses, real estate and other assets where the family had allegedly “falsely and fraudulently valued multiple assets and misrepresented those values to financial institutions for economic benefit”.

In a letter dated 9 February, Mazars’ general counsel, William Kelly, told the Trump Organization that the annual financial statements it had prepared for the family business between 2011 and 2020 were no longer reliable.

The accountants said they had based their decision partly on their own investigation into Trump’s finances and on the “totality of the circumstances”, concluding that “we are not able to provide any new work product to the Trump Organization”.

On the back of James’s latest attack, Michael Cohen, Trump’s former personal attorney and an ex-vice president of the Trump Organization, told the Guardian that in his opinion “the House of Trump is crumbling”.

James’s investigation is one of the most advanced and potentially dangerous of all the 19 legal actions bearing down on Trump. The inquiry is being pursued on both civil and criminal lines.

James is working in tandem with a separate criminal investigation by the Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg. That inquiry is also looking into whether Trump and his family concern defrauded lenders or underpaid taxes by falsely representing his assets.

The disclosure that Mazars had broken off relations with Trump was included in a new court filing from James on Monday as part of her ongoing attempt to force Trump and his two eldest children, Donald Jr and Ivanka, to testify under subpoena.

Trump has consistently denied financial impropriety and has attempted to cast doubt on James’s investigation by denouncing it as a partisan witch-hunt. James is a Democrat, while Trump won the presidency in 2016 as a Republican.

The Trump Organization said it was “disappointed” by Mazars’ decision but tried to spin the development in a positive light. It selectively cited a line in the Mazars letter that said that “we have not concluded that the various financial statements, as a whole, contain material discrepancies”, adding that the comment rendered the James and Bragg investigations “moot”.

As Trump’s legal and financial woes deepen, he is also being assailed by a flurry of bad news surrounding the congressional investigation into the January 6 insurrection at the US Capitol. Trump, who is at the centre of the House select committee inquiry given that his “big lie” that the 2020 election was stolen from him drew thousands of his supporters to the Capitol building that day, has been trying to persuade his closest advisers not to cooperate.

This week it was revealed that John Eastman, a conservative law professor who was integral to attempts to persuade the then vice president, Mike Pence, to delay certification of Joe Biden’s victory on January 6, has handed over 8,000 pages of emails to the committee.

It has also become known that Rudy Giuliani, who as Trump’s lawyer was a key figure in the campaign to overturn the presidential election results, has opened a dialogue with the committee that could see him testifying in some form.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/feb/15/donald-trump-mazars-accountants-legal-woes

[Rick Plant]

Keep up the Stasi-like vilification of the working class.  That's a great recipe for a crushing election loss in November.  There has been no "violence" among the Canadian truckers.  An entirely peaceful protest despite Trudeau's outlandish threats. Trudeau is acting more and more like a Communist era dictator trying to repress the uprisings that will sweep him from power. He is cowering in fear. His elitist upbringing led him to believe he ruled over the mass by divine right.  Wrong.  Let's go Brandeau.

Hilarious!

The Canadian working class supports the mask/vaccine mandates and opposes these illegal blockades as does the majority of Americans. 90% of Canadian truckers are vaccinated and oppose these illegal blockades as well. The overwhelming majority of Canadians want these right wing fascists to go home and to quit taking away their freedoms by illegally blocking them from traveling in their cities.     

"Outlandish threats"? These right wing fascists are illegally blocking highways and bridges preventing international trade and commerce from Canada and the United States. These illegal blockades are resulting in millions of dollars in damage to the US/Canadian economies and the auto industries. They are also preventing Canadian citizens from going to work, the elderly and the sick from getting essential medicine and supplies, and Canadian citizens from living their normal lives by taking away their freedoms. That is an illegal government take over by radical right wingers. PM Trudeau has every right to stop this siege and act of war against his country. These fascists have no right to do that and that's why the Emergencies Act was enacted.     

