Trump had no defense for 'cooking the books' in fraud trial: legal expert

For all of his bluster and accusations at his $370 million financial fraud trial, at the end of the day the fact that Donald Trump "cooked the books" is what will end up costing him when Judge Arthur Engoron renders his final verdict regarding the Trump Organization.

That is the opinion of conservative lawyer George Conway who appeared on MSNBC's new "The Weekend" show featuring co-hosts Symone Sanders-Townsend, Michael Steele and Alicia Menendez.

Invited to address the closing arguments in the trial where Judge Engoron has already ruled the former president is guilty of fraud. Conway was asked what played out in the courtroom as the trial concluded.

"The New York case is interesting because, unlike the other, the four criminal cases, his freedom is not on the line here: his fortune is on the line and his businesses are on the line," he explained. "What the judge has already found based upon, frankly, undisputed evidence, is that he cooked the books. He cooked his own books and then he presented the books to lenders and insurers and so on and so forth."

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'His argument is, 'Well, they got all our money back, they weren't actually defrauded,' when the truth of the matter is, you cannot have fake books," he elaborated. "Even if you're a private company because people sometimes will have to rely on those books. And it's a privilege to do business either as a New York incorporated corporation or as a foreign corporation, out of state corporation, that has the right to do business in New York. That's a privilege and you can't abuse that privilege the law says, by cooking your books."

"Basically, his problem is he has no defense to the fact that he cooked the books and so, you know, that's why he has all this bluster," he added. "He can be put out of business, basically. The court has the power to basically revoke his ability, his corporate status."

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