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1. Heidi Li Feldman (heidilifeldman@mastodon.social)'s status on Saturday, 17-Feb-2024 17:49:29 JST Heidi Li Feldman

   I’m reading Judge Engoron’s opinion. Sharing some of my reactions in real time. So far, the best line of the opinion: “The Trump Organization keeps Weisselberg on a short leash, and it shows.” 1/

   • Heidi Li Feldman (heidilifeldman@mastodon.social)'s status on Saturday, 17-Feb-2024 17:49:20 JST Heidi Li Feldman

     in reply to

     Engoron rightly notes that this conduct does not make the Trumps murderers or arsonists. They are more banal and petty: tricksters and fraudsters who cannot be trusted to do business legitimately. And they are finally being held accountable. 22/22

     Aral Balkan repeated this.
   • The_Turtle_Moves (the_turtle_moves@mastodon.online)'s status on Saturday, 17-Feb-2024 17:49:20 JST The_Turtle_Moves

     in reply to

     @heidilifeldman there's a Terry Pratchett quote of course... From 'Going Postal' about how white collar crime kills.

   • Heidi Li Feldman (heidilifeldman@mastodon.social)'s status on Saturday, 17-Feb-2024 17:49:21 JST Heidi Li Feldman

     in reply to

     “The Court hereby enjoins Donald Trump and the Trump Organization and its affiliates from applying for loans from any financial institution chartered by or registered with the New York State Department of Financial Services for a period of three years.
     The Court hereby enjoins Eric Trump and Donald Trump, Jr. from serving as an officer or
     director of any New York corporation or other legal entity for a period of two years.” 20/

   • Heidi Li Feldman (heidilifeldman@mastodon.social)'s status on Saturday, 17-Feb-2024 17:49:21 JST Heidi Li Feldman

     in reply to

     I’ve shared the passages that have struck me as especially significant as I did my first read of the opinion by Judge #Engoron. My basic overall reaction is that he has done a masterful job of showing that Donald Trump, Eric Trump, Trump Jr. and Ivanka are sleazy liars who made inordinate profit by lying over and over. They can’t be trusted. 21/

   • Heidi Li Feldman (heidilifeldman@mastodon.social)'s status on Saturday, 17-Feb-2024 17:49:22 JST Heidi Li Feldman

     in reply to

     Finding that the Trumps are pathologically incapable of recognizing and acknowledging their wrongdoing, Engaron orders extreme oversight measures of their businesses. Basically, for the next three years. they can’t submit any financial statements to any bank, insurance company, or other business entity without prior judicial review and permission. 18/

   • Heidi Li Feldman (heidilifeldman@mastodon.social)'s status on Saturday, 17-Feb-2024 17:49:22 JST Heidi Li Feldman

     in reply to

     Furthermore: “The Court hereby enjoins Donald Trump, Allen Weisselberg, and Jeffrey McConney from serving as an officer or director of any New York corporation or other legal entity in New York for a period of three years. … 19/

   • Heidi Li Feldman (heidilifeldman@mastodon.social)'s status on Saturday, 17-Feb-2024 17:49:23 JST Heidi Li Feldman

     in reply to

     Still more penalties. “Eric Trump is liable, in the amount of $4,013,024, for the distribution he individually received from the sale ofthe Old Post Office.
     Donald Trump, Jr.is liable, in the amount of $4,013,024, ….” 16/

   • Heidi Li Feldman (heidilifeldman@mastodon.social)'s status on Saturday, 17-Feb-2024 17:49:23 JST Heidi Li Feldman

     in reply to

     More disgorgement required: “Similarly, Donald Trump, the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust, the Trump Organization, Inc., and Trump Organization LLC are jointly and severally liable for disgorgement of the windfall profits of $60 million attributable to selling Ferry Point to Bally's.” 17/

   • Heidi Li Feldman (heidilifeldman@mastodon.social)'s status on Saturday, 17-Feb-2024 17:49:24 JST Heidi Li Feldman

     in reply to

     Trump, Trump Jr., Eric Trump - all guilty. Penalty time. 13/

   • Heidi Li Feldman (heidilifeldman@mastodon.social)'s status on Saturday, 17-Feb-2024 17:49:24 JST Heidi Li Feldman

     in reply to

     In total, defendants' fraud saved them approximately $168,040,168 in interest, which shall be imposed, jointly and severally, among Donald Trump and the defendant entities that he owns and
     controls, as the misconduct at issue was committed by the Trump Organization's top management.“ 14/

   • Heidi Li Feldman (heidilifeldman@mastodon.social)'s status on Saturday, 17-Feb-2024 17:49:24 JST Heidi Li Feldman

     in reply to

     More penalties:

     “Accordingly, Donald Trump, the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust, the Trump Organization, Inc., Trump Organization LLC, and the Trump Old Post Office LLC are jointly and severally liable, in the amount of $126,828,600, for the ill-gotten profits Donald Trump netted from the sale of the Old Post Office.” 15/

