Trump Handed a Victory in Fraud Trial

Good evening, and right before we dive in, I wanted to quickly mention that in yet another spate of censorship, YouTube has deleted another one of our channels. Specifically, this was an Epoch Times channel called California Insider, and it's a great show that regularly featured both Democrats and Republicans talking about the real issues facing California. The surge in illegal migrants, the legalization of drugs, the epidemic of homelessness, parents having their kids snatched away from them by the state, and so on. These were real issues discussed on this channel. Now, why exactly YouTube decided to completely delete the channel, well, that's anyone's guess. They gave us absolutely no reason besides the vague, you violated our content policy nonsense. And so listen, if you are just sick and tired of all the censorship, just as I am, well, there's something you can do, because the Epoch Times has its awesome sale on subscriptions that they just extended, $0.25 a week for the whole year, which if you do the math, works itself out to just be a single dollar a month. And so if you want a source of honest news in a platform where the producers of the news don't have to self-censor in order to accommodate some Silicon Valley, big tech, 20-year-old kid who can press the button and delete your channel, well, I'd highly recommend that you check out the Epoch Times for yourself. I'll throw a link, it'll be at the top of the description box below to the sale page, where again, you can try the Epoch Times yourself for just a single dollar a month. I hope you check it out. Now, diving into today's main topic. Several days ago, President Trump received a major victory from the Court of Appeals in his ongoing financial fraud case over in the state of New York. However, let me set the stage for you regarding what this decision meant and what it means moving forward. To start with, this right here is a photo of President Trump sitting in a courtroom in New York City. Specifically, he was in court for allegations of financial fraud that were brought forth against him, his family, and his organization by the New York Attorney General, Ms. Letitia James. And just for your general reference, while Ms. Letitia James denies having any political motivations behind her case, well, there are many, many, many videos of her actively campaigning on a platform of getting Trump. We went through many of those clips in a previous episode, but here's just a short compilation as a refresher. And we've got to get ready to agitate until victory is won, but more importantly, until Trump is defeated. President, I have to give you the same level of respect that you gave to President Obama, and that is absolutely no respect at all. Donald Trump has got to go! Hey, hey! Ho, ho! Donald Trump has got to go! Hey, hey! And so, this Attorney General, she filed a civil lawsuit against President Trump, several of his adult children, as well as the Trump Organization more broadly, for allegedly lying about the value of their assets. And Ms. Letitia James, she brought forth this case under a certain New York state law, which requires the matter to be adjudicated in a bench trial, meaning that there is no jury in this particular case, and instead, it's the judge in the case who decides the facts and who applies the law. And so, the judge presiding over this particular case is Judge Arthur Angren, who, just for your reference, recently referred to President Trump as a quote-unquote bad guy. And, well, surprisingly, he also ruled against him. Judge Angren, two weeks ago, ruled that the Trump Organization did illegally inflate the value of their assets to secure more favorable bank loans. And among other things, the judge ordered the dissolution of President Trump's business licenses within the state of New York. Essentially, he ordered the cancellation of the business certificates that President Trump needs in order for his businesses to operate within the state of New York. And this decision of the judges is significant given the fact that, quote, the ruling not only found President Trump liable for fraud, but ordered the dissolution of the Trump Organization and related LLCs, which includes several pillars of Trump's business empire, including his commercial property at 40 Wall Street in Manhattan, his golf resort in Scotland, and Mar-a-Lago Resort in Palm Beach, Florida. This means that the 45th president will lose a sizable chunk of his real estate empire in a matter of days unless the appeal is granted. Furthermore, it's not just about the real estate empire, given the fact that among the properties to be dissolved are the actual private residences of the Trump family. Quote, the buildings they stand to lose include Trump Tower, 40 Wall Street, the Seven Springs family estate upstate, and private residences belonging to Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. Effectively, the New York Attorney General evicted Trump's kids from their own homes. That is, if nothing else, a great pitch for her re-election campaign. Regardless though, President