(They say these entrepreneurs are still bailing out Wall Street from the 2008 Financial Crisis. You can see the complications if someone with authority hits you up for a half billion bucks by lunchtime tomorrow! Image BusinessInsider).
We thought the former Chief Executive was going to get a bail-out yesterday from the fiscal mess he is in. Can you imagine someone coming to your door and demanding a half billion bucks by say- tomorrow?
We think this shares an odor of malevolence similar to the one in the Atlanta courtroom noted by Judge McAfee a couple weeks ago. This one is about false claims and fraud in real estate matters in Manhattan, which we thought was just a routine cost of doing business there. That may be why we are not fiercely wealthy New Yorkers.
It was a spectacular report from Politico. It featured great characters, including a mean Tweeter and a vicious state Attorney General threatening to seize and sell a New York Tower tomorrow in order to settle a fine of around $254 million bucks. Which is additive to the last $83 million in civil fines only a month or two old.
Politico claims this morning the approval from investors comes as Mr. Trump faces a severe financial crunch: He’s been hit with more than $500 million in civil penalties, not to mention ongoing legal fees as he appeals verdicts against him.
Writers Declan Harty and Victoria Guida contributed a piercing assessment on whether the former Chief Executive can through the cushions on the sofa at Mar-a-Lago and come up with a half thousand million in cash by sometime tomorrow.
We reported, based on other Saturday sources, that investors on Friday had approved a “massive windfall” from sale of his social media company “Truth Social.” That could amount to as much as $3 Billion. But Harty and Guida claim it “will likely come too late to save him” from the financial peril he’s facing now.
We need to figure this one out a little better. The investors agreed to a deal allowing a new venture to operate Truth Social and be publicly traded at the Stock Exchange. Such trading potentially clears the way for a possible multibillion-dollar payday for the former President. At least that is what we thought yesterday, not realizing the “unrealized appreciation” could be something New York will consider taxable. In the here-and now.
Like the “tomorrow” version of that timeline. But it is only a half billion bucks, and the banks dpn’t even close for lunch any more.
The problem is timing, of course, and we thought he might be able to have cash in hand by tomorrow to satisfy tomorrow’s demand by New York Attorney General Letitia James. According to the memo from Legal that was flickering on our screens this morning, we are not admitted to any State Bar organizations and do not understand how complicated their multi-syllabic lexicon.
So, as the disclaimer clearly states, anyone who would listen to us before consulting a certified legal professional should see another sort of professional for reliable advise. Like “mental health.”
According to credentialed journalists, that is not true about anything- or anyone considered “too big to fail” because it is going to fail tomorrow. Or, at least some crisply-dressed uniformed people will show up tomorrow with writs of attainder at the Tower n Manhattan, and force the people who own it today to surrender such possession by tomorrow.
Our non-credentialed legal opinion- and remember, like other portions of our bodies we all have at least one of them- is that what Mr. Trump is alleged to have done was to mis-state the value of his real estate in order to borrow money against an estimated value. That is exactly what the Attorney General is attempting to do, although she has not been indicted for anything that we are aware of.
Pay no attention to the luxury living afforded to her by the use of taxpayer funds.
The current campaign is naturally not about justice, whatever that might be these days. No one complained about the alleged fraud while it was happening. Everyone who borrowed or lent the money was satisfied the contract had been executed faithfully, and this is only to keep him from winning the election this Fall and doing the same thing to his opponents that is being done to him now. ‘
This morning, “time” is only on the side of Law Enforcement people who can- how do we say this? “Enforce the Law.” Whatever it is they consider it to be upon rising on a bright Sunday morning.
We do not have time to check and see if the economic qualifications of the journalists is any more in order than our legal training, But the claim is that Trump’s stake will be tied up for much of the year under a so-called “lock-up agreement.” That is a normal arrangement for such financial deals to ensure that insiders don’t bail as soon as a company goes public, pushing down the stock price.
The argument from Politico is that a waiver from the lock-up rule might be possible but it would take time. That favors the Attorney General in the real estate matter, since Mr. Trump wouldn’t be able to sell more than a small fraction of his stock at any given time . The claim is that Trump is himself the heart of the venture, and thus of indeterminate value.
If that involves bringing up another Chief Executive and the “brand” his family business has successfully peddled here in Washington for a half century, you can see this is both complicated and time consuming.
That is what is so interesting about the government prosecuting alleged crimes without victims well beyond their statute of expiration dates it is just part of the carnival in progress. It justifies bringing charges by the Department of Justice against people who you don’t like. That used to be a Constitutional violation of something or other.
It will take time because it is complex. It involves what is termed a “special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), whose sole aim is to buy a private firm with actual operations and take it public. The imminent merger comes after two years of contentious negotiations which have included lawsuits and investigations by the Security and Exchange Commission.
It thus can be more and less complicated. We imagine that the sum of cash is so large that it should be considered “imaginary.” And if they started printing it now, it might be ready for lunch tomorrow!
Copyright 2024 Vic Socotra
www.vicsocotra.com