The overwhelming majority of Canadians oppose this fascist convoy insurrection. The overwhelming majority of Canadians support vaccine and mask mandates just like in the United States. These radical right wingers are in the clear minority in Canada and the United States. They are directly responsible for keeping this pandemic going.   
"Cowering in fear"? I don't see Prime Minister Trudeau hiding in fear inside a bunker like Criminal Donald did as the true coward he is.

Blockade Backlash: Three-in-four Canadians tell convoy protesters, ‘Go Home Now’
https://angusreid.org/trudeau-convoy-trucker-protest-vaccine-mandates-covid-19/

There has been no "violence" among the Canadian truckers. An entirely peaceful protest despite Trudeau's outlandish threats.

You ignored this again.

Swastikas, other hate symbols displayed at Canadian protest against COVID mandates
Journalists say they were subject to hate speech and violence while reporting on ‘Freedom Convoy’ rally in Ottawa
https://www.timesofisrael.com/swastikas-other-hate-symbols-displayed-at-canadian-protest-against-covid-mandates/

"No violence" you say? Violence was reported by journalists on the ground and in the Canadian media.

Why was there a massive amount of illegal weapons confiscated by Mounties at a "peaceful protest" as you falsely claim?   

Police and Canadian citizens lives are at risk. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has every right to shut this violent insurrection down in the name of law and order. 

Watertown Daily Times
Violence erupts in Canada at COVID-vaccine-mandate protests
https://www.nny360.com/news/publicservicenews/violence-erupts-in-canada-at-covid-vaccine-mandate-protests/article_4c2a2a65-b9df-56e8-a515-e1f40116a308.html

Canadian police arrest 11 people with massive weapons cache at ‘Freedom Convoy’ protest
Law enforcement seizes 13 long guns, handguns, multiple sets of body armour, a machete, a large quantity of ammunition, and high capacity magazines
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/freedom-convoy-weapons-cache-arrest-b2015041.html

[Rick Plant]

Trump facing 'potential legal disaster' in wake of Mazars decision



Former president Donald Trump's freedom is in jeopardy following Mazars USA's decision to drop his company as a client of the accounting firm, according to attorney Philip Rotner.

"My legal analysis is that Trump is in big trouble," Rotner told MSNBC on Wednesday night. "His accounting firm for 10 years fired him. Accounting firms don't fire their clients, especially their big clients, and they cited a non-waivable conflict of interest, which means they're adverse to him. They're no longer protecting him. They're protecting themselves. They also warned off users that they couldn't rely on the financial information that Trump has supplied. That's terrible in a business where your life blood is access to cash and loans from banks. There are outstanding loans that could be called on the basis of the accounting firm saying the financial information supplied is no longer reliable. And it could be almost impossible for Trump to find new sources of cash, because who's going to rely on his financial statements now?"

"Worse yet, all of this is happening in the midst of a civil and criminal investigations taking place in New York," Rotner added. "That all lines up to potential legal disaster for Trump — for his business, and potentially for his freedom."

Asked to wait degree he believes Mazars USA is cooperating with the investigations, Rotner said he believes the firm is "deep into the self-protective mode."

"They can't do anything about what's happened (in the past)," he said. "All they can do now is figure out the best way to move forward, and I think they've figured out that the best way to move forward is to cooperate. They know everything, and so we know that they're talking to the district attorney in Manhattan. We know they've provided reams of documents, and right now they're spending a lot of time with their lawyers as well, and I'm sure their lawyers are telling them, 'Cooperate.' Firing Trump was a good first step, it was a little late, and they may have some making up to do for that lateness, but they're now I think doing what they can to get in front of this and protect themselves and not worry about protecting Trump."

Watch below:

[Rick Plant]

Trumpworld in full meltdown following breakup with Mazars



February has not been a fun month for former President Donald Trump and his embattled Trump Organization, and according to a new report in The Daily Beast, the news that Trump’s longtime accounting firm, Mazars USA, fired him as a client has triggered a full-blown meltdown throughout the meretricious mazes of Trumpworld.

