LOS ANGELES.–Disappointing Democrats and the press, 77-year-old President Donald Trump received a ruling in the Appeals Court today that to satisfy Judge Arthur Engoron’s Feb. 16 $454 million judgment the defendant [Trump] only has to pay $175 million to stave off efforts by New York Atty. Gen. Letitia James to liquidate Trump’s real estate assets. Democrats and the press show no mercy for Trump, wanting James to throw the book at him, relishing the chance to start selling off his New York properties. What’s wrong with the U.S. criminal justice system when Democrat and the press root for Trump to go through any hardship, any misery, whether it uphold the Constitution or rule of law? Nowhere is there more schadenfreude than Democrat and press circles when it comes to Trump. Imagine that, the press wants Trump’s skyscrapers liquidated for political purposes.
Trump is entitled like any U.S. citizens to his 14th Amendment due process rights, including appealing what he believes is an unfair ruling. Why do Demcorats and the press have any say or opinion what appropriate legal remedies Trump has at his disposal to vacate or modify an unjust ruling by a single Judge who holds extreme political prejudice against the former president? According the Democrat-biased Associated Press [AP], James could still go after Trump’s assets while he attempts to appeal. AP says James could still use local law enforcement to go after Trump’s real estate holdings. Why would the AP have an ax to grind whether or not James collects one penny? If the AP’s reporting isn’t schadenfreude, then what is? James is supposed to defy the appellate court and start seizing Trump’s assets. Does that sound like the AP has no ax to grind?
When you consider that Trump was accused by James and ruled by Judge Engoron that he inflated and deflated the values of real estate assets over the years, how did that damage any bank, insurance company or investor? No one lost any money in what James calls a scheme to defraud the people of New York. “Finding buyers for assets of this magnitude is something that doesn’t happen overnight,” said Stewart Stark, Cordozzo School of Law real estate professor. Yet if you ask AP, they say James should immediately start ordering local law enforcement to begin the process of confiscating Trump’s assets. Posting the $175 million bond buys Trump time to appeal Engoron’s Feb. 16 ruling ordering Trump to pay $454 million plus interest accruing daily. Today’s appeals court ruling slaps James, Engoron, Democrats and the press that looked forward to punishing Trump.
Today’s appeals court ruling not only reduces the amount of Trump’s bond to $175 million, it also allows Trump and his two sons, Eric and Don Jr., to continue running the company, something Engoron banned in his Feb. 16 ruling. Voters need to ask what kind of biased reporting has any credentialed media organization rooting for the State of New York, Manhattan DA or Special Counsel Jack Smith to convict Trump on all charges because they don’t want him running against 81-year-old President Joe Biden? “Donald Trump is still facing accountability for his staggering fraud. The court has already found he engaged in years of fraud to falsely inflated his net worth and unjustly enrich himself, his family, and his organization,” said James in a statement. What kind of Attorney General take a case so personally, unless she’s working in behalf of the Democrat Party?
Ergoron’s Feb. 16 judgment was not based on a jury of Trump’s peers but a Democrat prosecutor and judge looking to convict Trump in a clear rush to judgment. James should show more decorum appropriate to civil servants, allowing the appellate process to play out, even if it vacates Engoron’s ruling. What kind to public prosecutor has an ax to grind on a case because it affects the outcome of a presidential election? When James says Trump committed fraud, it entirely inappropriate for her to make the statement without letting the appeals process play itself out. How would James statement look if the appellate court finds Engoron’s judgment inappropriate or not consistent with the rule of law? James makes outrageous statements when Trump’s guilt or innocence is out of her hand and placed into the appellate court to review Engoron’s Feb. 16 ruling.
Looking at the partisan, anti-Trump reporting by the AP of Trump’s appeals court ruling today shows, for all to see, the inappropriate bias in reporting against Trump. No credentialed news organization should show such prejudice in reporting on any topic. When it comes to Trump, how many AP stories said Trump colluded with Russia to win the 2016 election? Once Trump as president in 2017, the AP and other credentialed news organizations continued to support the FBI or Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of Trump’s ties to the Kremlin. Yet even after Mueller issues his final report March 23, 2019 clearing Trump of any wrongdoing, that didn’t stop the AP and other fake news agencies from insisting on Trump’s ties to the Kremlin. When it comes to liquidating Trump’s assets, the AP has jumped the gun revealing its extreme anti-Trump prejudice.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
