cover of episode Why You Should Pay Attention to Trump's Civil Fraud Case

Why You Should Pay Attention to Trump's Civil Fraud Case

2023/10/4
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Russ Buettner
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Michael Loewentjer: 本期节目讨论了针对唐纳德·特朗普的民事欺诈诉讼，该诉讼指控其及其公司使用虚假财务报表夸大资产净值。如果纽约州总检察长Letitia James胜诉，特朗普可能失去对企业和最宝贵资产（如特朗普大厦）的控制权。除了此案外，特朗普还面临四项刑事指控。 Russ Buettner: 法官已裁定特朗普及其家族在审理期间犯有持续和反复的欺诈行为。审判的主要焦点将是确定应支付的损害赔偿金额，纽约州总检察长要求的罚款估计为2.5亿美元。特朗普夸大了他在特朗普大厦公寓的面积，将其面积夸大了三倍，其辩护律师也承认这种行为是错误的。在此案中，财务损失并非欺诈的构成要素，即使银行没有直接受到财务损失，欺诈行为仍然成立。特朗普多次向银行提供虚报的房产价值，例如40华尔街大楼和海湖庄园。他声称可以将海湖庄园卖给亿万富翁或国王，以此来证明其价值高达10亿美元，但这一说法缺乏证据支持。 Russ Buettner: 特朗普利用欺诈性的税务手段和空壳公司从其父亲的房地产帝国中转移资金，利用“全郡建筑供应公司”等空壳公司进行欺诈性税务操作，为了避免遗产税，创建了一个空壳公司，并通过虚增发票的方式从弗雷德·特朗普那里转移资金。将一栋价值被低估的建筑物捐赠给慈善机构，以此来减少税负。在将弗雷德·特朗普的房地产帝国转移给唐纳德·特朗普及其兄弟姐妹时，低估了资产的价值。特朗普在其一生中从其父亲那里获得了大量的资金，这与他自称白手起家的说法相矛盾。《学徒》节目为特朗普带来了巨额财富，这帮助他维持了亏损的企业。特朗普声称自己被审计而无法公开纳税申报单的说法是误导性的。在过去20年中几乎没有缴纳过所得税，并获得了7000万美元的退税，这引发了一项持续多年的审计。美国国税局每年只审计特朗普少数几个实体的纳税申报单，这使得他能够逃税。特朗普对民事诉讼的回应主要集中在人身攻击和政治操纵上，而不是事实本身。他称法官和总检察长为“疯子”和“种族主义者”。此次民事诉讼可能对特朗普造成毁灭性打击，该诉讼涉及特朗普几乎所有的企业，如果败诉，他可能失去对这些企业的控制。如果特朗普败诉，他可能需要出售特朗普大厦的商业和零售空间来支付罚款。此案将严重影响特朗普的财务状况和公众形象。

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The episode introduces the civil fraud trial against Donald Trump, his sons, and the Trump Organization, highlighting the potential consequences if the New York State Attorney General is successful.

Shownotes Transcript

Donald Trump is in court this week in New York City, again, for a multimillion dollar civil fraud trial. He, his sons, and the Trump organization have been accused of using false financial statements and inflating their net worth by billions. In addition to this case, Trump is facing four criminal indictments: the January 6th insurrection case in DC, the Stormy Daniels hush money case in New York, the classified documents case in Florida, and the political interference case in Georgia. It’s a lot to keep track of, but this civil trial is worth one's attention. If NY State Attorney General Letitia James succeeds, Trump could lose control of his businesses and his most valuable assets, like Trump Tower — along with whatever’s left of the public image he spent decades constructing on television and in the press.

Russ Buettner) is a reporter on the New York Times Investigation Desk, the team that hunted down Trump’s tax returns and other elusive financial documents, in an effort to understand how exactly the former president got his money and how he lost so much of it. For the midweek podcast, OTM correspondent Micah Loewinger called Russ to learn about what Trump’s history of fraud means for his future, the revelations of the trial so far, and what details have gotten lost in the deluge of coverage.

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