The doorway to Trump Tower on fifth Avenue is pictured within the Manhattan borough of Recent York City, May 19, 2021.
Shannon Stapleton | Reuters
A Recent York state judge has approved the appointment of a special monitor to oversee the Trump Organization’s financial statements and reports, and has barred the corporate from transferring any non-cash assets without notifying the court and the state attorney general’s office prematurely.
The ruling from Judge Arthur Engoron on Thursday is a major blow to Trump and three of his adult children, who were named in a sweeping lawsuit brought in September by Recent York Attorney General Letitia James.
The suit accused the Trumps and other senior Trump Organization officials of many years of fraud related to financial statements.
Engoron’s written order said the appointment of an independent monitor was justified given the “persistent misrepresentations throughout every certainly one of Mr. Trump’s [Statements of Financial Condition] between 2011 and 2021.”
The monitor would “ensure there isn’t any further fraud or illegality that violates” the Recent York state law prohibiting fraud.
Trump has fought James’ lawsuit in Recent York, and on Wednesday he filed a lawsuit against the Recent York official in Florida. The suit accuses James of violating Trump’s right to privacy in Florida, his current state of residence. It also accuses the attorney general of attempting to take control of Trump’s firms through her lawsuit against the Trump Organization.
In an announcement Thursday evening, Trump called the ruling “ridiculous,” and urged each Recent York and Florida courts to stop what he called an “inquisition.”
Engeron’s order also grants a motion filed by James that bars Trump and his company from transferring their assets without telling the court prematurely. In her request, James said Trump gave the impression to be attempting to move the Trump firms out of Recent York state in an apparent effort to get out of James’ jurisdiction.
James noted the corporate registered a latest entity in Delaware on Sept. 15 called Trump Organization, LLC. One week later, the Trump Organization registered a latest corporation with the state of Recent York called Trump Organization II, LLC.
Trump’s lawyers opposed James’ request for an outdoor monitor in a court filing on Oct. 27, arguing that a monitor would amount to “a politically motivated try and nationalize a highly successful private enterprise.”
Engoron rejected their reasoning, and wrote in his order that the Trump legal team was conflating a court-appointed independent monitor with a court-appointed receiver. A monitor “oversees,” Engoron wrote, while a receiver takes “control of your entire organization.”
Trump lawyer Chris Kise disputed the excellence, saying in an announcement Thursday that the judge’s order “seizes control of the financial affairs” of Trump’s company “based on nothing greater than gross exaggeration of normal valuation differences,” which Kise said was “common in complex business real estate financing transactions.”
Because the suit was first filed in September, Trump’s legal team has made the argument that Trump’s exaggeration of the values of his properties when he sought bank loans was merely a part of the negotiating process, and never financial fraud.
