Conservative lawyer George Conway said a New York judge’s decision on Tuesday could spell the end of Donald Trump’s family business in New York.
“It’s essentially the equivalent of the corporate death penalty for the Trump Organization in New York state,” he said on CNN Tuesday night.
Judge Arthur Engoron ruled that Trump committed years of fraud by overstating his assets and net worth to obtain loans and ordered the dissolution of some of the former president’s companies.
Trump claimed the ruling was a violation of his civil rights and stressed that he had “done the deal perfectly.”
But Conway said the judge found Trump guilty of violating the Martin Act, “an extremely powerful weapon that the state can use against fraudsters.”
He said the act did not require proof of fraudulent intent and no proof that anyone relied on the false numbers. The only requirement is that the numbers are wrong.
And in Trump’s case, “there was no doubt that the numbers were wrong, essentially wrong.”
Conway said the law allows for “extraordinary remedies,” including depriving a company of its ability to operate in the state and ordering the company dissolved, as the judge ruled Tuesday.
“No matter what he finds in the damages phase of this trial, the Trump Organization is out of business,” he said. “And that’s not good for Donald Trump.”
Conway spoke with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer and Laura Coates:
Other legal experts also shared their opinions on what the ruling means for the former president and his family business: