Sonny Tufts
Member

You might want to read up on the history of Trump's conservation easement. https://www.palmbeachpost.com/story/news/2020/09/30/trump-taxes-deal-behind-palm-beach-mar-lago-tax-break-veiled-irs-review/3572915001/

Hardly. When you place a conservation easement or other similar restrictions on property they are binding on all future owners. In Property Law 101 it's called restrictions that "run with the land".

The judge said that the Palm Beach County Assessor had appraised the property at between $18 and 27.6 million. Why? Because Trump had placed conservation easements on the property restricting its use to that of a social club and "limiting changes to the Property, including, without limitation, the division or subdivision of the Property for any purpose, including use as single family homes, the interior of renovation of the mansion, which may be necessary or desirable for the sale of the Property, the construction of new buildings and the obstruction of open vistas". In exchange for these easements and restrictions the property was taxed at a much lower rate than it otherwise would have been (which was a major purpose of placing the restrictions on the property in the first place) And guess what? The value for the property shown on Trump's financial statements didn't reflect these restrictions. See pages 26-27 of the judge's order, available here: https://iapps.courts.state.ny.us/fbem/DocumentDisplayServlet?documentId=op8OyfqVHpc6eGTx9LOw3Q==&system=prod No, the folks who are retarded are those who make knee-jerk assertions without knowing all of the facts. Also retarded is anyone who would pay $600 million for a property with these restrictions.

Don't forget that the Trump companies are government-chartered, and there's probably something in NY law that allows the state to seek penalties for fraudulent behavior.

The summary judgment the judge rendered was for liability. There will be a trial to determine the size of the penalty and other remedies.

That rule applies in criminal cases. This was a civil proceeding.