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Former President Donald Trump is facing "greater danger" than ever before after a New York judge ruled that he and some of his businesses committed fraud over several years, his niece Mary Trump said on Wednesday.
Judge Arthur Engoron ruled against Trump on Tuesday in New York Attorney General Letitia James' lawsuit alleging that he and his sons fraudulently inflated his net worth by billions of dollars to obtain benefits such as better bank loans and reduced tax bills between 2011 and 2021. Trump has maintained his innocence, and his legal team has said they plan to appeal the decision.
Mary Trump, a frequent critic of the former president, who is running in the Republican presidential primary, responded to the ruling in a Substack post Wednesday afternoon in which she wrote that she hopes the ruling will be "something of a tipping point" as he faces four criminal trials in the coming months.
In that post, titled "What's Worse Than Worst," Mary Trump wrote that she believes her uncle's "weakness" and "unconscious sense that he is a loser who can only 'win' if he lies, cheats, and steals" make him "dangerous."
"He believes that being a 'winner' is an absolutely necessary condition of his existence which partially explains why he threatens to burn it all down if he doesn't get his way. The problem is, a significant minority of Americans, in conjunction with almost 100% of elected Republicans, seem determined to put him in a position to do just that," she wrote.
She then pondered whether Trump is "getting worse" as he faces several legal battles, which threaten to have an impact on his finances.
"Is he getting worse? I don't know. If he seems to be it's because he's in greater danger, legally and financially—even existentially—than he's ever been before; there is more at stake (including his freedom and his wealth) than there ever has been," she wrote.
Donald Trump is also facing several criminal charges. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg charged him with falsifying business documents over an alleged hush money payment made during his 2016 campaign, and an Atlanta-area grand jury indicted him in an election interference case.
Meanwhile, he is also facing two federal cases surrounding the January 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol and classified documents found at his Mar-a-Lago estate.
Mary Trump wrote on Wednesday that Judge Engoron's decision may not bode well for the president as he heads to trial for these charges next year.
"I hope yesterday's decision by Judge Engoron in New York (which, according to Joyce Vance, is the equivalent of New York's corporate death penalty) will prove something of a tipping point. It's far past time all of the evidence against Donald and his decades-long crime spree reaches critical mass," she wrote.
Newsweek reached out to Trump's campaign for comment via email.
Trump did not face criminal charges in James' case, so he will not be at risk of jail time. However, the civil case could still have an impact on his bottom line.
As Mary Trump mentioned, legal experts have referred to the ruling as a "corporate death penalty," as Engoron ordered the cancellation of business licenses for The Trump Organization and several other New York entities associated with the ex-president—greatly limiting his ability to practice business in New York, the country's largest financial hub.
About the writer
Andrew Stanton is a Newsweek weekend reporter based in Maine. His role is reporting on U.S. politics and social issues. ... Read more