Attorneys for Trump to argue for reversal of $454 million fraud judgment
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(NEW YORK) — Attorneys for former President Donald Trump will return to court Thursday, seeking to reverse the ruling from a New York judge that held him liable for business fraud and ordered him to pay $454 million.
Lawyers will present oral arguments before an intermediate appeals court in New York, following a February ruling from Judge Arthur Engoron that found Trump liable for frauds that Engoron said “shock the conscience.”
Trump, his eldest sons, and two top Trump Organization executives exaggerated Trump’s wealth to secure better terms from lenders, Engoron found during an 11-week trial in Lower Manhattan.
In a written submission to the New York Appellate Division’s First Department prior to Thursday’s hearing, Trump’s attorneys pressed many of the same arguments they made during the trial, insisting that New York Attorney General Letitia James misused the law to bring a political case, and arguing that Trump undervalued, not overvalued, his assets.
“President Trump stands among the most visionary and iconic real estate developers in American history,” the defense filing said. “As trial evidence highlighted, banks and lenders vied eagerly for his business. They acknowledged his unique ‘vision’ and unparalleled ‘expertise,’ and they recognized that dealing with him would deliver ‘tremendous’ value.”
The attorney general’s office said it was not required to prove any lender was harmed.
“Indeed, one of [the law’s] core remedial purposes is to protect the honesty and integrity of commercial marketplaces in New York by stopping fraudulent and illegal practices before they cause financial losses to market participants or broader harms to the public,” the office wrote in a submission to the appellate court.
The attorney general’s office argued that Engoron correctly decided Trump and his codefendants “used a variety of deceptive strategies to vastly misrepresent the values of nearly all the assets and asset categories,” inflating his net worth by as much as $2.2 billion.
Engoron, in his ruling, determined that Trump valued his apartment as if its square footage was triple its actual size; that he valued rent regulated apartments as if they were unregulated; and that he valued his Mar-a-Lago estate as if deed restrictions did not exist.
Trump, following the ruling, secured a $175 million bond while he appeals the judgment.
Avishek Das/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — After waiting six months — and losing $4 billion on paper — former President Donald Trump faces a potential windfall from his social media company.
Half a year after the public company behind Trump’s Truth Social platform went public, the “lockup” agreement that prevented Trump from selling any of his 115 million shares expired on Thursday afternoon.
Beginning to sell his shares could allow Trump to profit handsomely from his stake in the company — which is currently valued at approximately $1.7 billion — but it could crater the stock for the company’s diehard supporters, many of whom invested their money in the company as a sign of their support for the former president.
At the same time, holding onto the investment would be a financial leap of faith for Trump, whose shares comprise a large percentage of his net worth but have lost billions of dollars in value over the last six months.
Asked about the choice last week, Trump vowed not to sell.
“They’re worth billions of dollars, but I don’t want to sell my shares,” Trump said. “I’m not going to sell my shares. I don’t need money.”
Trump’s choice comes amid new financial pressures and a significant reshuffling of his financial portfolio.
While Trump’s net worth has grown to $4.3 billion according to the most recent Forbes estimate, the former president owes over $560 million in civil judgments, which he is actively appealing. The majority of his personal wealth — once built on the namesake properties that shot him to fame — now stems from his shares in his social media company, Trump Media & Technology Group, which have fallen more than 70% since the company went public.
Analysts, meanwhile, have expressed concern about a further decline if Trump loses the November election.
Shares in Trump Media closed at a new low of $14.70 Thursday ahead of the lockup provision expiring, though the company enjoyed a 25% surge last week after Trump announced his plan to hold his shares.
“When he’s promised to do something, he’s kept his word,” said Jerry Dean McLain, a shareholder who purchased a hundred additional shares after Trump’s pledge. “He’s loyal to his followers — to his people — so I don’t have any reason not to believe him.”
‘Nothing like this’
Trump turned to the idea of creating his own social media company in the months following his ban from Twitter and other social media companies after the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. Truth Social launched in 2022, billing itself as a beacon for free speech on the internet with larger plans to expand into streaming.
“All of a sudden, I went from being No. 1 to having no voice,” Trump said about the benefit of Truth Social. “I’m not going to let that happen again.”
