Trump will keep saying that ‘banana republics’ behave in this way towards presidential candidates. And he has a point.
SPECTATOR
‘Donald Trump may have authored the Art of the Deal,’ said the New York Attorney General Letitia James, doing her best resolute voice. ‘But he perfected the art of the steal.’
There speaks the voice of American justice: biased, politicised, odiously trite. ‘Today, we proved that no one is above the law,’ said James, which is what every Trump prosecutor has said, over and over, for years now. ‘No matter how rich, powerful, or politically connected you are, everyone must play by the same rules.’
That’s garbage and everybody knows it. The rules don’t apply to everyone. The rules didn’t apply to the Trump family until Donald Trump became president of the United States and America’s ruling class had a nervous breakdown.
Yesterday, after a long investigation and prosecution headed by James, Judge Arthur F. Engoron ruled against the Trumps and the Trump Organisation. He imposed fines of $355 million (£280 million), plus interest, on the former First Family for fraudulently inflating the worth of their assets in order to secure more favourable loan terms.
The largeness of the sum demanded may be shocking, but the judgment is not. In September, before this trial began, Judge Engoron had already ruled that the Trump Organisation’s statements ‘clearly contain fraudulent valuations’.
This is a civic case, which requires a ‘preponderance of evidence’ for the accused to be found liable, rather than a criminal one that demands proof of guilt ‘beyond reasonable doubt.’ Eric and Donald junior have both been ordered to pay $4 million (£3.2 million).
The Trumps will appeal. The case will drag on, possibly until after the election. The media will move on to the criminal ‘hush-money’ indictment, another that falls under Letitia James’s remit.
