Donald Trump has placed himself at further risk of losing control of properties such as his Mar-a-Lago resort following his testimony in the New York civil fraud trial, according to an attorney.
Speaking on a podcast hosted by Mary Trump, niece and frequent critic of the former president, Joe Gallina suggested things "could not have gone worse" for Trump after he answered questions under oath about his financial statements on Monday.
Trump is accused by New York Attorney General Letitia James of filing fraudulent financial records for years which inflated the value of his properties and assets in order to obtain favorable bank loans and tax breaks. Trump denies all wrongdoing in connection to James' $250 million lawsuit.
Judge Arthur Engoron, who is overseeing the civil trial in New York, has already ruled that Trump had committed fraud by misrepresenting the value of his properties for years. The civil trial is now considering six remaining allegations in James' lawsuit, as well as the size of the penalty.
Trump faces being banned from doing business in New York state, having his properties removed from his control or being forced to pay a fine totaling hundreds of millions of dollars.
Former President Donald Trump on November 6, 2023, in New York City. Trump testified in the civil fraud trial that alleges that he and his sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump conspired to inflate his net worth in financial statements. Curtis Means-Pool/Getty Images
During his Monday testimony, Trump admitted that his real estate company, The Trump Organization, submitted financial statements "to induce lending" from companies such as Deutsche Bank—an apparent admission to a key allegation by James' office that the financial statements which inaccurately valued his net worth were done so to receive loans from banks and insurers.
Trump also frequently clashed with Engoron while on the stand, with the former president accusing the judge of being "very hostile" and that he "always rules against me."
Speaking on Mary Trump's podcast, Gallina said that Trump did nothing to help his case with his testimony, and may pay the price of losing his properties, including his Florida home.
"From start to finish, every single thing we heard about today could not have gone worse. Whether it be Donald's temperament, whether it be his exchanges with the prosecutors, whether it be his admissions, today was a clusterf*** for the defense," Gallina said.
"Prosecutors say that they're seeking up to at least $250 million as a verdict. And so we're going to see how much of that ends up being true. It could be more, it could be less," he added.
"Usually it's around either what the prosecution asks or less, but we're going to see essentially what happens at that moment would be the property that is owned by The Trump Organization, and that includes Mar-a-Lago, depending on how the fee structures, depending on how much they owe, it's basically liquidated in order to pay back these debts. And that's the big question."
Trump's office has been contacted for comment via email.
During the proceedings, Trump has frequently claimed the Mar-a-Lago resort is worth significantly more than the $18 million valuation given by appraisals based on its restricted use as a social club. The former president has frequently claimed the property is worth up to $1.5 billion as a residential property.
While testifying on Monday, Trump denied that he had over-inflated the value of his assets and that they could have even been higher based on his "brand." He also suggested that he is worth "billions of dollars more" than the submitted financial statements suggest.
Reacting to the testimony, Gallina said that the New York attorney general office's lawyers managed to play into Trump's ego to get him to admit details which were key to their case.
"They got Donald stewing, basically wanting to say, 'I didn't lie about my wealth. I'm actually worth more than I put in the documents.' They knew that he was not going to just sit there and admit that he inflated his income, how his entire career was based on lying about how much money he had," Gallina said.
"And here they're asking him these questions and like a pressure cooker, he just couldn't handle it. And prosecutors didn't just prove one of those things today. They got him to admit to both, and that is a slam dunk."
JVorhees on November 9th, 2023 at 16:20 UTC »
In that case, is the Florida tax assessment up to date?
i_love_pencils on November 9th, 2023 at 16:16 UTC »
Yeeaaaarrrgh on November 9th, 2023 at 16:15 UTC »
The dealership told me my Honda was worth about $10,000.00, but I claimed it was worth over $350,000.00. And that's how I bought my McLaren.