Dem
47
GOP
53
As long as we are on the subject of trumped-up charges, ProPublica has reported that, in December of 1993, Donald Trump signed paperwork for a half-million-dollar mortgage to purchase a "primary residence" for himself in Florida. Then, 7 weeks later, he signed paperwork for a million-dollar mortgage to purchase a different "primary residence" for himself in Florida. Needless to say, Trump never lived in either house, and never intended to do so, especially since he was multiple decades away from leaving New York and relocating to Florida. Both houses were investment properties, and were used as rentals from the get-go.
As a reminder, this is the precise "crime" that the Trump administration is trying to indict Letitia James for. It is also a "crime" that Trump has described as "deceitful" and "crooked." And at least James let her family live in her home, free of charge, as opposed to immediately turning it into a business concern. "Given Trump's position on situations like this, he's going to either need to fire himself or refer himself to the Department of Justice," said Kathleen Engel, a Suffolk University law professor and leading expert on mortgage finance. "Trump has deemed that this type of misrepresentation is sufficient to preclude someone from serving the country." Wouldn't that be something: Trump standing in front of a mirror saying, "You're fired." Those ratings would be bigly.
In an attempt to deflect the story as "liberal propaganda," an administration spokesperson noted that Trump's two mortgages were both from the same lender (Merrill Lynch), and that the bank certainly wasn't going to participate in defrauding itself. Fair enough, but that's also the point with the James mortgages (and with the Adam Schiff mortgages). Anyone who has gone through this process knows that, by the time it releases the funds, the bank knows EVERYTHING about you and your finances and your assets. Whether it's two different banks, or just one, it's inconceivable they could miss that someone applying for a mortgage holds title, in their own name, to another residence. Merrill Lynch knew exactly what it was doing, and so too did the lenders who worked with James and Schiff.
This administration is more than willing to indulge in complete and total hypocrisy, of course, so maybe they'll keep going after James. On the other hand, as we note above, that case isn't going too well. And the case against Schiff is going even worse; Pam Bondi can't find ANYONE willing to try to take that one before a grand jury. Meanwhile, as a political issue, opponents of Trump now have a ready-made response. So, maybe this whole mortgage-fraud nonsense will fade away, and the White House will find some other windmill to tilt at. (Z & L)