A court-ordered financial auditor has caught Donald Trump quietly moving $40 million from the Trump Organization into a personal bank account—seemingly so the former president could pay his whopping $29 million tax bill.

Trump isn’t supposed to be moving any money around without alerting Barbara S. Jones, a former federal judge in New York tasked with babysitting the Trump Organization for its relentlessly shady business practices. But on Wednesday, she notified a New York state court about some major bank transfers that were never brought to her attention by the Trumps.

  • BertramDitore@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    352
    arrow-down
    6
    ·
    1 year ago

    Cool cool cool, that’s just great. So there are going to be immediate legal consequences, right???

    Fuck I’m so tired of this.

    • noride@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      107
      arrow-down
      3
      ·
      edit-2
      1 year ago

      Oh yes yes, consequences aplenty! They are facing a fine of several thousand dollars here! Justice at long last!!

    • Chainweasel@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      63
      ·
      1 year ago

      I’m honestly starting to think he was sent to us as some sort of test to see how much bullshit we’ll put up with before we revolt, and we’re fucking failing.

      • Mnemnosyne@sh.itjust.works
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        31
        ·
        1 year ago

        Makes me think of Vault 11 from Fallout New Vegas where the population has to sacrifice one person every year or everyone would be killed.

        Only it was a test and if they refused then nobody is killed. But they send sacrifices for almost 200 years.

    • shalafi@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      16
      arrow-down
      2
      ·
      1 year ago

      But on Wednesday, she notified a New York state court

      Just how fast you want them to move?! This was reported to the court TODAY.

      • Butt Pirate@reddthat.com
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        16
        ·
        edit-2
        1 year ago

        And he stole classified documents three years ago. He orchestrated a failed coup three years ago too. At the rate this is going he’s going to be elected grand emperor and he will just dismiss the cases against him.

    • Stupidmanager@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      10
      ·
      1 year ago

      the legal ramifications for Trump is so great, that it’ll spill over to people who shouldn’t be in trouble but sadly had the letter ‘T’ in their name. So sorry Tommy and Tina, you’re going to jail cause our Orange Idiot is too rich.

      Oh, you too Anthony and Bridgette, don’t think we didn’t see those T’s hiding!

    • stolid_agnostic@lemmy.ml
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      6
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      1 year ago

      This is already done and has been for months. They are just trying to figure out exactly how fucked over here is.

        • stolid_agnostic@lemmy.ml
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          12
          ·
          1 year ago

          You’re wrong. Anything can happen with the federal cases but this New York one will stick. The law they are using was created specifically for people like Trump that they can’t take down criminally.

          • ripcord@kbin.social
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            24
            ·
            1 year ago

            I hope you’re right but the last 6 years have eliminated 100% of confidence that you will be.

            • Telorand@reddthat.com
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              12
              arrow-down
              1
              ·
              1 year ago

              Your cynicism is totally understandable, but all the lawyers I’ve listened to on this one say he’s fucked. It’s just that Justice moves too slowly for the average person, so it feels like nothing is being done about his lawlessness.

              • DogMuffins@discuss.tchncs.de
                link
                fedilink
                English
                arrow-up
                17
                ·
                1 year ago

                Dude he’s about to be elected perpetual supreme grand emperor so he can just cancel democracy.

                Cross all the t’s and dot all the i’s but penalise him already.

                • Telorand@reddthat.com
                  link
                  fedilink
                  arrow-up
                  6
                  ·
                  1 year ago

                  I feel you. Justice moves slowly, especially for people who have immense privilege. I want him behind bars or hidden away somewhere, never to be seen again. We’re too close to fascism to be giving people like him the benefit of the doubt.

            • eestileib@sh.itjust.works
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              4
              ·
              1 year ago

              Hey, he actually paid E Jean Carroll her proceeds from the lawsuit (this was part of the transactions listed here).

              So he was actually out a little under $6M from a legal loss, and actually paid.

              Anyway, toss that toothpick on the scales opposite the sequoiah of judicial indifference.

  • Pratai@lemmy.ca
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    138
    arrow-down
    9
    ·
    edit-2
    1 year ago

    So again…… why is he not in prison again?

    EDIT: I’d love for the cowards that are downvoting this to stand up, be counted, and speak their mind.

    • Kbin_space_program@kbin.social
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      56
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      edit-2
      1 year ago

      Because the US has never had a former president get caught so badly and there isn’t precedent for this.

      Particularly in that he’s running for president again, is the presumptive GOP nominee based on poll data, and the Supreme Court is functionally in his pocket.

      • PM_Your_Nudes_Please@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        71
        ·
        1 year ago

        That last part is important. Courts are bending over backwards to accommodate him, because they don’t want to give him any way to claim his trials were unfair. You can only appeal a ruling on the basis of mistrial. Basically, you have to show the appeals court that your previous trial was unfair in some way. So the lower courts are doing everything they can to avoid giving him ammo for that appeal.

