'Danger lurks around the corner': Judge's ruling in fraud case 'could end it all' for Trump Organization

A New York judge imposed a "corporate death penalty" on the Trump Organization after finding the former president and his sons liable for fraud.

Judge Arthur Engoron issued a ruling in the civil lawsuit brought by New York attorney general Letitia James that found Trump and his company had deceived banks and insurers by massively inflating his assets and net worth to make deals and secure loans, and New York Times investigative reporter Russ Buettner told MSNBC's "Morning Joe" the former president's business will be dissolved when the dust finally settles.

"Some lawyers have called this a corporate death penalty that the judge has ordered these [limited liability corporations], control of these properties, to be shut down," Buettner said. "But these are not just his New York entities. EJT Holdings controls most of his golf courses around the country and the world. There's one that starts with a 401 that owns the Chicago tower. If you dissolve these entities, that's the show, that's the whole thing."

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"He will fight this until the end," Buettner added. I'm sure it will go to New York State's highest court and probably back down a couple of times, but this is -- if it's as simple as what the judge states here and it holds, it is a very serious few years he has ahead of him that could end it all."

The summary judgment ruling came days ahead of a non-jury trial and resolves the key allegation in the attorney general's lawsuit, but Engoron will make decisions on her request for $250 million in penalties in a trial starting Oct. 2, although Trump's attorneys have asked for a delay.

"The key thing that needs to be decided here are a couple issues," said NBC News correspondent Tom Winter. "First off, the judge did not decide on the issues and will wait for the bench trial to decide whether it falsified business documents. We know for the Manhattan [district attorney's] case they were convicted of doing that. This particular suit goes beyond. No criminal penalties, but that could factor into what happens here from a civil suit perspective and then, of course, this disgorgement, the quarter of a billion dollars, that the New York attorney general is seeking."

"What happens with that?" Winter added. "How much of that is actually imposed and what does that ultimately mean? That's the big question mark for the Trump Organization, and to Russ' point, what that means for Donald Trump and his assets and his personal wealth going into this election and going on for the rest of his life, and the Trump family, as difficult as this ruling was, the fact that the money and the assets could be taken away from them, that real danger lurks around the corner."

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