Mazars can “no longer stand behind a decade of annual financial statements it prepared for the Trump Organization, court documents show,” The New York Times revealed on Monday.

Mazars’ legally loud move is the latest tendril extending from the palette of civil and criminal investigations into Trump’s personal business practices by New York Attorney General Letitia James and New York City District Attorney Alvin Bragg, both of whom are amassing breadcrumbs suggesting that Trump and his associates engaged in schemes to defraud lending institutions and evade taxes.

Trump insiders told the Beast that they have advised Trump and his three eldest offspring – each of whom has been intimately involved in running the family business – that having your financial handlers jump ship is bad news.

“I’ll be honest with you: I have said for years that this whole thing is one big fishing expedition,” one individual told the Beast. “I’ve expected it to just fizzle at some point, or to turn up ticky tacky shit that can score prosecutors big headlines. The Mazars news was the first time I started thinking, ‘Hey, this might be serious.’ Could Donald Trump [and his business] be screwed? I don’t know, but I’m not as confident as I once was in saying, ‘No.’”

That person’s concern for Trump’s wellbeing was not unique.

“None of these sources who spoke to Trump believed he was taking this as seriously as he should. Two of them said the former president told them that his business empire has been doing ‘great,’ no matter what prosecutors are trying to do to it,” the Beast noted.

Appearances, above all else, are what matter most to Trump.

“We have a great company with fantastic assets that are unique, extremely valuable and, in many cases, far more valuable than what was listed in our Financial Statements,” he said in a statement on Tuesday.

The peril that Trump faces is very real, Miami-based bankruptcy attorney Steven J. Solomon explained to the Beast.

“It’s incredibly significant. And frankly, I’ve never heard of a situation where an accounting firm is going back retroactively 10 years. This would be a trigger point. If your lender doesn’t have confidence in you because it can’t rely on the information, you can’t be friends anymore,” he said, adding later that “this is going to be incredibly troubling and at the same time. You’re going to have bank regulators looking… at these loans and determining that there are these questions being raised about the solvency of the borrower.”

Solomon said that Mazars leaving the Trump Organization in the dust will likely spook future firms away from doing business with the Trumps. This, in turn, may force Trump to explore other, less respectable avenues of obtaining credit.

“This explodes the national security risk by a factor of 10, because now he's going to be desperate for new loans. Legitimate banks are not going to touch him. So it expands the universe of shady characters who could offer him loans in return for favors that might include disclosing U.S. national security secrets,” said Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft fellow Joseph Cirincione.

“Whether it is the Saudis, Russians, narcoterrorists – anybody with access to hundreds of millions would be in the running for Donald Trump’s new loan officer,” he said. “That is why you don’t give security clearance to people who are financially compromised.”

But the end game may already be in play.

Barbara Res, who designed and built Trump Tower, believes that the key to nailing Trump is to convince ex-Trump Organization Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg – who was indicted last year for tax fraud – to turn on his former boss.

“Weisselberg is who’s in trouble now. He's probably the one that gave all the information to the accountants. They didn’t get it out of thin air. They worked with Weisselberg, He’s the guy. They didn’t check [real estate values] themselves. They’re not real estate people,” Res said. “I hope that they flip Weisselberg, because this is a big deal with him. He’s the one who’d go to jail for this, I would think.”

Res also told the Beast that during her tenure at the Trump Organization, “people didn’t let” Trump cook the books. “We controlled him. But he reached the point where [he] no longer had anyone who’d say no to him.”

Res added that given everything that has come to light about Trump, “if he gets away from this, there’s no God, and no reason to live.”

https://www.thedailybeast.com/donald-trumps-inner-circle-freaks-that-his-tax-firm-screwed-him

[Rick Plant]

Judge orders Trump, children to answer questions about their business practices under oath
A New York judge shot down a bid to block the state attorney general's subpoenas of the former president, Donald Trump Jr. and Ivanka Trump.

