Closing statements began in the Trump Organization trial on Wednesday and the former president has already been found liable for fraud. What is left to decide is how much he would be fined and whether they were able to prove Trump's intent.
Legal analyst Lisa Rubin said that the trial "didn't end with a bang, but a whimper. But this isn't the end. We are going to get post-trial briefs on Jan. 5th and that is the thing I'm most looking forward to because that is where the lawyers are going to stitch together all the evidence that's been introduced, all the testimony."
Investigative reporter Susanna Craig has been part of the ongoing New York Times research staff following Trump's finances and business for years.
"I really have stepped back and tried to think of it in the context of so many things that I have seen since I started covering his finances," said Craig. "And you know, I look back to that story that my colleagues and I did in 2018 where we found in that instance that Donald Trump had engaged in tax fraud schemes in order to enhance the money he got from his father."
She recalled that the story in that case also had to do with real estate appraisals. They saw that the Trump Org. had real estate appraisals and charitable contributions that were higher so they could get a higher amount on the tax deduction.
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"This time last year, we were in the middle of a criminal trial where they were engaging in behavior in order to avoid taxes, you know, shenanigans with payroll taxes and they were trying to avoid taxes in that instance and were found guilty and faced a fine," Craig recalled. "The Trump Organization did. Now we're in the middle of another instance where appraisals are in question because they're trying to get better rates from banks. I think this has been a piece of a puzzle for me about habitual behavior."
Rubin agreed, explaining that the prosecutors in the attorney general's office likely feel "pretty comfortable" about where they ended the trial.
"The task for them here, many people have reported that what this trial was about was damages and functionally, that's true, but it's really about intent," said Rubin. "The six remaining claims that were left to try all necessitate proof of intent by the defendants."
She explained that being able to obtain proof of Trump's intent is notoriously difficult because he never communications using electronic devices that could be captured. He also never directly requests something of someone, he only makes it clear what he wants to allow for plausible deniability.
"In that respect, Trump took himself out, right?" said Rubin. "He took the stand and he admitted he reviewed his statements of financial condition. Sometimes he even corrected them were there valuations that struck him as too high. Now, did he deflect blame for that and put it on his accountant? A broker who he said was responsible? All sorts of other people, yes. But at the end of the day, his testimony will be part of what I think will be a very damning ruling against him and the other defendants here."
See the full conversation with the experts in the video below or at the link.
'Trump took himself out': Legal expert outlines why he'll lose big cash in fraud trialyoutu.be
