Video

'Impossible to see how Trump survives financially' as criminal trials begin: lawyer

During an appearance on MSNBC's "The Katie Phang Show," former federal prosecutor Glenn Kirschner stated that as bad as Friday was for Donald Trump, in light of being fined upwards of $450 million for financial fraud in a Manhattan courtroom, things are about to get much, much worse.

Noting the millions the former president has been ordered to pay New York writer E. Jean Carroll from two different civil suits, Kirschner pointed to the Trump hush money trial in March and multiple other criminal trials in Trump's future.

"Let's start with the ruling from Justice Arthur Engoron, what are your two top line takeaways?" host Phang asked.

"Well, Katie, among the top line takeaways is, I think we have to look at the trajectory that Donald Trump's civil trials have been on," he replied. "He started by losing a $5 million judgment, then he lost an $83 million judgment. Now he's lost more than $450 million judgment and, as you say, he is barred from doing business in New York for a number of years."

"Here is the thing," he elaborated. "As bad as all of that is, Lady Justice is just getting warmed up because next up for Donald Trump is his first criminal trial, then he has four criminal trials stacked up."

ALSO READ: Alina Habba is persona non grata at her Pennsylvania law school

"It is impossible to see how he survives politically, how he survives financially and I think you know all of this is just Donald Trump slowly being taken out of the system for the civil fraud, the civil wrongs, and the crimes he has alleged to have committed."

Watch below or at the link.

Keep reading... Show less

Trump thinks he can cash in on Engoron fraud ruling: ex-Trump Org exec

Speaking with MSNBC host Ali Velshi on Saturday morning, former Trump executive vice president Barbara Res claimed she was not surprised Donald Trump's financial antics caught up with him in Judge Arthur Engoron's courtroom leading to a monumental judgment that could top $450 million.

According to Res, Trump knew what he was doing when he committed financial fraud, but had been brought up to never admit when he was wrong and he is likely already trying to figure out how to cash in on the latest notorious chapter of his life.

"Last year, you said to CNN, you thought that Donald Trump was enjoying this process. Do you think he still is?" hoist Velshi asked.

ALSO READ: 11 ways Trump doesn't become president

"I don't think he likes getting buffeted around and things being said about him that are so awful, such as what was in the ruling" she told the host. "But I think that he is okay with it to the extent that he can spin it. And he has already started that."

"I think it's hard, he believes, one, he's gonna get away with it. And two, he thinks that he can make money off of this somehow— get more fundraising, more people to feel sorry for him. 'Oh my god, look what they're doing to Trump. He must be president, let's give him some money.'"

Watch below or at the link.

Keep reading... Show less

'Listen to this gem': MSNBC panel pounces on Trump's latest defense of mental decline

Taking time out from discussing Donald Trump's financial woes, the hosts of MSNBC's "The Weekend" jumped all over the former president for his latest rambling attempt to explain his continuous mistaking of former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R) with Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)

After spending the morning talking about Judge Arthur Engoron fining the former president and his Trump Organization for financial fraud that could add up to $450 million with interest added, co-host Michael Steele changed the subject back to Trump's apparent mental deterioration.

Introducing a clip of Trump at a South Carolina rally, Steele began, "If Donald Trump is about anything it is about revisionism, especially when it comes to his lack of mental acuity. I want to play for you Trump, on Wednesday, talking about the purported mix-up between Nikki Haley and Pelosi. Let's take a listen to this gem."

After the panel watched Trump tell the crowd, "When I say that Obama is the president of our country, they say, 'He doesn't know! It's Biden. He doesn't know!' So it's very hard to be sarcastic. When I interpose, cuz I am not a Nikki fan, I am not a Pelosi fan, when I purposefully interpose names they said, 'He didn't know Pelosi from Nikki! From tricky Nikki, tricky dicky. 'He didn't know,' I interposed, they make a big deal out of it," the entire panel began laughing.

ALSO READ: How Donald Trump is spreading a dangerous mental illness to his supporters

A laughing Steele added, "So, Alexi [McCammond], we're the slow ones. We should just have known, oh, — ," as co-host Symone Sanders-Townsend interrupted and added, "He's up here, we're down here."

McCammond joked, "It was sarcasm, you guys. Duh."

