Tipsheet

Here's the New Rule Concerning Trump and His Legal Drama

At this point, why should we expect the best concerning Donald Trump’s legal woes? The deck is stacked against him, with the federal and state governments coming after him ahead of the 2024 election. The former president and presumptive 2024 nominee for the Republican Party is facing multiple trials at both the state and federal levels. Special Counsel Jack Smith indicted Trump twice, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg indicted him on the Stormy Daniels payments, and Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis got Trump on a RICO indictment regarding alleged interference in the 2020 election. 

New York Attorney General Letitia James’ civil lawsuit against Trump, where her office alleges the billionaire real estate magnate falsified his business papers. A judge also ruled that Trump inflated his net worth (via Axios): 

A New York state judge ruled Tuesday that former President Trump committed fraud by exaggerating his net worth on financial records, according to a court filing. 

The big picture: The ruling by Judge Arthur Engoron comes days before the trial is set to begin on Democratic New York Attorney General Letitia James' civil fraud lawsuit against Trump and his business on allegations of falsifying business records. 

Driving the news: The ruling narrows the scope of the trial set to begin next week. It's a loss for Trump's lawyers, who have been trying to fight some of the allegations against him, the New York Times notes. 

The judge also ordered sanctions of $7,500 each for attorneys who represented the former president and the other defendants for making claims in filings that Engoron deemed frivolous. 

Zoom in: Among the allegations in the lawsuit, Trump is accused of fabricating the value of his apartment buildings, hotels and other assets. 

"In defendants' world: rent regulated apartments are worth the same as unregulated apartments; restricted land is worth the same as unrestricted land; restrictions can evaporate into thin air; a disclaimer by one party casting responsibility on another party exonerates the other party's lies," Engoron wrote. 

"That is a is a fantasy world, not the real world." 

It goes without saying: expect indictments and rulings to go against Trump. This isn’t a new rule, but we should have figured that a parade of legal horrible was in store for the former president when the Manhattan DA’s office indicted Trump over the Daniels hush money arrangement. The charges Trump faced were misdemeanors elevated to felonies despite said felonies expiring under the statute of limitations. If a shoddy case like that could sail through, anything goes. 

Whatever the legal matter, if it involves Trump, expect the worst. They’re not going to let him go.