It is funny to read that sentence “Trump and his associates engaged in deception by paying New York state more in taxes than it was owed”.
But I think what they are trying to say is that he purposefully overvalued his assets, for example claiming his Condo was 30,000 sq ft when it was really only 14,000 sq ft or whatever it was. So he claimed his condo was worth $70 million when it was really only worth $30 million. But he paid property taxes as if it was $70 million. That kind of stuff. Though I don’t know what the crime is even with that. Bank fraud, maybe... but not really if the bank got paid what it was owed. Insurance fraud maybe... if he filed a false claim. But that doesn’t seem to be part of the charges.
Of all the atrocities, of all the problems, this indictment is really an embarrassment and projects weakness. It does not project strength or teach the rest of the world anything about “nobody is above the law”. It teaches the entire world that it is OK to jail or otherwise sideline political opposition on trumped up charges.
It also makes Harvard lawyers in NYC and DC look like they simply bought their JDs online atL Laws R Us.