The two statements "How has Trump been the only one brought up on this charge?" and "no-one else democrat or republican comes to mind...or even Mr Smith." are not the same thing. Just because neither of us can think of someone charged/convicted does not make it true!
So I decided to do a brief google search and straight away these two convictions came up
A New York man pleaded guilty yesterday to engaging in an extensive multi-year conspiracy to fraudulently obtain over $165 million in loans and fraudulently acquire multifamily and commercial properties.
www.justice.gov
Drillman and his co-conspirators provided the lenders with fictitious documents, including purchase and sale contracts with inflated purchase prices.
A California real estate executive pleaded guilty yesterday to engaging in an extensive multi-year conspiracy to falsify financial statements.
www.justice.gov
“Tyler Ross falsified corporate records to deceive lenders by fraudulently inflating the income of ROCO properties,”
Now, I am not a lawyer (please jump in if there are some on this thread!) but those sound similar to the actions that Trump was also charged with.
Mulling on point A - I do not deny that it being owned by Trump might make its price/sq foot higher but I don't believe the owner's celebrity status actually makes it larger by almost 20,000 feet. This isn't Dr Who's Tardis we are talking about here. And the value seems so wildly off, especially to anyone who claims to know New York real estate and look at comparable pricing.
https://ag.ny.gov/sites/default/files/tto_release_properties_addendum_-_final.pdf
Valuations of this property were calculated using objectively false numbers. For example, the apartment was valued as being 30,000 square feet when it was actually 10,996 square feet. As a result, in 2015, the apartment was valued at $327 million in total, or $29,738 per square foot. That price was absurd given the fact that at that point only one apartment in New York City had ever sold for even $100 million, at a price per square foot of less than $10,000, and that sale was in a newly built, ultra-tall tower. In the 30 year-old Trump Tower, the record sale at that time was a mere $16.5 million at a price of less than $4,500 per square foot
en.wikipedia.org
According to a later court filing by the AG, Trump's chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg "admitted that the apartment's value had been overstated by 'give or take' $200 million"
Eh but what is $200 million between friends or lenders?
On point B if it is so globally recognized then why did Trump withhold appraisals? The quote below are from the court transcript on the judges ruling that
@Xizor helpfully provided
"Bender later learned that the Trump Organization had withheld records, such as appraisals, that Mazars had requested while preparing the compilations, leading Mazars to conclude that the Trump Organization had falsely represented that it had complied fully and truthfully with all inquiries from Mazars. Mazars subsequently terminated its relationship with the Trump Organization. "
And why did they not use bank ordered appraisal values, if this premium is so well recognized and lie about where they had got their own valuation?
https://ag.ny.gov/sites/default/files/tto_release_properties_addendum_-_final.pdf
40 Wall Street, New York, NY The Trump Organization owns a ground lease at 40 Wall Street, meaning it holds a leasehold interest in the land and buildings on the land, but pays rent to the owner. The Trump Organization received a bank-ordered appraisal for the commercial property at 40 Wall Street that calculated a value for the property of $220 million as of November 1, 2012. Yet in the statement that year and the next year (2013), 40 Wall Street was valued at $527 million and $530 million — more than twice the value calculated by the independent, professional appraisers. Even more egregiously, those increased valuations were attributed to information obtained from the same professional appraiser who valued the building at just over $200 million.
On point C I think the banks were foolish to not do there own checking (iirc the major lender was Deutsche Bank, not doing their own due diligence might have been one reason for their bankruptcy!) however two wrongs don't make a right - it does not absolve Trump from having submitted inflated or fraudulent figures, especially since he signed documents that he would provided accurate figures.
"Bender made absolutely clear that under the terms of the engagement for compilation services, the client was responsible for ensuring that assets were stated at their “estimated current values,” and that Weisselberg was responsible for determining which GAAP departures were identified and disclosed. TT 237-238, 319-320. The engagement letters, signed by a combination of Weisselberg, Donald Trump, and Donald Trump, Jr., confirmed this by unambiguously acknowledging that Donald Trump, through his trustees, was responsible for the preparation and fair presentation of the personal financial information in accordance with GAAP. See, e.g., PX 741. "
This judge did not deem NDAs irrelevant - I don't know how you get to that conclusion? The details of the NDA were detailed in an earlier court case - the one where Cohen admitted to fraudulently getting a personal loan to pay the $130k payment.
And NDAs are not set in stone, if you break one you can be charged and face penalties. However both Cohen and Trump have said they will not try to enforce the NDA so I don't see how in any way, shape or form you can claim this particular judge was "breaking an NDA"
President Donald Trump said he will not attempt to enforce a nondisclosure agreement blocking porn star Stormy Daniels from revealing details of her alleged affair.
abcnews.go.com
President Donald Trump said he will not attempt to enforce a nondisclosure agreement blocking porn star Stormy Daniels from revealing details of her alleged affair with him, according to papers filed Saturday. The statement, filed in Central California federal court, says that Trump has "never taken the position that he was a party" to the NDA with Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford. All of the parties agree that Trump never signed the settlement agreement, according to the filing, which Daniels is seeking to invalidate.
OK let us run with the unlikely scenario he didn't sleep with her.
But "it would harm his reputation if she broadcast her lies publically" is kind of the point. Trump was not charged with paying a porn star, irrespective of whether he slept with her or not . As the Assistant DA said in his opening statement to the jurors “The defendant, Donald Trump, orchestrated a criminal scheme to corrupt the 2016 presidential election. Then, he covered up that criminal conspiracy by lying in his New York business records over and over and over again.”
If Trump had paid Daniels 130k in 2006 when the alleged affair happened as far as I am aware it would have been entirely legal. Although if Cohen had still used fraud to get the money and the reimbursement had still been for "legal bills" then I think there still would have been charges.
But the fact he only wanted to pay Daniels when he was running for president changes it from "he's doing it to avoid upsetting his wife" to "he's doing it to avoid upsetting potential voters" ie corrupting the 2016 presidential election.
Especially since the timing was after the Access Hollywood tape when he on video stated "You know, I’m automatically attracted to beautiful women. I just start kissing them. It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait. When you are a star they let you do it. You can do anything. Grab ‘em by the [Poor language removed]. You can do anything.”
The paper trail does not prove Trump slept with Daniels, although given how tight he is with money I bet the jury thought it did. But it was evidence of altering business records.
news.sky.com
www.latimes.com