A New York judge on Thursday ordered former President Donald Trump and two of his children to answer questions under oath about the Trump Organization's business practices in the state attorney general's civil probe of the company.

Lawyers for Trump, Donald Trump Jr. and Ivanka Trump had sought to quash the subpoenas from Attorney General Letitia James' office, arguing her investigation is politically motivated and designed to provide fuel for an ongoing criminal probe into the company by the Manhattan district attorney's office.

In his ruling, state Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron gave the green light for the three to be deposed within the next three weeks. He also ordered the former president to turn over documents and information that had been subpoenaed within two weeks, and portrayed the Trumps' claims of being selectively targeted as overblown.

"In the final analysis, a state attorney general commences investigating a business entity, uncovers copious evidence of possible financial fraud, and wants to question, under oath, several of the entities' principals, including its namesake. She has the clear right to do so," the judge wrote in his eight-page decision.

The Trumps' lawyers indicated at a hearing earlier in the day that they would appeal if the judge let the depositions proceed. "There is a likelihood that we will appeal,” Alan Futerfas, the attorney for the Trump children, said.

James celebrated the ruling in a statement, saying, "Today, justice prevailed."

"No one will be permitted to stand in the way of the pursuit of justice, no matter how powerful they are. No one is above the law,” she added.

James' office is looking into whether to file a civil suit against the Trump Organization over allegedly inflated financial statements. In court filings, her office alleged it has “uncovered substantial evidence establishing numerous misrepresentations in Mr. Trump’s financial statements provided to banks, insurers, and the Internal Revenue Service.”

Among the items James wants to ask Trump about are several "Statements of Financial Condition" involving the company that the attorney general says were inflated by hundreds of millions of dollars and that had been signed off on by the former president.

The attorney general's office said in January that it has not yet reached a final decision about whether the evidence it says it has found merits legal action.

Lawyers for the Trumps contended James wants to question the trio to improperly gather evidence in a related criminal probe by the Manhattan district attorney's office.

Two lawyers from James' office are assisting in the district attorney's investigation, which has led to criminal charges against the Trump Organization and its former chief financial officer, Allan Weisselberg. Both the company and Weisselberg have pleaded not guilty to the charges, which include allegations of tax fraud and falsifying business records.

The judge noted that the Trumps would be able to invoke their Fifth Amendment rights during the depositions if they had concerns about self-incrimination, and noted that Trump's son Eric had taken the Fifth more than 500 times when he was deposed for the probe back in 2020.

Donald Trump lawyer Ron Fischetti said this case is "special" because "this is a former president of the United States," and if he takes the Fifth while answering questions, "he'll be on every front page in the world."

Engoron countered that there's nothing in the law making a former president special. "To me, he's a citizen," the judge said. 

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that asserting one’s Fifth Amendment rights is not an admission of guilt, but Trump offered a different perspective while running for president in 2016. “The mob takes the Fifth. If you’re innocent, why are you taking the Fifth Amendment?” he said at a rally in Iowa after an aide of rival Hillary Clinton had taken the Fifth in an investigation of her email server.

The allegations involving the financial statements have caused other problems for Trump over the past week, including his longtime accounting firm Mazars' decision to cut ties with the Trump Organization after reviewing the statements it helped prepare.

"We write to advise that the Statements of Financial Condition for Donald J. Trump for the years ending June 30, 2011 — June 30, 2020, should no longer be relied upon," the company said in a letter.

"While we have not concluded that the various financial statements, as a whole, contain material discrepancies, based upon the totality of the circumstances, we believe our advice to you to no longer rely upon those financial statements is appropriate," it added.

In a statement Monday, the Trump Organization pointed to the line about lack of "material discrepancies" as "confirmation (that) effectively renders the investigations by the DA and AG moot.” 

Engoron mocked that claim in his ruling. "To proclaim that the Mazars' red-flag warning that the Trump financial statements are unreliable suddenly renders the OAG's long-running investigation moot is as audacious as it is preposterous," the judge wrote.