Trump's legal team, they did indeed file an emergency appeal to that decision, urging the New York Appeals Court to reconsider the judge's ruling. Here was Trump's legal argument in his appeal. Quote, the court exceeded its jurisdiction and abused its discretion in the penalties ordered, pointing out that the prosecutors never saw the dissolution of the Trump organization in its petition. The decision was without process, statutory authority, or trial, and renders impossible the lawful operation of multiple businesses and threatens termination of hundreds of New York employees without any jurisdiction or due process. Perhaps worst of all, it seeks to impose the corporate death penalty with no statutory authority for such remedy. Furthermore, in this appeal, Trump's lawyers also argued that during the trial, the judge capriciously changed the statute of limitations within the state. Quote, during trial, the judge acknowledged the 10-year statute of limitations, but said he would allow evidence from before 2014 if the prosecutors could connect it to later crimes. The prosecutors had argued for bringing in this evidence under the quote, continuous wrongs doctrine. In the appeal, President Trump's attorneys argued that the doctrine does not delay or extend the period allowed. Furthermore, the court is now treating the individual financial statements as separately actionable claims rather than continuing wrongs. If the statute of limitations is applied correctly, the majority of the prosecutor's claims are subject to dismissal as untimely. And on Friday, the appeals court accepted this argument, and they issued a stay on the judge's order. And just for your reference, a stay in this particular context is equivalent to a temporary injunction against the judge, meaning that the appeals court has essentially put a hold on the dissolution of Trump's New York-based businesses. Here is specifically what the appeals court wrote in their decision. Quote, President Trump's application for an interim stay of enforcement is granted solely to the extent of staying enforcement of the Supreme Court's order directing the cancellation of his business certificates. And so, just in plain English, here is what this means in practice. In a pre-trial summary judgment without any jury, the judge found Trump guilty of financial fraud, and he ordered the dissolution of his businesses, despite the fact that this is not what the prosecutors were asking for. Then, the actual trial began, wherein the prosecution is now looking to get damages from the Trump organization in the amount of at least $250 million. However, the appeals court has now put a pause on the judge's decision to dissolve Trump's businesses, but the trial to determine the damages will continue. Once that trial is over and the damages are determined, Trump's legal team can then officially appeal the full case to the appellate court. But in the meantime, the Trump organization does not have to dissolve their businesses and or their real estate empire. That is where the case currently stands. If you'd like to go deeper into any of the documents that we went through in today's episode, I'll throw the PDF versions of them. They'll be linked down in the description box below this video for you to peruse at your own leisure. And then lastly, if you're watching this episode and you're thinking to yourself, man, I wish Roman published more episodes of Facts Matter every single week for me to enjoy. Well, if you're thinking that, you're in luck, because I do. Over on Epic TV, every week I publish somewhere between one to three exclusive episodes of Facts Matter every single week, usually on topics that are not welcome on this lovely platform called YouTube. And so, if you'd like to check out those exclusive episodes, including a huge backlog from the last several years, and also I should mention there are a ton of other great shows on Epic TV, like Crossroads, American Thought Leaders, Truth Over News, and of course there's California Insider. And all those shows, they report things honestly, without having to self-censor in order to accommodate some 20-year-old kid with blue hair over in Silicon Valley, who has the power to just hit the censor button on YouTube. And so again, if you are just tired of all the censorship, and if you want to get access to some of the best content on the web, well, check out The Epic Times. The current sale is just 25 cents a week for the whole year, which is perfect if you've been on the fence about trying The Epic Times, but you're not sure whether you're ready. Now's a great chance to try it for yourself, for again, just a single dollar a month. The link will be right there at the top of the description box below. Hope you check it out. You can, of course, cancel at any time, but I'm sure that you won't. I'm sure that you'll love it and be a subscriber for a long, long, long time to come. Again, the link is right there at the top of the description box below. I hope you check it out. And then until next time, I'm your host, Roman from The Epic Times. Stay informed. Most importantly, stay free.