As the gentle reader already knows, Judge Engoron brought down the hammer on the Trump Klan for the fraudulent practices. Just as delicious, if not more so, as the actual ruling his New York Attorney General Letitia James speaking to the press afterwards. You just gotta love a woman who enjoys her work:
Good evening.
Today justice has been served. Today we prove that no one is above the law. No matter how rich, powerful, or politically connected you are, everyone must play by the same rules. We have a responsibility to protect the integrity of the marketplace.
And for years, Donald Trump engaged in deceptive business practices and tremendous fraud. Donald Trump falsely, knowingly, inflated his net worth by billions of dollars to unjustly enrich himself, his family, and to cheat the system.. Donald Trump may have authored the art of the deal, but he perfected the art of the steal.
This long-running fraud was intentional, egregious, illegal, and he did all of this with the help of the other defendants. His two adult sons and senior executives at the Trump Organization. And so, after 11 weeks of trial, we showed the staggering extent of his fraud and exactly how Donald Trump and the other defendants deceived banks, insurance companies, and other financial institutions for their own personal gain. We proved just how much Donald Trump, his family, and his company unjustly benefited from his fraud.
Today, the court, once again, ruled in our favor and in favor of every hardworking American who plays by the rules. Donald Trump and the other defendants were ordered to pay $463.9 million. That represents $363.9 million in disgorgement, plus $100 million in interest, which will continue to increase every single day until it is paid.
You gotta love the way she maintained her professionalism but was obviously savoring every word. And you just know that she was saving the "art of the steal" line for a long time.
But she wasn't done there. James also made damn sure that there was no doubt Trump's fraud was not a victimless crime:
Of course, she has every right to be feeling good right now. James and her staff put in countless hours of work before the trial and had to suffer through all sorts of egregious behaviors and insults that really should never have been tolerated. If anyone else had tried half the shit Trump did, they would be behind bars for contempt so fast their head would still be spinning.
Enjoy your weekend, Ms James. You earned it for a job well done.
