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Donald Trump's properties will likely be liquidated and sold off at auction after a judge found he had committed fraud, New York's former assistant attorney general has said.
Tristan Snell was speaking after a court found that the former president had massively inflated the value of some of his properties and ordered that some Trump companies involved be stripped of their corporate licenses. It's one part of Trump's ongoing civil fraud trial.
"The worst outcome that could have come from this case has already been handed down, and that is for the corporate licenses to be canceled," Snell told MSNBC. "The properties are likely going to be liquidated. The properties are probably going to be sold at auction. That's probably what is going to happen. We don't know that for sure, but that is probably where this is headed. So [Trump] is already really, really in trouble."
Snell said that it was important to remember that Trump has already lost, despite his protestations of innocence.
Judge Arthur Engoron ruled last week that Trump, his adult sons, The Trump Organization and other businesses associated with the former president had overvalued several of his properties—including his Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida, and his triplex in Manhattan at the Trump Tower—for financial gain.
Trump and his sons responded with incredulity to Engoron's summary judgment last week, which ordered that some of their business licenses in New York be rescinded and that the companies that own the properties named in the judgment be handed over to independent receivers.
Trump's lawyers have vowed to appeal the decision and took issue with the figures used to determine that the properties had been overvalued during the first day of the trial. The former president himself appeared in court on Monday in order to, as he put it, "fight for my name and reputation."
The ongoing trial will now determine the outstanding allegations against Donald Trump and his named associates.
Judge Engoron is presiding over the trial in the $250 million civil lawsuit brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James against Trump, his adult sons and The Trump Organization. Trump is accused of inflating his net worth by billions of dollars to secure favorable loan terms from banks. He has denied any wrongdoing.
Engoron will now hear arguments on charges including whether Donald Trump and the other defendants falsified business records after fraudulently overvaluing his worth, issued false financial statements, and committed insurance fraud.
Newsweek reached out to Christopher Kise, a lawyer for the former president, via email for comment.
The former president's daughter, Ivanka Trump, was listed as a witness in James' prosecution case in court filings prior to the trial, having previously been named as a co-defendant.
A court order filed on June 27 this year dismissed Ivanka Trump as a co-defendant as the claims against her were "accrued prior to...February 2016" and that she had not been party to a 2021 tolling agreement between the New York attorney general and the Trump Organization extending the period of statutory limitations on the claims.
The move to becoming a witness in the case against Donald Trump "usually indicates some form of cooperation," an attorney previously told Newsweek, leaving open the potential that Ivanka Trump could give potentially damaging evidence against her family at the trial.
Newsweek reached out to a lawyer for Ivanka Trump via email for comment.
About the writer
Sean O'Driscoll is a Newsweek Senior Crime and Courts Reporter based in Ireland. His focus is reporting on U.S. law. ... Read more