Happy Independence Day - America

I made a present for my readers/followers via a video - enjoy because I think Trump Jr should lay off of what ever he is taking -

lest you think I’m selectively editing or manufacturing Donald Trump Jr’s insane video - he posted it on Facebook and you can watch the entire 13 minute video and witness Junior conflating of facts, invoking Putin and the Mullahs, confirmed that his Father and Trump Organization writ large did what the indictment states they

did…

Trump Org - Weisselberg Indictment Folder which includes several years of the Trump Foundation Taxes. If my calculations are correct the total for all “donations” made to Columbia Grammar & Preparatory School $200,000.00

—additionally the reason I keep drawing your attention to the Trump Foundation is thus far this is the only Trump Organization entity that has the tax returns in the Public Domain;

I’ve repeatedly walked you through the simple steps to obtain this public information

And in case you are concerned about the provenance of the embedded IRS links - I’ve previously walked my readers/followers on how to obtain these records -but let’s do a quick refresher course:

• Step One: IRS Tax Exempt Search https://apps.irs.gov/app/eos/

• Step Two: type in Trump Foundation or EIN: 13-3404773 

• Step Three: like magic Trump Foundation IRS Tax Exempt Records

The 2012 Trump Foundation IRS-900

The 2014 Trump Foundation IRS-900

The 2015 Trump Foundation IRS-900

The 2016 Trump Foundation IRS-990

That is separate from the May 13, 2021 Wall Street Journal Article - which states WEISSELBERG’s former daughter-in-law Jennifer provided grand jury testimony and subsequent documents to support her assertion that checks signed by both Weisselberg and Trump accumulated to over $500,000.00 from 2012 to 2017

In the end, the Manhattan District Attorney and New York Attorney General zeroed in the the Trump Org perks (rent/lease of apartment, utilities of that apartment, the leases of two luxury cars and private school tuition, actual cash representing “holiday bonuses”, expenses for WEISSELBERG’s Florida home, etc ) The aforementioned were not counted as taxable income. More consequential is that none of this largesse was accurately recorded in the Trump Organization’s Company books. Thusly the appropriate taxes were never paid by both the Company and Weisselberg.

In some respects Donald Trump Jr is sort of correct - that the IRS does allow for educational expenses- tax deductions etc

IRS Qualified Education Expenses - the underlying problems facing both Trump Organization and their respective entities is multi pronged;

• Trump Organization had/has at least two sets of books

• There was/is a separate spreadsheet that tracked the “off books” fringe benefits

• Weisselberg received numerous Fed and State tax returns but he failed (criminality) to disclose over $1.76 million in “off book” compensation.

• The Trump Organization also failed to collect income tax for the “off book” compensation.

• Weisselberg was the Treasurer for the Trump Foundation
  

• IRS - Who can claim an education credit?

There are additional rules for each credit, but you must meet all three of the following for both:

1. You, your dependent or a third party pays qualified education expenses for higher education.

2. An eligible student must be enrolled at an eligible educational institution.

3. The eligible student is yourself, your spouse or a dependent you list on your tax return.

Who cannot claim an education credit?

You cannot claim an education credit when:

• Someone else, such as your parents, list you as a dependent on their tax return

• Your filing status is married filing separately

• You already claimed or deducted another higher education benefit using the same student or same expenses (see Education Benefits: No Double Benefits Allowed for more information)

• You (or your spouse) were a non-resident alien for any part of the year and did not choose to be treated as a resident alien for tax purposes (find more information in Publication 519, U.S. Tax Guide for Aliens)

What comes next for the Trump Organization

Look a lot of people are running with the Weisselberg will flip narrative. I would, once again urge extreme caution buying into or amplifying that narrative because last week’s indictment wasn’t “the end” of this years long investigation. I’d actually argue it is not even the beginning. If you understand how prosecutors work and how our judicial system actually works —then examining last week’s indictment was merely a “shot across the bow” —of course prosecutors want Weisselberg to cooperate (lest I remind you of Manafort and Flynn’s cooperation, total train wreck). My guess is Jeff McConney has already cooperated and it’s delighted to see people finally understand why I said in May McConney was/is important (it’s embedded at the end of the May article). But the indictment was/is prosectors calling WEISSELBERG’s bluff and sending a loud message to other Senior Trump Organization employees. You yank us around, we’ll force you into a public perp walk.

Ivanka Trump - $26M in consulting fees

As previously reported by the New York Times -from 2010 and 2018, the Trump Organization disclosed about $26 million in “consulting fees.” More audaciously is Donald Trump Sr took a $747,622 written off (through the Trump Org). Keep in mind that this is the exact same amount Ivanka Trump reported receiving in consulting fees. You could competently argue that it’s a clever tax write off but I’d argue there’s nothing clever about “self dealing” - again Federal Tax laws do allow employers to “write off” consulting fees as a legitimate business expense but there’s a catch - the  IRS rules specifically require that the “consulting arrangement” must be an "ordinary and necessary" part of operating the business. And the IRS has very explicit rules as it relates to
self dealing” — see 26 CFR § 53.4941(d)-1 - Definition of self-dealing arguably it’s important to understand that this is in the context of a foundation/charitable entity (hence the Trump Foundation rears it’s corrupt head, yet again) See IRS Nature of Self Dealing - also it might be adventitious to look re-scrutinize the Trump Org’s Turkey project - why? $2M+ is why.

