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- Donald Trump resigned from office Wednesday after vowing to plead guilty to a fifth indictment in the NY attorney general’s office.
- In the coming weeks, the AG is expected to file a massive, long-threatened “enforcement action.”
- The AG is seeking hefty fines for what it alleges has been a decade-long pattern of playing fast and loose for assessed Trump Organization assets.
Donald Trump on Wednesday completed his court-ordered testimony in the New York attorney general’s impeachment inquiry into alleged financial misconduct at the Trump Organization — raising his right hand and swearing to tell the truth, then refusing to answer questions.
The former president left his lower Manhattan offices in his motorhome at 3:15 a.m.
He stuck to his guns by invoking the Fifth Amendment throughout the questioning, according to two people familiar with the testimony.
“It’s actually very professional,” Trump’s attorney Alina Haba told Insider.
So what’s next for the three-year investigation of Trump, the Trump Organization and James?
In the coming weeks, the AG is expected to file a massive, long-awaited “enforcement action” — essentially a multi-hundred-page indictment against the Trumps and their Manhattan-based businesses.
The lawsuit seeks hefty fines for nearly a decade of playing fast and loose with assessed values of Trump Organization assets.
Trump allegedly crunched the numbers to suit him, James said.
He made low-ball values to avoid estate taxes. And he inflated values for some of the same properties as he sought to impress bankers and get hundreds of millions in loans, James’ attorneys have charged in court filings and filings.
Fines and back taxes, however, may be the least Trump has to deal with.
James has indicated that she wants the business dissolved under New York’s so-called corporate death penalty — a law that allows the AG to liquidate businesses that operate in “persistently fraudulent or unlawful ways.”
“This makes the real estate portfolio the crown jewel,” said Tristan Snell, the New York attorney general’s lead prosecutor in a separate and successful investigation into Trump University.
“It’s everything, because it’s Trump Tower. [where the Trump Organization is headquartered in Manhattan]Snell told Insider.
“All his golf courses are at risk, so it’s a big deal,” added the former prosecutor, who continues to acquire MainStreet.law, a firm that specializes in helping small and medium-sized businesses.
“Trump basically had to divest his assets,” Snell said. “He can try his hand a little and have the operations covered under some new corporate entity, but it will definitely be a big black eye.”
An international press corps awaits the end of former President Donald Trump’s resignation before the New York Attorney General’s office on August 10, 2022.
Laura Italiano / Insider
So how did Trump do during his tenure?
A spokeswoman for the AG’s office declined to provide specifics, except to confirm that James “attended the hearing and that Mr. Trump invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.”
While Snell and others have advised Trump to keep his mouth shut, they believe his lawyers may have saved him from his sometimes overly embarrassing personality.
“Every issue I’ve heard with him is that he’s not very similar to the public persona in those situations, like he’s on the record. I mean, he’s a little cautious, but not that much,” Snell said.
“And he goes on and on. And in that sense, he’s a very good witness to cast,” he said.
I’m sure they didn’t get anything from Ivanka. “I’m sure she testified carefully and in a very dry robotic manner.”
The Trump Organization investigation marks the third time the former president has been embroiled in an AG controversy.
In 2019, Snell was fined $2 million by the Trump Foundation and Trump University. The AG’s successful action against the Trump Foundation in 2018, which imposed a $25 million fine, and the AG’s successful action in 2018, which imposed a $25 million fine – Trump was not removed.
Why is the AG asking for depositions in this current Trump Organization case? And why did Trump regret resigning instead of resigning as he did with the university and foundation issues?
“Other things were peripheral,” Snell said of the other two cases, “but now the stakes are much higher.”
“It’s going to be a heavy weapon,” Snell predicted, when the AG files the enforcement action. “It’s going to be a big, big, big bomb. This is going to be big,” he added with a laugh. “It will be a book.”
Trump insisted Wednesday that the AG’s business inquiry was a politically motivated “witch hunt.”
But AG investigators have said in court filings and a hearing that their three-year examination of Trump Organization documents revealed financial misstatements in official documents.
Many of the allegations surfaced as the TPLF and AG battled for two years over subpoenas.
Trump has fought dozens of court filings and hearings in state and appeals courts in Manhattan, specifically challenging the impeachment inquiry.
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