The recent ruling against Trump for fraud is another in a series of legal defeats he has faced in New York.
Donald Trump’s latest
loss in a court case in New York for legal matters
A shocking verdict of $354 million has been issued to recover the profits from ten years of fraudulent activity, along with an additional $100 million in interest. This serves as a strong emphasis on a never-before-seen sequence of defeats in his own state.
In the past 14 months, Trump and his company have continuously lost expensive and highly publicized legal cases in New York. This has been an unprecedented reckoning, as both judges and juries have found that Trump and his company have been involved in unlawful actions for an extended period of time.
Trump and his company have faced multiple defeats in both state and federal court, across civil and criminal cases, with verdicts handed down by both juries and judges. In a total of three cases, 30 jurors have reached unanimous rulings against Trump or his company. While one of these juries was from the predominantly Democratic area of Manhattan, the other two were from the more politically diverse suburbs and exurbs of the Southern District of New York in federal court.
On March 25th, the first criminal trial of a former president took place.
There is already a long list of legal defeats for Trump in New York.
- guilty of financial fraud
In December of 2022, a jury in Manhattan found two companies affiliated with the Trump Organization guilty of committing financial fraud.guilty of 17 felonies found to have committed
connected to evading taxes. The business was discovered to have engaged in tax evasion.ordered to pay
A fine of $1.6 million was imposed and the former CFO of the company was sent to prison.
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On March 30th, 2023, a grand jury in Manhattan, New Yorkindicted Trump
Charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records.
- found that the
After five weeks, a jury in New York ruled that the federal government was responsible for… found Trump liable
Donald Trump was found guilty of both sexual abuse and defamation in one of two civil lawsuits brought against him by author E. Jean Carroll. He was ordered to pay $5 million in damages to Carroll.
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On September 2023, an official appointed by the government of a particular state for misusing the Trump Foundation
The Trump Foundation was deemed culpable for improper use by Trump and his organization.
In a pretrial decision, it was determined that the individual participated in a fraudulent scheme lasting ten years.
- awarded
In the month of January, a different jury from the federal government granted a reward.found Trump liable
The jury granted her an additional $83 million in damages for defaming Carroll.
- final ruling
According to the ruling, Trump is required to pay the state a total of $354 million, in addition to almost $100 million in interest.
Trump is aware that all of his losses have occurred in New York City. On February 15, he expressed his frustration with his hometown while speaking outside a criminal court in Manhattan.
Trump stated that everything is fixed and that the state and city are both rigged. He has denied any wrongdoing in his cases and believes his accusers are attacking him for political reasons.
hush money payments made to women who claimed they had affairs with him.
Earlier, Trump’s attorney argued in court that due to his state criminal case, the ex-president would not receive a fair trial in New York. Trump has pleaded not guilty in the case, which centers around payments made to silence women who alleged they had intimate relationships with him.
compensation for a payment made to keep quiet days before the 2016 election that temporarily bought the silence of an adult film star who claims she had an affair with Trump.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images
Trump’s lawyer, Todd Blanche, brought up Trump’s recent lawsuits, stating that there has been a significant amount of media attention in New York. He did not mention that Trump has actively sought out this media coverage, using the courtrooms and streets of lower Manhattan as a stage for his presidential campaign which is closely linked to his legal battles.
Blanche suggested inquiring about potential jurors’ opinions on Trump, possibly to strengthen their argument for requesting a change of location.
He stated that we cannot overlook the obvious issue.
That statement echoed one made by Manhattan prosecutor Joshua Steinglass, who called Trump
The absence of the “elephant in the room” was notable during the jury selection process for the criminal trial against the ex-president’s company, scheduled for October 2022.
In this scenario, some potential jurors who were eventually dismissed stated that they were unable to put aside their personal views about the previous president. One individual stated, “I have complete disgust for anything related to Trump. I apologize.” Another took it a step further by mentioning that serving on a jury could affect their travel arrangements and also expressing hatred towards Donald Trump, if that holds any significance.
Some individuals showed appreciation and encouragement towards Trump, while the majority promised to remain impartial in their evaluation of the situation. After a five-week trial, the 12 selected jurors took slightly more than one day to reach a verdict, finding two Trump Organization companies guilty of 17 charges relating to tax fraud.
In April of 2023, a group of individuals were once again questioned about their political beliefs and media consumption patterns for the Carroll civil trial involving allegations of sexual abuse and defamation. Despite being a defendant in the case, Trump chose not to participate in any part of the trial, which lasted for two and a half weeks. The nine-person jury only needed three hours to determine that Trump was responsible for the sexual abuse and defamation of Carroll, and they ordered him to pay her $5 million.
In January, Trump appeared in a federal courtroom for a trial involving separate accusations of defamation brought by Carroll. Throughout the two-week trial, Trump and his group expressed anger and disbelief, but left the court just minutes before the jury awarded Carroll an additional $83 million.
The recent decision made by a judge in a state court regarding Trump’s civil fraud case has increased the total amount he must pay for his wrongdoing to over $500 million, and the interest will continue to accumulate.
Noah Rosenblum, a professor of legal history at New York University, stated that in his constitutional law classes, they do discuss cases related to the president. However, these cases typically revolve around a president’s failure to disclose important information to Congress or pertain to their constitutional responsibilities. According to Rosenblum, there are no other cases like this.
“This is unprecedented in American history.”
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Source: cbsnews.com