CONSERVATION EASEMENTS

I get it - you’re tired of me screaming conservation easements - too bad because that’s where the action is. So I’ll keep saying conservation easements, as that’s the gateway to triple scoop fraud sundae: Loan, Wire and Insurance. Had you really paid attention (see here) I explained the how/why/when/what DA Vance would hand the baton over to the New York Attorney General. Spoiler most overlooked the fact that Seven Springs traverses three separate municipalities— ergo waves Hiya Madam Attorney General…

Good Boy or Bad Boy Clauses

At the moment I can tell you definitively that Trump’s Deutsche Bank (for his Florida properties) does not include this clause. His Trump Chicago Tower is TBD (because I’m reading those loan documents- again) but the verdict is out on his Ladder Capital Loans too (fact check super true WEISSELBERG’s son works and worked for Ladder) - now why do these clauses matter. Well typical it allows the lender to immediately ask for “instant” payment of a loan if the entity or individual is indicted. For now I’d like a little bit of additional time to chase down the documents before I make any kind of prediction.

In the interim I’d highly recommend you reread this October 2029 ProPublica special report . While this report narrowly focused on Trump’s Chicago Property — it appears that this is how Donald Trump has always run his business

Trump told the lender that he took in twice as much rent from one building as he reported to tax authorities during the same year, 2017. He also gave conflicting occupancy figures for one of his signature skyscrapers, located at 40 Wall Street.

Lenders like to see a rising occupancy level as a sign of what they call “leasing momentum.” Sure enough, the company told a lender that 40 Wall Street had been 58.9% leased on Dec. 31, 2012, and then rose to 95% a few years later. The company told tax officials the building was 81% rented as of Jan. 5, 2013.

Mary L Trump versus Trump

This particular New York State Complaint doesn’t get the amount of attention it should. Because the facts proffered in this well written and argued complaint unequivocally sets forth a strong predicate that Tax Evasion, Fraud. and unjust enrichment is exactly business model Donald J Trump has used. Thereby cheating and scamming his way out of paying taxes, paying contractors and screwing other family members out of their rightful inheritance.,

…Irwin Durben was appointed to act as a trustee on Mary’s behalf. At the time, Durben was already an old hand in Trumpworld. Durben had been Fred Sr.’s attorney since the 1950s; a fiduciary to various Trump family trusts; a senior executive at various corporate entities associated with the Trump property empire, which were managed and controlled by Defendants; and Donald’s personal attorney. In short, he was irredeemably conflicted. Led primarily by Donald, Defendants conspired with Durben and interfered with his discharge of his duties to Mary…

Also super fun fact - all Federal Judges, by law are required, on an annual basis, financial disclosures - MaryAnne Trump-Berry’s last financial disclosure circa 2014 - it’s 170 pages of bonafide facts not rumor or conjecture but actual facts.

In Mary Trump’s Complaint - there it is -see paragraph 13 “consulting fees” - which reads in part:

Defendants paid themselves disguised cash distributions from entities in which Mary had an interest in the form of exorbitant management fees, consulting fees, and salaries. They used other management entities they operated, including Trump Management, Inc. (“Trump Management”) and Apartment Management Associates Inc. (“Apartment Management”), to levy the fees, lend them apparent legitimacy, and cover their tracks.

Devaluation of actual real estate properties you say? Why YES see paragraphs 15 thru 17

Robert Von Ancken. Von Ancken was a New York City real estate appraiser. He had worked with Defendants for decades as what might charitably be called a “friendly” appraiser: Rather than valuing an interest according to professional standards, he would inflate or deflate the valuations, manipulating his methodologies and inputs, in accordance with the Trumps’ desires. Donald had first enlisted Von Ancken’s services as early as 1981 to avoid having to pay taxes on his piece of Mary’s father’s estate…

Paragraph 30 is a concise summary of Mary Trump’s complaint.

Filed on June 28, 2021:

Plaintiff Mary L. Trump to respectfully request a preliminary conference in the above-referenced action.

Plaintiff filed her complaint in this fraud case on September 24, 2020. NYSCEF No. 2. Following two stipulations extending their time to answer, NYSCEF Nos. 11, 16, Defendants moved to dismiss the complaint on December 23, 2020. NYSCEF Nos. 18, 34. On February 26, 2021, Plaintiff opposed the motions to dismiss and requested oral argument. NYSCEF No. 69.

Defendants filed their replies on March 25 and 26, 2021, respectively. NYSCEF Nos. 81, 82. As a result of Justice Sherwood’s retirement, the case was reassigned to Your Honor, and Defendants’ motions were marked fully submitted to Your Honor on May 12, 2021. No oral argument date in connection with the motions to dismiss has yet been scheduled.

And with that I am tapping out because my extended family was like - fine you have 45 minutes to catch up before we change the password on the router.

🇺🇸Happy Fourth of July🇺🇸