Former Federal Prosecutor in the New York Attorney General’s case against Donald Trump and his three sons

Former president, and rookie star, Donald Trump has once again found himself as the focal point of an investigation, this time by New York Attorney General Letitia James.

Mrs. James is suing the former president and three of his sons for fraud, with the aim of preventing them from doing business in the state.

At a news conference, Ms James said she was referring the civil case to federal prosecutors to initiate potential criminal investigations and subsequent charges.

“We are suing Donald Trump for violating the law as part of his efforts to make profits for himself, his family and his company,” Ms James said.

“The complaint shows that Donald Trump has falsely inflated his net worth by billions of dollars to unfairly enrich himself and deceive the system, thereby deceiving us all.”

The civil lawsuit specifies that Donald Trump, along with Eric Trump, Donald Trump Jr., and Ivanka Trump, intentionally misvalued their assets to achieve favorable tax benefits and credits.

Responding to the allegations, Donald Trump said he “never thought this case would be brought”, in a post on his Truth Social platform, while also claiming that Ms James is running a “Get Trump” campaign.

He also stated that Mrs. James was a “failed” attorney general who was pushing people away from New York.

I spoke to Kenneth F. McCallion on the case. As a former federal prosecutor and well-known attorney, McCallion began his career as a prosecutor with the notorious organized crime strike force of the US Department of Justice, which handled Abscam political corruption cases and the Lufthansa heist at JFK, which served as the basis for the movie Goodfellas.

Since entering private practice, McCalleon has worked on the Exxon Valdez oil spill case, the Bhopal gas disaster cases in India, the Holocaust claims cases, the September 11, 2001 World Trade Center attack, the Shoreham Nuclear Power Plant case, and a host of other lesser known cases. For ordinary people who suffered harm.

“The case poses an existential threat to the Trump Organization, as Ms. James is looking for severe sanctions and a five-year ban on the Trump Organization from purchasing commercial real estate in New York,” McCalleon said.

He continued, “What will be most interesting is seeing what happens on a criminal front. New York AG is asking the Southern District of New York and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to look into a possible federal prosecution. This is the case that will be even more devastating for Trump’s empire, especially since Ms. James and her team have amassed a mountain of evidence.”

I asked McCalleon about the current legal climate in the United States and the potential sense some people have that some individuals are above the law, not getting proper justice because of their finances.

He replied, “Although we would like to believe that all Americans have equal access to justice and that measures of justice are equally balanced for all participants in the federal and state litigation systems, this noble goal is far from realistic.”

Large corporations and the wealthy have the financial resources to hire first-class attorneys and large law firms to represent them in civil lawsuits and in the courts. Meanwhile, small businesses and ordinary Americans lack the financial resources to fight protracted court battles against larger, well-handled adversaries. As a result, most Americans are denied access to civil justice, and this is one reason why the rich are getting richer, with the top 1% counting their net worth in billions, not just millions, and the poor and middle class are largely excluded from the American dream of previous generations.”

“It was usual, even during my lifetime, that members of the working class could reasonably expect to move up the social and economic ladder, through hard work and solid education. Yet America’s dirty little secret is that opening doors of opportunity is much more difficult, and the ladder of ascent has been dragged upwards and is no longer truly within their reach, despite the persistent myth that America is the land of opportunity . . . ”

Unfortunately, the country is beginning to resemble Russia and other authoritarian countries, which maintain mere trappings of democracy, but are in fact dominated by an economic and political oligarchy who can distract their own powerless citizens from this reality by cynical appeal to prejudices, false narratives and misconceptions “.

“One of the only counterweights available to prevent this almost inevitable drift toward totalitarianism and a rigid class economic system are state prosecutors as well as the relatively small group of plaintiffs’ attorneys who are able to take on vested interests by representing private citizens and small businesses through contingency fee arrangements, receiving Lawyers are only a percentage of any settlement or judgment against the defendants if the case is successful.In almost every case, this is a risky venture for the plaintiff’s attorneys handling these cases, so they must carefully evaluate each case before taking it on, and they must have the experience and skills Legal and financial staying power needed to peruse them. Cases to successful conclusion.

“The only other bulwark against our country’s drift toward totalitarianism is the ability of the American electorate to come to their senses, shake off their stupor, and elect pro-democracy and anti-authoritarian representatives to Congress, state legislatures and their governments, and who are not pawns of the private interests of the corporations and conservative think tanks that operate tirelessly to undermine the will of the people through voter constraints and campaign finance manipulation designed to thwart the will of the majority and keep entrenched and oligarchic private interests in power forever.”

It is not currently known whether federal prosecutors – or the IRS – will open criminal investigations, but Ms James has specified that she is asking a New York court to permanently ban former President Donald Trump and his three aforementioned children from doing business in the state.

Ms James also stated that during her three-year investigation, Donald Trump and the accused made more than 200 false assessments in annual financial statements. This allowed the Trump Organization to obtain hundreds of millions of dollars in loans. The official investigation by Ms James’ office began after Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen specifically referred to commercial misconduct in his official address to Congress in 2019.

With some words of wisdom in light of the investigation into Trump and his children, McCalleon commented, “Life is not a race to see who has the most expensive money or expensive toys in the end. It’s about character and a clear moral compass. It’s clear that Trump never learned that lesson and it may soon be proven.” It’s his demise.”