        Because the lower courts know that if it successfully gets appealed, the courts get exponentially more conservative as they go up. So his chances of getting away with it dramatically increase with each subsequent appeal. And if it makes it all the way to the SCOTUS, they’ll happily light the constitution on fire to let him walk. So their best chance is to nip it in the bud now, by making the courtroom proceedings as appeals-proof as possible. And the only way to do that is to avoid seeming unfair at every opportunity.

      • lolcatnip@reddthat.com
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        15
        ·
        edit-2
        1 year ago

        In a legal sense, it’s only unprecedented if you start from the assumption that the law doesn’t apply to former presidents the way it does to anyone else.

        The real issue is they’ve never tried to prosecute a tinpot dictator with an army would-be terrorists and a bunch of collaborators in key positions in the federal government.

      • AngryCommieKender@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        7
        ·
        edit-2
        1 year ago

        There is precedent, the GOP just likes to forget that. Ulysses S Grant was prosecuted as a sitting president. It was for a misdemeanor of “speeding on horseback while in the city limits of Washington DC,” but that just reinforces that we absolutely can and will prosecute even a sitting president for minor crimes, much less a “former president,” which is just a normal citizen, for 96 felonies.

        • Kbin_space_program@kbin.social
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          5
          ·
          edit-2
          1 year ago

          Fair. Didn’t know about that(the grant speeding arrest).

          Looking it up, there is a marked difference in that Grant accepted that he’d been fairly caught(even if his compatriots didn’t) whereas the guy who gives orange a bad rap looks for all appearances to be willing to get rid of the democratic process entirely to evade consequences.

          It is unfortunate that Watergate and the Bush Administration’s legalizing of Torture never got their proper treatment. Perhaps if they did the current situation wouldn’t have happened.

          • AngryCommieKender@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            3
            ·
            edit-2
            1 year ago

            I only know about the Grant thing because I found out that was the third time he had been pulled over, the previous two he was a General, and there was a small war going on at the time, while I was looking into the illegal shit that caused Qualified Immunity.

      • eric@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        7
        arrow-down
        3
        ·
        1 year ago

        I’m no fan of the current court, but to say it’s in Trump’s pocket is ludicrous. If they were, they would not have rejected his election challenge appeals related to the 2020 election.

      • Son_of_dad@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        4
        arrow-down
        3
        ·
        1 year ago

        Yeah people need to accept that he’s never going to jail. Best we can hope for is to keep him bogged down in lawsuits and appeals until he dies of big Mac overdose

        • Riccosuave@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          2
          ·
          edit-2
          1 year ago

          Have you considered a career in the CIA? I hear they really appreciate this combination of creativity and questionable personal ethics 🙃😅

        • FuglyDuck@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          2
          ·
          1 year ago

          They were, yes. But you’d be surprised how much that fails in practice.

          For example, it was concluded that it took 7 seconds for death to actually happen, and that’s with a sharp blade. A dull one might not even be lethal.

            • FuglyDuck@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              2
              ·
              1 year ago

              [Thunk]
              “HEY BASTARD, DIDN’T YOU SHARPEN THIS THING?”
              has been a conversation that has been had before. just saying.

    • johannesvanderwhales@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      5
      ·
      1 year ago

      The actual answer is “because the law moves very slowly in general and Trump knows it’s to his advantage to draw out the process”. There’s nothing particularly unusual about this process. The people who go to jail right away are people who can’t afford lawyers and take bad deals, or who can’t afford cash bail (which usually leads to them taking bad deals).

    • Wrench@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      6
      arrow-down
      5
      ·
      1 year ago

      That edit… I didn’t downvote you, but you’re really that upset about 4 downvotes?

      • grue@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        8
        arrow-down
        2
        ·
        1 year ago

        This ain’t R*ddit. Lemmy is, for the moment, still small enough that single-digit numbers of votes are significant.

      • Pratai@lemmy.ca
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        5
        arrow-down
        2
        ·
        1 year ago

        Oh not at all. I don’t even care about upvotes. Just heat these cowards don’t take part in the discussion, downvote and move on.

        • FrostyTheDoo@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          9
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          edit-2
          1 year ago

          Some people down vote because they want comments that actually add to the discussion to be at the top, and comments that ask the same rhetorical questions ad nauseum to be at the bottom, so they don’t have to scroll as far to find meaningful discussion. At least that’s why I downvoted you

          • killeronthecorner@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            3
            arrow-down
            1
            ·
            1 year ago

            How is that question rhetorical?

            A question isn’t rhetorical because you or others like you haven’t been able to answer it. It’s the most important question in American politics right now.

