Newsmax host Rob Finnerty said he opposed a fraud judgment against Donald Trump because manipulating asset values was "the point of getting real estate."
Finnerty made the remarks the morning after New York Judge Arthur Engoron entered a partial summary judgment against Trump, members of his family, and his company. A $250 million lawsuit filed by New York Attorney General Letitia James alleged Trump manipulated the value of his assets to receive favorable conditions on bank loans and insurance policies.
"This is just such a bogus case," the host complained to former judge Andrew Napolitano. "But the prosecution is basically asserting that fraud is fraud, even when nobody lost money, when people actually made money, and nobody was hurt."
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Finnerty likened Trump's fraud to homeowners who make a profit.
"If you're selling your house, you're gonna ask for more money, right?" he said. "You'll look at Zillow, maybe it's worth 500,000. You're going to ask 650."
"You know, like that's the point of getting real estate," he added. "You inflate the value, right?"
Napolitano agreed with the host's example.
"So Trump's defense was, we are dealing with Deutsche Bank, one of the largest banks in the world," the former judge opined. "They have their own appraisers. We're dealing with a huge insurance company. They have their own appraisers."
