#Trump attorney Chris #Kise argued to NY Supreme Court Justice Arthur #Engoron, that regardless of what was in Trump's #financial statements, they did not make a material difference to bankers who approved #loans to Trump.
Kise says there was no testimony presented at trial by anyone at Trump #lender#DeutscheBank or other lenders that said they would have proceeded differently had they known Trump's accurate financial condition.
#Kise: “Ultimately what matters is the decision-making process of the bank, & if it would have made a difference to them,"
Kise said the #banks considered many factors when deciding whether to lend to #Trump, including the nature of the collateral, the quality of the collateral, Trump's experience & performance in the industry, his liquidity & other factors.
(All of which were misrepresented; & the banks’ decision is not the issue. The issue is the #fraud & Trump’s #intent. Not the banks’.)
@Nonilex Exactly. If you're on your way over to my house with $5,000 in cash in an envelope that you intend to give me as a birthday present, and I meet you outside, point a gun at you, and say "Give me all your money," I'm still guilty of armed robbery. I think we may have had that hypo in my Crim Law class, right after the one about shooting the guy who jumped off the roof of an 80-story building as he passes the 10th floor. They're silly, but they do make a point, in this case one that Kise apparently hopes Engoron won't think of.
#Kise started by arguing the standard of proof on the 6 claims at issue requires "clear & convincing evidence," which he says the #NYAG didn’t provide.
Kise: “The attorney general has converted standard commercial real estate loan transactions into fraud not based on what the bank says but what she says.”
(#fraud was already decided, as a matter-of-#law, before this trial.)
Thankfully, Justice #Engoron agreed w/ #Kise as well & said he's only going to base his #ruling on what's in front of him, meaning the #evidence presented in this #trial.
#Trump atty moved on to #disgorgement (the #NYAG is seeking $250M in purportedly ill-gotten gains from Trump et al).
Kise: “There's no demonstration of a [connection] between the purported ill-gotten gains & the defendants' (conduct).”
#Kise argued any transaction before July 2014 cannot form the basis for any of the #NYAG's claims, since they're outside of the statute of limitations.
Kise also argued that subsequent certifications by #Trump et al regarding compliance w/the terms of loans from that time cannot be used to support the allegations either.
(re SOL, Trump attys may be banking on the appeals court stay, but that wasn’t based on SOL, but procedural & still undecided.)
I skipped an interesting bit from #Kise’s presentation; he argued that #Trump would qualify in "any court in this country" as an expert on real estate, & then displayed a slide that said:
"The Court stated it is 'not here to hear what [President Trump] has to say!'
This is a word for word duplicate of a Trump social media post.
They’re not even trying to dress up their arguments for court at this point. It’s all for the court of public opinion & Trump. Disgraceful really.
Didn’t finish the #TrumpTrial thread, cuz, stuff, here’s the rest:
#Kise concluded by reiterating claim that there was no proof the loans would not have been made if the #banks had different (accurate) info or that the #loan terms would have been different.
(Moot. See earlier in thread)
"This is what happens in the real world, not the world of make believe, not the attorney general's world," Kise says
Robert: "The attorney general has not proved that my clients were involved in (creating) the statements of financial condition.”.
Re Eric, Robert said there was nothing wrong w/ a snr exec, relying on outside accountants & others at the co for accurate info on the SFCs. (Except that’s not what happened, the outside accountants came up w/ completely different numbers, then inside peeps fudged the data)
Re #DonaldTrumpJr, Robert pointed to his testimony about his process for certifying the statements of financial condition. Jr didn't recall specifics, but testified that he would have sat w/the finance team at the #TrumpOrganization, or #Mazars accountants, & asked them questions.
Jr said if those individuals, w/their expertise, convinced him that everything was fine, he would have signed the certifications of #Trump's statements of financial condition.
Robert: “The evidence is clear that (#EricTrump & #DonaldTrumpJr) had no real involvement in the…statements of financial condition.”
(Only if it’s ignored)
#NYAG atty Kevin Wallace spoke in opposition to the defendants' bid to end this case.
Wallace said #Trump et al have failed to meet the standard for a #DirectedVerdict. Under #NY#law, when a judge considers such a motion, they must consider every inference in the light most favorable to the #plaintiff, in this case the state.
#NYAG atty Wallace: "The defendants have not come anywhere close to meeting that standard. These (financial) statements (#SFC) were material to the bank, & the evidence presented here proves it. They're material because the banks asked for them.”
(Also, argh! & for real, that’s not at issue! Why rebut moot arguments? The #fraud in & of itself was DECIDED as a matter-of-#LAW. All this trial is deciding are the remaining 6 counts: 1. falsifying business records 2. #conspiracy to falsify business records 3. issuing false financial stmnts 4. conspiracy to falsify said false financial stmnts 5. insurance fraud 6. conspiracy to commit insurance fraud; + the amount of disgorgement.) #legal#law#civil#TrumpOrganization#NYAG#TrumpTrial#Trump
@acrousey also people WERE Purported profit increases area cost of living, driving people out from places they live/work + any profit owes taxes, taxes fund all kinds of programs - not just the right-wing characterized/demonized “social” programs (which BTWs are basically medical, food, veteran assistance, basic needs type stuff) even if that profit wasn’t realized all the BS raised property rates driving out folks who had nowhere to turn certainly not to underfunded agencies.)
@Nonilex FWIW, (aside from 3) 1 & 2 are standard hail may motions at this phase.
(And even 3, is normal to get appeals grounds on the record, just this one is absurd.)
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