Donald Trump’s “university” proved to be a fraudulent operation, and during his White House tenure, the Republican was required to pay $25 million to his former “students” — a first-of-its-kind payment for a sitting American president.
Also while in office, Trump’s charitable foundation proved to be a fraudulent operation, which was forced to close its doors, and which led to a $2 million judgment after the evidence showed he repeatedly misused the ostensible charity for his own interests.
Completing the trifecta, a New York judge ruled that Trump’s business also committed repeated acts of fraud over the course of several years. NBC News summarized the findings this way:
According to the ruling, which allows the civil trial to begin next week, Trump lied to banks and insurers by both overvaluing and undervaluing his assets when it was to his benefit while exaggerating his net worth to the tune of billions of dollars. In his 35-page ruling, Judge Arthur Engoron said Trump continually lied on his financial statements and was able to get favorable loan terms and lower insurance premiums as a result. Trump’s legal arguments defending the statements are based in “a fantasy world, not the real world,” Engoron wrote.
The report added that the ruling “would dissolve numerous limited liability companies, or LLCs, associated with Trump, including the Trump Organization LLC, an entity that’s been used to expand the Trump brand through use of his name.”
This seems like a good time to pause and take stock of the scope of the former president’s legal troubles.
Trump’s business, charitable foundation, and “university” were all found to have committed fraud.
Trump is facing federal criminal charges over his alleged post-defeat crimes.
Trump is facing federal criminal charges over his classified documents scandal.
Trump is facing criminal charges in New York over his hush-money-to-a-porn-star scandal. Trump is facing criminal charges in Georgia over his alleged post-defeat crimes. Trump was held liable for sexually abusing E. Jean Carroll, and a judge recently concluded that the former president, for all intents and purposes, “‘raped’ her as many people commonly understand the word ‘rape.’” Trump is also facing several civil lawsuits filed by police officers injured during the Jan. 6 attack. Despite all of this, the former president is the frontrunner for the Republican Party’s 2024 nomination, leading his next closest rival by roughly 40 points.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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