Originally published at: Trump admits fraudulent documents were used to defraud
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When I read about this, my first thought was that his worries about his sons Cokehead and Fredo bumbling into sinking him were unnecessary; he’s capable of screwing himself all on his own.
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Only the best words.
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Considering that he also chose to ramble incoherently, forced the judge multiple times to get him back on track (and to speak up, apparently), his best option was to say “I plead the fifth” but we already know that was never on the cards…
His legal team didn’t do much better, either.
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Trump saying that he had the “best words” was a self-disproving remark that demonstrated how impoverished his vocabulary is.
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“S/ad”
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“DUMB Donald Trump confesses to FRAUD! What a LOSER!”
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his best option was to say “I plead the fifth” but we already know that was never in the cards…
In a criminal trial, yes. But this is a civil trial, and the decision makers (in this case the judge, no jury) is allowed to draw an Adverse Inference based upon a known lack of any proffered exculpatory evidence.
Bottom line: Trump mortgaged any avenue of a favorable appeal, and such an appeal will be either:
- Not happening, or
- Will end in a short and brutal summary judgement against his claim.
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It’s a civil trial, taking the 5th can be used by the finder of fact (the judge) to draw negative inferences from.
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Which Judge Engoron warned Trump’s lawyers he would also be forced to do with Trump’s rambling non-answers.
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Trump’s position all along has been that what he did was perfectly fine because no one was harmed since he paid back all the loans in full, so I’m not surprised really that he just straight up admitted this. No one seems to be able to get him to understand that the banks made less money because he lied, and that’s a harm. Not that I’m very sympathetic to banks, but the law in NY is pretty clear that this is fraud.
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harm to taxpayers too i’d imagine
even so, fraud is fraud even if no tangible harm is done. if everyone lies and commits fraud, it’d be nearly impossible to conduct business. no one could trust anyone, and even the simplest transaction would be fraught with danger. protection against fraud the bare minimum necessary to keep the system ( such as it is ) running
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That’s all correct, and I think also with Trump, he views interaction as transactional and as a zero sum transaction. Which means, to him, he doesn’t come out ahead unless the other side loses. So for him, costing the banks money is a necessary byproduct of the loan being good for him. So to him, he did absolutely nothing wrong and he can’t understand why he’s been charged with anything. None of this squares with how he views the world. So of course he admits his guilt. He just doesn’t think what he did was wrong at all.
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That’s the basis of business practise (and really life in general) for Libertarians as well.
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Now?
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it’s gotta be someday… right!?
at this point i’ll consider it a win if i outlive him. ( i know especially with his covid destruction, not everyone has been so lucky 
)
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He was also re-stating arguments that the judge had pointedly already ruled against. He’s like a little kid in trouble talking as fast as he can hoping that if he can just phrase it right, someone will excuse his actions.
My wife and I, after hearing our daughter say for about the fifth time, “You’re not listening to me!” explained that we had heard every word, but we didn’t agree with her excuses. She was about 8. Trump is nearly ten times that age and still argues this way.
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Pleading the 5th is not good for civil actions (like the NY case). The Court can take all negative inferences from someone invoking it.
I owe some cokes
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