A New York State judge ruled for summary judgment in Attorney General Letitia James' civil fraud suit against former President Donald Trump and his adult sons, finding that they lied about the value of their assets. The only matter left for a jury to decide is how much they owe in damages.
But Trump had one particularly eye-catching defense for the Trump Organization's valuations, flagged by New York University professor and former Defense Department special counsel Ryan Goodman in the judge's ruling: the Saudis would happily buy his properties at the inflated prices he used.
"The defenses Donald Trump attempts to articulate in his sworn deposition are wholly without basis in law or fact," wrote Judge Arthur Engoron. In addition to Trump claiming that his properties grew in value beyond what he originally exaggerated them to be anyway, "he also seems to imply that the numbers cannot be inflated because he could find a 'buyer from Saudi Arabia' to pay any price he suggests."
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This comes amid intense scrutiny into Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, who got a mysterious $2 billion deal from the Saudi wealth fund, over the objections of the people who were managing the fund itself.
None of Trump's excuses for his asset inflation are likely to hold water, legal experts like George Conway have noted, because the law used to find Trump liable has very simple requirements, none of which are in dispute.
It is unclear exactly what happens next, but barring a reversal on appeal, some sort of dissolution of the Trump Organization in New York State appears to be required by the ruling.