Despite multiple roadblocks — including a dispute with the company’s cofounders and its special purpose acquisition company paying a fine to settle fraud charges with the Securities and Exchange commission — the social media company went public in March.
Shares in the public company peaked at $66 in April, with analysts comparing the company to so-called “meme stocks” like AMC and GameStop, whose share prices surged based on investor enthusiasm rather than financial metrics.
By the summer, Trump Media’s stock price lingered around $30 before slumping to the teens in September, which some experts still believe is overvaluing the company, which only brought in $836,000 in revenue last quarter — a 30% decline from a year earlier. Based on the company’s cash per share, the stock is overvalued by 1,000%, according to University of Florida finance professor Jay Ritter.
With the company losing millions of dollars, reporting limited revenue, and offering an unproven business model, the stock’s performance has frequently tracked with Trump’s personal wins and losses. When Trump was convicted on 34 counts of falsifying business records in New York, the stock declined 14% in after-hours trading following the verdict. Shares then surged as much as 30% early trading on the Monday after Trump survived an assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania.
“It’s much more of a speculative half-proxy for the former president’s reelection prospects and half kind of a long shot early-stage opportunity to get in on a potential new tech company and social media platform,” said Tyler Richey, an analyst at Sevens Report Research.
While it’s not unusual for a company’s stock price to fluctuate based on its corporate leadership, Trump’s relationship to the value of his company stands alone, according to Mike Stegemoller, a finance professor at Baylor University. Trump is the platform’s most notable user, he attracts new members to the platform, and he is the company’s largest shareholder.
“Publicly traded corporations … are somewhat dependent on personalities, but nothing like this,” said Stegemoller. “You’re getting this asset that generates cash flows, and you’re coupling that with a personality that’s pulling revenue to that asset.”
In regulatory filings, the company has acknowledged the risk of being tied to the former president. If Trump were to sell his shares or begin using another social media platform, the company’s stock value could suffer.
Trump, for his part, has vowed to continue posting on Truth Social.
“I love it. I use it as a method of getting out my word,” Trump said last week regarding the platform.
‘A much more profitable deal’
The lockup agreement that’s kept Trump from selling off his shares in the first six months is an arrangement that’s often used by public companies to prevent company leadership from taking actions that could affect the stock price, according to Ritter.
Trump’s 115 million shares means he owns more than half of the company, so selling those shares — which Trump would have to disclose within two days in a public filing — could trigger a massive selloff and tank the company’s stock price.
“As soon as folks know he’s getting out in any large amount, I would imagine shares would fall,” said Stegemoller.
According to Stegemoller, Trump’s announcement last week that he would not sell his shares is reasonable — not only because Trump likely wants the company to succeed, but also because selling his shares too rapidly could cost him money. Because he holds so many shares, Trump would be unlikely to fully offload them all before the stock price plummeted, forcing him to sell his remaining shares at a lower price.
Alternatively, Trump could slowly sell some of his shares, arrange a deal with a buyer, or use the shares as collateral for loans. Selling some of his shares would allow Trump to still own a controlling interest in the company while diversifying his portfolio, according to Stegemoller.
“Selling slowly over time in order to pull money out of his investment is a much more reasonable deal for him, and a much more profitable deal for him, too,” Stegemoller said.
Although Trump has publicly declared that he plans to hold his shares, executives in the company could consider selling their holdings, which could also impact the stock price.
“They might want to get out as quickly as possible, and rather than sell their shares gradually, it might be a rush for the exit,” said Ritter.
‘I’m not leaving’
Trump has suggested that the company’s sluggish stock performance is partially due to speculation about him stepping away from the company — a notion he tried to dispel last week.
“People think that I’m leaving. That’s why they’re down,” Trump said regarding shares in the company. “It’s different if I leave, but I’m not leaving. I love it.”
And some analysts believe the expiration of the lockup provision could prove to be a turning point for the company.
According to Richey, a recent spike in trading volume and other metrics suggest that the stock price might be reaching a bottom, while Trump’s decision to hold his shares could reassure investors.
Speculation about Trump’s chances of winning in the November election could also help the stock price.
