Why Trump’s financial woes could get 'much, much worse' in civil fraud verdict: legal expert

On Friday, October 16, Justice Arthur Engoron is, according to the Associated Press, expected to deliver his verdict in New York State Attorney General Letitia James' civil fraud case against former President Donald Trump.

James alleges that Trump deceived banks and lenders by seriously exaggerating the value of the Trump Organization's real estate assets, and Engoron agreed with her in a late September 2023 ruling. But it remains to be seen how much Engoron will order the 2024 GOP presidential frontrunner to pay. James has recommended sanctions of $370 million.

Some of Trump's supporters in the MAGA movement have argued that Queens native Trump, who now lives on his Mar-a-Lago compound in Palm Beach, Florida, should move all of his business out of New York City. But MSNBC legal analyst Lisa Rubin, in a MaddowBlog column published early Friday morning, October 16, lays out some reasons why that is much easier said than done.

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Rubin explains, "You might ask yourself, 'Given the hammer that could fall on the Trump empire, why wouldn't they just pick up and move their companies — and all of their assets — to Florida, or some other hospitable state?' That's a reasonable question. It's also one for which James, aided by Engoron, has had an answer in place for more than a year, by way of the preliminary injunction she obtained in November 2022."

The MSNBC legal analyst points out that under the injunction, employees of the Trump Organization "are prohibited from taking certain actions without notifying the attorney general, court or independent monitor (Judge Barbara Jones)."

"Without telling the judge, the AG or the court-appointed monitor," Rubin emphasizes, "the Trump Org cannot just play three-card monte and move their buildings or cash around so that they wind up in new business entities outside New York. Instead, at best, they have to give Engoron, James and/or Jones a head start of anywhere from two weeks to a month, in which time Trump and his fellow defendants could be further enjoined."

Rubin adds, "The bottom line is Trump and company are mostly stuck in place — and on Friday, it could get much, much worse."

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Lisa Rubin's full MSNBC column is available at this link.