Posted on 03/05/2019 1:21:30 PM PST by yesthatjallen
State officials in New York have subpoenaed the longtime insurer for the Trump Organization, Aon, over claims that the Trump Organization and President Trump himself were involved in efforts to inflate the company's assets for insurance purposes.
The New York Times reports that AON received a subpoena Monday, a sign of a state investigation into Trump's business ties.
The New York State Department of Financial Services, which has no prosecutorial power of its own but can refer potential instances of illegality to state attorneys, is reportedly overseeing the investigation.
The Trump Organization did not immediately return a request for comment from The Hill.
Scrutiny of Trump's use of insurance policies related to his assets arose after testimony from Michael Cohen, Trump's longtime attorney, before the House Oversight and Reform Panel last week during which Cohen told Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) that the president had been involved in the illegal inflation of assets to obtain higher insurance values.
"To your knowledge did the president ever provide inflated assets to an insurance company?" Ocasio-Cortez asked the president's former associate.
"Yes," Cohen responded.
Cohen also told the committee last week that several Trump Organization officials, including chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg, would be able to provide more evidence.
The materials requested by New York state officials include all records of communications between Trump, the Trump Organization, and Aon officials, according to the Times. The information is due under the subpoena by March 9.
Trump's financial holdings have long been a target of critics who argue that the president is violating the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution by placing his company into a trust controlled by his sons rather than selling his assets.
The New York probe comes as members of the House Judiciary Committee have requested documents from a large field of current and former associates to the president, including members of his family. The list of more than 80 individuals and organizations targeted by the House panel was released on Monday and includes Weisselberg as well as former members of the Trump administration and transition team including Sean Spicer and Reince Priebus.
While I doubt anyone has dirt on Trump that doesn't mean some of these small side firms aren't going to 'co-operate' under duress and tell prosecutors anything they want to hear to stay out of trouble.
This amounts to showing Galileo the rack and asking him to recant.
Ping.
NY state has no evidence of a crime.
So unless they subpoena every citizen’s insurance records in the state to look for evidence of crime, it’s harassment.
Are they claiming he overvalued assets on insurance claims? Because overvaluing them in general just means he pays more in premiums. But hey, a convicted perjurer said he did it without any evidence or detail so yeah, that’s all it takes now.
Trump sought higher premiums?
Dumbasses should go to the barber. They KNOW everything.
Well it’s good sometimes to post on Trump’s twitter account that we’ll go to war if he is kicked out.
Of course he doesn’t read untold responses, but someone who works for him must.
And truth be told, we won’t have a choice, because this is a coup.
And if he’s kicked out, then there’s no reason to vote anymore.
There will just be the fighting option left.
I don’t want it. No one wants it.
Well maybe the some on the left do.
This is tantamount to sedition.
See post 7.
And God Forbid the day comes he is kicked out, the ONLY Thing we should be discussing on this board is where the nearest militia to join is.
There won’t be anything else worth discussing.
Maybe dems need to know that ahead of time.
Are they claiming he overvalued assets on insurance claims? Because overvaluing them in general just means he pays more in premiums.
And an insurance policy will base the premium on an asset's replacement value -- which, in New York City, may be a hell of a lot more than what the asset would fetch in a sale.
Brand equity is a thing in business. It's why people buy the name brand potato chips instead of the generic, why people pay more for the name brand drug rather than the generic. It's why Cadillacs went for more than Buick's back in the 70s even though GM made them both on the same lines from the same parts and they looked the same. It's not something you can measure but it has value as an asset and the accountants figure it as "goodwill".
I could easily see Trump saying a building that he bought for, say, $1M and put another $1M in improvements into is not worth $2M but rather $4M because it's a TRUMP building now.
If these dems had a half a brain, they would be dangerous..
If these dems had a half a brain, they would be dangerous..
Too bad they didn't watch barney Franks and the overvaluing of mortgage loans which precipitated the banking crisis - NYS should mind their own business and sty out of political theater.
You’d think an insurer would do their own assessment
of the property before issuing a policy.
Tell them to go F themselves!!
Inflating your assists to an insurance company will result in you paying more not less premiums. There is a crime in paying too much? Cohen should enjoy prison.
I am long past being tired of these scumbags. What next, sending subpoenas to anyone who donated more than $1 to the Trump campaign? Investigating anyone who bought Trump bumper stickers?
They would, especially on this type of property. As to "overinflating", you don't just look up the price of property in the WSJ NYSE page.
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