"This is where we find ourselves," Steele offered. "We look at things objectively here what the man says, and he comes back and tells us, 'No. that's not what you heard. This is what I heard, this is what I said, this is what I meant.'"

Keep reading... Show less

Letitia James handcuffed Trump's ability to bail himself out after fraud fine: expert

Now that Donald Trump has been saddled by Judge Arthur Engoron with a massive financial fraud penalty that could cost him upwards of $450 million, MSNBC legal analyst Lisa Rubin pointed out that the former president has limited options on where to turn for money.

Appearing on MSNBC's "The Weekend," Rubin noted that New York Attorney General Letitia James was playing the long game when she asked Engoron to place tight financial restrictions on Trump and the Trump Organization.

"About two months after Letitia James first filed her complaint, she asked for relief, saying that she had enough evidence to show even at that early stage that he [Trump] should be prevented from doing a number of things with his assets," she explained. "Those things include, after the appointment of the independent monitor, he cannot wholesale transfer or sell any of his significant assets without notice to the independent monitor, nor can he restructure or refinance his businesses either."

After noting the former president was able to service the judgment against him in the Trump University case Rubin stated that is not available to him this time due to the injunction James requested much earlier in the case.

ALSO READ: How Donald Trump is spreading a dangerous mental illness to his supporters

"He can't do that here and the reason is because this order, in addition to the preliminary injunction saying you can't refinance, you can restructure without advance notice, this sort of goes even further," she told the hosts. " It says you can't borrow money from a New York registered or chartered bank, period, for what I believe is at least a three-year period of time."

"That means in order to satisfy these judgments, Donald Trump has to, I think, rely on his own asset base," Rubin elaborated. "And, yet he has an independent monitor who's going to be on top of him every step of the way, as well as a new independent director of compliance, who's going to be scouring the books and making sure that what happens at the Trump organization is on the up and up to use a legal term."

You can watch below or at the link.

Keep reading... Show less

Cash-strapped Trump facing asset buyers prepped to take advantage of him: expert

Following the massive financial fraud penalty Judge Arthur Engoron assessed on Donald Trump on Friday, the former president will likely have to sell off some of his assets and, with the clocking ticking and interest on the potential $450 million owed piling up, possible buyers will have Trump over a barrel.

Speaking with MSNBC host Ali Velhsi on the Saturday morning after the Friday bombshell multi-million dollar financial fraud ruling, Donald Trump biographer Tim O'Brien stated the market for the former president's properties is already down in a post-Covid economy. Add to that, he noted, potential buyers know he badly needs the money.

Telling the MSNBC host Trump is "...going to have to sell some things," O'Brien explained what the former president will likely part with won't bring in what he hopes to get.

"If he sells urban skyscrapers in post-Covid cities where the occupancy rates are low, tenants have been fleeing and the values have been degraded because of it, it is going to be something of a fire sale," he explained to the host.

"You know, other developers are going to know he needs to sell, he won't get top price," he continued. "He's also always loathed to part with his toys and I think that's also going to be stressful."

ALSO READ: 11 ways Trump doesn't become president

"I don't see him having any end-around," he added. "I don't think his appeal will be successful. I could be proven wrong, but Tish James, the New York State Attorney General, came at him under statutes -- they give the attorney general a lot of prosecutorial deference; the court system in New York has always respected that."

"And, again, as you noted in the tweet you showed at the top of our segment, he can't help himself but continue to go after the rule of law and try to degrade American's faith in a system of laws," he remarked. "The judges don't take kindly to that, prosecutors don't take kindly to that. It hurt him in court in the E. Jean Carroll case when he went after the judge. It hurt him in this court when he went after Engoron and he continues to do it to his own detriment."

Keep reading... Show less

Trump and sons could be headed for IRS trouble after massive fraud ruling: ex-prosecutor

Appearing on MSNBC on the morning after Donald Trump, his two sons and the Trump Organization were slammed by Judge Arthur Engoron with a financial fraud penalty that could exceed $450 million, one ex-prosecutor suggested the IRS and the DOJ could be waiting in the wings.

Speaking with host Ali Velshi, legal analyst Catherine Christian acknowledged that New York Attorney General Letitia James had indicated she would be passing on some of her findings that led to the former president's conviction to the Department of Justice.

