Donald Trump got caught red-handed during his $250 million New York bank fraud trial on Monday when lawyers for the New York attorney general’s office revealed Trump had long ago signed financial documents with the clear intent that they would be used to curry favor with banks.
After being shown a loan agreement he had signed with Deutsche Bank in 2012, Trump agreed that his faulty financial statements were intended to induce banks to lend money.
While it might not sound like much, the admission is key to the New York attorney general’s case, which hopes to prove that Trump deceived banks and insurers by massively overvaluing his net worth. Trump essentially admitted on the stand that these financial documents were produced with the express intent to induce lending. The Trump Organization was likely able to secure loans at far lower interest rates due to all the overinflated valuations.
The minimum that will happen here is the $250 million fine. That’s because he’s already been found guilty of the top count. The current trial is to determine if he’s guilty of the other counts, and how much more Trump will be fined. He could also lose his ability to operate any of his businesses in NYS (this may have already happened, I can’t remember.)
This is also a bench trial, since his attorneys forgot to ask for a jury trial. That means the judge will decide if he’s guilty of the further counts, and what the punishments will be. The same judge that he’s been screaming at from the stand, threatening on social media, and whose staffers trump has also been threatening and doxxing.