On Thursday, the Democratic-controlled House Oversight Committee, citing Mazars' disavowal of the statements, urged the General Services Administration to cancel its lease for Trump's Washington, D.C., hotel. Trump reportedly struck a deal to sell the lease late last year, and he stands to make a $100 million profit if the GSA approves the sale, the committee noted.

In a filing responding to specific allegations from the attorney general about the financial statements earlier this week, Trump's lawyer Alina Habba said the former president denies "knowledge or information sufficient to form a belief as to the truth of the allegations.”

The day after that filing, however, Trump issued a lengthy statement defending his company's accounting, saying, "We have a great company with fantastic assets that are unique, extremely valuable and, in many cases, far more valuable than what was listed in our Financial Statements."

He said  that Mazars had been "essentially forced to resign from a great long-term account by the prosecutorial misconduct of a highly political, but failed, gubernatorial candidate, Letitia James, and the Hillary Clinton run District Attorney’s Office of Manhattan."

The attorney general's office flagged the statement to the judge in a letter Wednesday.

“It is not unusual for parties to a legal proceeding to disagree about the facts,” the letter said. “But it is truly rare for a party to publicly disagree with statements submitted by his own attorneys in a signed pleading — let alone one day after the pleading was filed.”

The letter urged the judge to ignore the legal responses from Trump and his children, arguing they "improperly deny knowledge about subjects indisputably known" to them, including what Trump's positions were at the company and what Trump Jr.'s job is.

"Despite currently serving as an executive vice president of the Trump Organization, Donald Trump, Jr. denies knowledge or information sufficient to form a belief as to allegations that he is an executive vice president of the Trump Organization," the attorney general's letter said.

Futerfas responded in his own letter to the judge that the attorney general’s recital of its case included "vague" allegations and the Trumps' responses were all made in "good faith."

Also Thursday, a judge in Washington set a trial date for a separate civil case that's been brought against the Trump Organization and Trump's presidential inaugural committee by Washington Attorney General Karl Racine. It alleges that the inaugural committee improperly used inaugural funds to enrich the Trump family. The company and the committee have denied any wrongdoing. The case is scheduled to go to trial Sept. 26.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/judge-orders-trump-children-answer-questions-business-practices-oath-rcna16659

[Rick Plant]

Judge slaps down Don Jr. Ivanka and Donald Trump’s effort to dodge subpoenas — and gives them three weeks to testify

Donald Trump and his children Ivanka and Donald Trump Jr. have lost their bid to quash subpoenas issued by New York Attorney General Letitia James. The Trumps were dodging an effort to testify in the Trump Organization fraud case.

As part of their argument, the lawyers for the Trumps claimed that James could not oversee the case because she trashed Trump during her campaign for attorney general. They also alleged that the case, which is civil, is happening at the same time as a criminal probe.

Judge Arthur Engoron ruled on Thursday that the New York AG's office has the right to compel Trump and his children to testify -- and now he's given them 21 days to do so.

"In the final analysis, a State Attorney General commences investigating a business entity, uncovers copious evidence of possible financial fraud, and wants to question, under oath, several of the entities’ principals, including its namesake," Engoron wrote. "She has the clear right to do so."

"Once you use the word ‘criminal’, you’re in grand jury land,” said attorney Alan Futeras, who represents Don Jr. and Ivanka, according to Courthouse News.

Donald Trump's lawyer claims that because it's "really" a criminal case, they should be before the grand jury answering questions. The reason goes back to New York's transactional immunity law. Courthouse News explains that such immunity would protect Trump from prosecution from any crime if he unveils things during his testimony.

"Here we get transaction immunity," said criminal defense attorney Ron Fischetti. "They want to ask him questions under oath? Fine, put him in a grand jury. Immunity, that’s what we’re entitled to, that’s what the constitution says we’re entitled to. They want to investigate? Investigate all they want, subpoena documents, subpoena witnesses, do whatever they want. If she wants sworn testimony from my client, he’s entitled to immunity, that’s what the constitution and the state of New York says. He gets immunity for what he says, or he says nothing."