She added that Trump and his sons, Donald Jr. and Eric may also be hearing from the IRS.

"What is the potential culpability beyond this trial? Is there something beyond this for Donald Trump?" host Velshi asked.

"If now the federal government, the Southern District of New York sort of passed on this publicly, but that does not mean that they can't, as long as it's within the statute of limitations take another look," she replied.

ALSO READ: Alina Habba is persona non grata at her Pennsylvania law school

"And clearly, the federal government, the Internal Revenue Service, they sort of never stop looking at you, and so yes, the AG's office referred to it to other authorities, and it could be possible that each of the defendants, not just Donald Trump, his sons, [Allen] Weisselberg could be in legal jeopardy, even criminal jeopardy."

Watch below or at the link.

Keep reading... Show less

‘But he’s qualified to be president?’: Trump fraud revelations stun experts

Legal experts are stunned by many of the revelations in Friday's 92-page New York civil fraud trial ruling fining Donald Trump and his executives $364 million, and barring him from running a business in New York for three years.

Some are pointing to portions of the actual ruling, while others are expressing shock at the magnitude of the judgment and its implications for not only the former president and his real estate empire but for the future of the nation.

Keep reading... Show less

'Desperate' Trump could be 'forced into a fire sale' of his real estate portfolio: expert

Trump may have to part with his real estate crown jewels.

If Trump can't produce the nearly $500 million in civil judgments and he's unable to back up the billionaire baron image that he's sold himself — he may be forced to unload many his bountiful assets at rock bottom prices.

Keep reading... Show less

'More troubles ahead': Trump biographer maps out ex-president's money minefield

Trump may need to search farther afield in order to pay the nearly $500 million piper.

"He has more troubles coming ahead," Trump biographer David Cay Johnston said during a panel discussion on CNN's "The Source" with Kaitlan Collins.

Keep reading... Show less

'Legal wrinkle': Expert says Trump could ask 'Saudis' to pay legal judgment

Former President Donald Trump might be barred from doing business with banks that operate in New York to get the cash to pay off his more than $350 million judgment in the civil fraud case, said reporter Andrea Bernstein, author of "American Oligarchs," on MSNBC Friday evening — but there are other ways he could come up with the money in the end.

One way it could happen, she suggested to anchor Chris Hayes, is if the Saudi government acts to bail him out.

Keep reading... Show less

'I wouldn't bet on him': Expert shows why Trump won't succeed appealing fraud verdict

Shortly after learning about the massive New York civil fraud judgment, former President Donald Trump stepped outside from Mar-a-Lago to boast: “We’ll appeal and we’ll be successful.”
But Trump swagger may not bail him out of the nearly half billion dollars he's on the hook to pay after losing two civil cases.
And former federal prosecutor Ryan Goodman, while appearing on CNN's "Out Front," said the odds of Trump pulling off an appeal are a massive long shot.

ALSO READ: How Speaker Mike Johnson’s dream of bipartisan decency died in his hands

"I would not bet on him and I'm not sure who would," he said. "Part of the reason is that the trial judge gets so much deference from the appeals courts, especially on the facts and especially in this case.

Keep reading... Show less

'It finally caught up with him': Trump biographer says ex-president's 'antics' hurt him

Former President Donald Trump's massive civil judgment for fraud in New York is entirely of his own doing, biographer Tim O'Brien told MSNBC's Joy Reid on Friday evening.

Judge Arthur Engoron issued the ruling in the case originally brought by state Attorney General Letitia James, who demonstrated that Trump and his two adult sons systematically lied about their property valuations to manipulate their tax liability and loan terms with banks.

Keep reading... Show less

Trump now stuck with financial 'babysitters' who will 'change his image': legal expert

Former President Donald Trump is now on the hook for hundreds of millions of dollars after a brutal ruling in the civil fraud trial in New York. But there's a lot more at stake for the former president than having to return the more than $350 million he gained by falsifying details of his assets.

Another issue, said former prosecutor Kristy Greenberg during an appearance on MSNBC on Friday, is the fact that the corrective actions that will be enforced on the Trump Organization will tarnish what's left of his public image.

Keep reading... Show less