“There’s still money in the markets supporting a Donald Trump win if you’re using the stock price as a proxy for the election outcome,” Richey said.
John Norwood, who was injured as Hurricane Helene made landfall, speaks with “Good Morning America” about his missing fiancé, Oct. 1, 2024. (ABC News)
(NEW YORK) — As Helene swept through North Carolina last week, John Norwood and his fiancé, Julie le Roux, sought shelter at a neighbor’s house.
As they attempted to wait out the worst of the storm, which made landfall in Florida as a Category 4 hurricane, a mudslide destroyed the home they had taken shelter in.
“We looked outside and there was a 30-foot-tall wall of water and rocks and tree debris just coming at us,” Norwood told ABC News.
The debris knocked the house “straight down,” flushing out those who had been huddled inside, he said, adding, “And we all got washed downriver.” Norwood was rescued, but le Roux is still unaccounted for, he said. She’s one of hundreds of people who are unaccounted for after the storm, according to officials.
The storm was “unprecedented” for western North Carolina, requiring an “unprecedented response,” Gov. Roy Cooper said Monday. At least 40 people were killed by the storm in Buncombe County, in the western part of the state, local officials said Monday.
Hundreds of people were missing or unaccounted for as of Monday throughout the southeastern United States, Homeland Security adviser Liz Sherwood Randall said as she gave a lengthy update on the federal response to Helene, including a warning that much is still unknown about the situation.
“When I said there could be up to 600 people lost my point was, there 600 people unaccounted for,” Sherwood Randall said. “That’s the number we’re tracking right now and that we can essentially validate from multiple sources.”
But, she added, there was still uncertainty in that number. It included many who hadn’t been heard from, but they may just be out of contact, she said.
“And as the president said this morning, we’re very hopeful that some of those people just don’t have cell phones working and actually are alive,” she said.
Elsewhere in North Carolina, there were gas lines stretching from stations, as survivors waited for fuel. Officials were busy supplying water and ready-to-eat meals, Will Ray, the director of the state’s Emergency Management agency, said.
In Marion, a city in the state’s hard-hit western area, rescuers used a pulley system to pull Norwood to safety, carrying him over rushing flood waters. A ceiling rafter had crushed his legs, he said, but at least he was rescued. He said he hasn’t seen le Roux since the mudslide hit.
“I crawled around screaming, looking for her,” he said as he fought back tears, “and I just couldn’t find her.”
(LOS ANGELES) — The man who allegedly hijacked a bus in Los Angeles and led police on an hourlong chase while holding the driver at gunpoint has been identified as Lamont Campbell, a 51-year-old man from L.A., according to the LAPD.
Campbell was arrested on murder charges after allegedly carjacking a bus early Wednesday morning in southern Los Angeles which ultimately left a currently unnamed 48-year-old Hispanic man from L.A. dead after Campbell allegedly shot him with a semi-automatic handgun, according to police.
The incident began at approximately 12:46 a.m. when the Los Angeles Police Department received radio calls about a disturbance on a bus in the area of Manchester Street and Figueroa Street in southern Los Angeles, Deputy Chief Donald Graham said in a briefing Wednesday morning.
“Officers located the Metro bus at South Figueroa Street and West 117th Street. Upon finding the bus, they observed passengers running from it and seeking help from the officers,” LAPD said in a statement on Wednesday evening. “The officers quickly learned from the passengers that there was an armed suspect on the Metro bus. They attempted to stop the bus but were unsuccessful, later discovering that the armed suspect had instructed the driver not to stop.”
Multiple spike strips were deployed by officers during the pursuit, deflating several tires on the bus and ultimately causing it to stop at 6th Street and Alameda Boulevard, according to LAPD.
“SWAT personnel quickly observed that a victim was down inside the bus, formulated a tactical plan, and made entry without delay. The suspect was taken into custody without further incident,” authorities said.
Officers immediately began to render medical aid to the victim who was suffering from gunshot wounds before he was taken to a local hospital where he was pronounced deceased, LAPD confirmed.
Police have not yet given a motive in the case but did say that Campbell has since been charged with murder and booked at the 77th Area Jail where he is being held on a $2 million bail.