   • Heidi Li Feldman (heidilifeldman@mastodon.social)'s status on Saturday, 17-Feb-2024 17:49:25 JST Heidi Li Feldman

     in reply to

     You bet the frauds and lies are material, not “trifles”: “The frauds found here leap off the page and shock the conscience.,” writes Engoron. 11/

   • Heidi Li Feldman (heidilifeldman@mastodon.social)'s status on Saturday, 17-Feb-2024 17:49:25 JST Heidi Li Feldman

     in reply to

     Engoron has thoroughly hit his stride:
     “Yet another great red herring in this case has been that different appraisers can legitimately and in good faith appraise the same property at different amounts. True enough, as appraising is an art as well as a science. However, the science part cannot be fraudulent. When two appraisals rely on starkly different assumptions, that is not evidence of a difference of opinion, that is evidence of deceit.” 12/

   • Heidi Li Feldman (heidilifeldman@mastodon.social)'s status on Saturday, 17-Feb-2024 17:49:26 JST Heidi Li Feldman

     in reply to

     Engoron in response to the Trumps’ efforts to blame their accountants for the frauds and lies: “…the Court notes that neither Mazars, nor Whitley Penn, nor Donald Bender, is a defendant in this action, nor did defendants ever attempt to implead them as third party defendants. …. 8/

   • Heidi Li Feldman (heidilifeldman@mastodon.social)'s status on Saturday, 17-Feb-2024 17:49:26 JST Heidi Li Feldman

     in reply to

     Quote continued:“More significantly , however, this defense is wholly undercut by the overwhelming evidence adduced at trial demonstrating that Mazars and Whitley Penn relied on the Trump
     Organization , not vice versa , to be truthful and accurate , and they had a right to do so.” 9/

   • Heidi Li Feldman (heidilifeldman@mastodon.social)'s status on Saturday, 17-Feb-2024 17:49:26 JST Heidi Li Feldman

     in reply to

     Trump himself did the lying to the accountants, stresses Engoron: “Donald Trump himself acknowledged that,as was certified to in the Management Representation Letters, he was responsible for the preparation and fair presentation of financial statements.” 10/

   • Heidi Li Feldman (heidilifeldman@mastodon.social)'s status on Saturday, 17-Feb-2024 17:49:27 JST Heidi Li Feldman

     in reply to

     Engoron on Michael Cohen, cont. “… based on the
     relaxed manner in which he testified, the general plausibility ofhis statements, and, most importantly , the way his testimony was corroborated by other trial evidence. …” 5/

   • Heidi Li Feldman (heidilifeldman@mastodon.social)'s status on Saturday, 17-Feb-2024 17:49:27 JST Heidi Li Feldman

     in reply to

     Engoron on Ivanka Trump: “Ivanka Trump was a thoughtful, articulate, and poised witness, but the Courtfound her inconsistent recall, depending on whether she was questioned by OAG or the defense, suspect.
     In any event, what Ms. Trump cannot recall is memorialized in contemporaneous emails and documents; in the absence of her memory, the documents speak for themselves.” 6

   • Heidi Li Feldman (heidilifeldman@mastodon.social)'s status on Saturday, 17-Feb-2024 17:49:27 JST Heidi Li Feldman

     in reply to

     After describing all the witnesses -there were more than 40 - Engoron turns to the facts of the fraud and lies. He’s unequivocal. For example: “Accordingly, there can be no mistake, Donald Trump's valuation of Mar-a-Lago from 2011 2021 was fraudulent.” 7/

   • Heidi Li Feldman (heidilifeldman@mastodon.social)'s status on Saturday, 17-Feb-2024 17:49:28 JST Heidi Li Feldman

     in reply to

     Engoron on Michael Cohen: “Michael Cohen was an important witness on behalf ofthe plaintiff, although hardly the linchpin that defendants have attempted to portray him to be. His testimony was significantly compromised by his having pleaded guilty to perjury and by some seeming contradictions in what he said at trial….3/

   • Heidi Li Feldman (heidilifeldman@mastodon.social)'s status on Saturday, 17-Feb-2024 17:49:28 JST Heidi Li Feldman

     in reply to

     Engoron on Michael Cohen, cont. “However, carefully parsed, he testified that although Donald Trump did not expressly direct him to reverse engineer financial statements , he ordered him to do so indirectly, in his mob voice. Although the animosity between the witness and the defendant is palpable,
     providing Cohen with an incentive to lie, the Court found his testimony credible, …” 4/

   • Heidi Li Feldman (heidilifeldman@mastodon.social)'s status on Saturday, 17-Feb-2024 17:49:29 JST Heidi Li Feldman

     in reply to

     The opinion calmly, yet brutally, details Eric Trump’s lying on the stand and how he was repeatedly shown to be lying. 2/