            • FrostyTheDoo@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              2
              arrow-down
              1
              ·
              edit-2
              1 year ago

              It triggered you enough to edit your post to whine about ‘cowards’. You’re the one that asked for an explanation from your downvoters, I was just standing up and explaining myself to be counted by you like you demanded.

              • Pratai@lemmy.ca
                link
                fedilink
                arrow-up
                1
                ·
                1 year ago

                Not triggered, or whining. Simply stating a point of fact. Your downvote was useless to its purpose because I made a decent enough point that most people found it useful or interesting.

                We both took a risk posting comments- and one of us came out on top.

                • FrostyTheDoo@lemmy.world
                  link
                  fedilink
                  arrow-up
                  1
                  arrow-down
                  1
                  ·
                  1 year ago

                  So you do care about up votes then, or you wouldn’t be using it to claim you “came out on top”. You called me a coward for downvoting you so I responded and called you out for being thin skinned, and you’ve done nothing but prove me right since. But if that feels like a win to you then that is just super cool man.

  • ryrybang@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    53
    ·
    1 year ago

    Not just a tax bill, but insurance bills and attorney bills for the Carroll case.

    But the rest apparently went to cover Trump’s mounting legal costs following a searing jury verdict in May that determined he sexually assaulted the journalist E. Jean Carroll—and slapped him with a $5 million penalty.

    “I have also confirmed that the other transfers were for insurance premiums and to an attorney escrow account,” Jones wrote, referencing the Carroll case.

    What a guy.

    • Sanctus@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      14
      ·
      1 year ago

      I feel like there should be a little more headlines about that, but after typing this who am I kidding? Thats not gonna damage him in anyway.

    • Bleeping Lobster@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      6
      ·
      1 year ago

      Does this imply that his funds generated from begging to his supporters are drying up?

      I’m under no illusion that it’d be due to change 9f heart, but maybe they’re tapped out at this stage.

      • somethingsnappy@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        3
        ·
        1 year ago

        He says he’s a billionaire, so all of this is supposed to be a rounding error at most. It’s becoming more clear he isn’t even a billionaire, and is in serious trouble with major banks. The NY trial could rout his “business empire.” Unfortunately he’ll still win the regressive nomination.

  • KeriKitty (They(/It))@pawb.social
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    52
    arrow-down
    8
    ·
    1 year ago

    Weird headlines for days around here O.o I had to come see what was going on because “Trump caught paying taxes” just sounds like a joke 😅

    The only really surprising thing I see is that he’s paying taxes at all. Also, what’s the difference between quietly and loudly moving $40 million around? I honestly have no idea what kind of sound that makes.

    • spaceghoti@lemmy.oneOP
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      46
      ·
      1 year ago

      He’s under an injunction against quietly transferring funds around in case he tries to hide it. Let’s be honest, he probably has accounts he hasn’t declared that should be accounted for. If it’s a legitimate expense all he had to do was let the observer know what he was doing and why. But instead he did it hoping it wouldn’t be noticed.

      He’s a moron.

    • AFK BRB Chocolate@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      34
      ·
      1 year ago

      Because of the financial fraud trial involving the company, they’re required to notify the judge anytime they move money around. “Quietly” in this case means they didn’t do that.

  • Rapidcreek@reddthat.com
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    42
    ·
    1 year ago

    Stop it, you’re killing me…Next you’ll tell me he’s disseminated classified materials to foreign nationals.

    • Neato@kbin.social
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      9
      ·
      1 year ago

      Keeping secret materials in your pool house bathroom is something from a scrapped episode of Arrested Development.

    • gregorum@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      30
      ·
      1 year ago

      He does now. Most of his ability to dodge taxes is either under investigation or shut down right now. Being under 91 active indictments isn’t the best time to be cheating on your taxes, but this is Trump after all…

    • stolid_agnostic@lemmy.ml
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      5
      ·
      1 year ago

      He only didn’t pay taxes through a combination of fraud and astronomical losses that you can pass forward for a period of years. That’s over now.

  • CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    19
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    1 year ago

    I wish there was some way to cut off any funds to him via fundraising and crowdfunding. John Barron spent years lying about his wealth and now his supporters act like he’s some kind of charity case. Do they even hear themselves when they justify sending a so-called billionaire their cash?

  • Treczoks@lemm.ee
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    4
    ·
    1 year ago

    What does surprise me more? That he circumvents court orders to move around money, or that he actually pays (significant) taxes for a change?

  • Dimok@reddthat.com
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    3
    ·
    1 year ago

    Headline could reach “Wealthy person found loopholes and illegal ways to keep more of their money.” I mean, if you’re gonna eat the Candy Korn, EAT EM ALL :)