The lawyer for Ivanka and Donald Trump Jr. also asked for immunity for his clients.

"Put ‘em before the grand jury, they’ll testify, they’ll have immunity, they won’t be able draw this unfair adverse inference that’d be grossly unfair," said Futerfas. "They’ll get the information they want, but at least our clients will get immunity pursuant to the law and the constitution."

New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman captured some of the key moments in the statements Thursday, tweeting, a quote from Judge Arthur Ergonon who interrupted Fischetti saying, "I appreciate your vigor, shall I say."

The judge then raised questions about the immunity demand, saying that Trump could plead the Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. Fischetti falsely claimed that Trump can't do that. All people, regardless of the case or trial, can plead the Fifth, as evidenced by Eric Trump, who spent six hours doing exactly that in Jan. 2022. Trump Org. CFT Allen Weisselberg similarly pleaded the Fifth when questioned in 2020.

When it comes to the attacks on the attorney general, Habmerman also cited a judge sounding "very skeptical" of the claim "that James went too far in her comments." The judge said that James never said that Trump was guilty.

New York lawyer for the attorney general's office, Kevin Wallace, quoted former Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau, who once spoke of Trump's mentor Roy Cohn, "A man is not immune from prosecution merely because a United States attorney happens not to like him."

“There are six hundred and some odd documents in this case … I don’t remember any point in which Letitia James criticized Donald Trump’s viewpoint,” said Judge Engoron of the former president's lawyer said. “Am I missing something there?

“What viewpoint of Donald Trump do you think Letitia James is using to investigate him,” the judge asked. “There’s no viewpoint discrimination. There’s politics maybe, she’s a politician, she was elected.”

Ultimately, the Trumps lost their attempts to hide from the deposition. They must sit for questions.

James issued a statement in support of the ruling, saying that no one is above the law.

"Today, a court ruled in our favor that Donald Trump must appear before my office as part of our investigation into his financial dealings.

No one will be permitted to stand in the way of the pursuit of justice, no matter how powerful they are.

Donald Trump, Donald Trump Jr., and Ivanka Trump must all comply with this court order and testify before my office within 21 days.

No one is above the law."

https://www.rawstory.com/trump-court-ruling/

[Rick Plant]

Trump will likely take the Fifth in NY AG's case — and that could come back to bite him



Donald Trump and his two children Ivanka and Donald Trump Jr. lost a case Thursday trying to dodge questions in the New York Attorney General Office's civil fraud case against the Trump Organization.

According to CNN legal analyst Elie Honig, the Trumps are likely to appeal. The Trumps were given three weeks to appear and answer questions, so the Supreme Court would have to move quickly to decide whether to accept the case or uphold the New York Supreme Court decision.

"Assuming appeal is unsuccessful, Trump, Ivanka and Don Jr. must testify under oath," Honig explained. He anticipated that the Trumps would plead the Fifth Amendment against self-incrimination as Eric Trump did for six hours.

Former federal prosecutor Joyce White Vance agreed that Trump will likely plead the Fifth. It presents a political problem for Trump, who has attacked those who've done so in the past.

“The mob takes the Fifth,” Trump once declared.

Vance further said Trump will likely claim his Fifth Amendment plea is "not because he’s guilty but because NY prosecutors are running a witch-hunt and they’ll use what he says against him no matter what."

If that's the route Trump goes, fellow former federal prosecutor Renato Mariti explained, then Trump is between a rock and a hard place. Because this is a civil case, Trump pleading the Fifth means that it can be used in the Manhattan DA case. The jury in that case would be able to hear the context in which Trump pleaded the Fifth as part of the accusations against him.

See the full comments in link below:

https://www.rawstory.com/trump-fifth-amendment-problem/