The MeidasTouch Podcast - Financial Monitor FINDING is BIG TROUBLE for Trump

Episode Date: January 29, 2024

MeidasTouch host Ben Meiselas does a deep dive on retired federal judge Barbara Jones’ report to NY Justice Arthur Engoron in the Trump civil fraud case where she identified a $48 million phantom loan which may be an unlawful debt parking scheme. Thanks to HumanN: Go to meidasbeets.com for a free 30-day supply of SuperBeets Heart Chews and a FREE full-sized bag of turmeric chews valued at $25!  Remember to subscribe to ALL the MeidasTouch Network Podcasts: MeidasTouch: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/meidastouch-podcast Legal AF: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/legal-af The PoliticsGirl Podcast: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/the-politicsgirl-podcast The Influence Continuum: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/the-influence-continuum-with-dr-steven-hassan Mea Culpa with Michael Cohen: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/mea-culpa-with-michael-cohen The Weekend Show: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/the-weekend-show Burn the Boats: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/burn-the-boats Majority 54: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/majority-54 Political Beatdown: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/political-beatdown Lights On with Jessica Denson: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/lights-on-with-jessica-denson On Democracy with FP Wellman: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/on-democracy-with-fpwellman Uncovered: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/maga-uncovered Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When does fast grocery delivery through Instacart matter most? When your famous grainy mustard potato salad isn't so famous without the grainy mustard. When the barbecue's lit, but there's nothing to grill. When the in-laws decide that, actually, they will stay for dinner. Instacart has all your groceries covered this summer. So download the app and get delivery in as fast as 60 minutes. Plus enjoy $0 delivery fees on your first three orders. Service fees, exclusions, and

terms apply. Instacart. Groceries that over-deliver. To support sustainable food production, BHP is building one of the world's largest hot ash mines in Canada. Essential resources responsibly produced. It's happening now at BHP.

A future resources company. We'll be right back. to miss out. Visit BetMGM.com for terms and conditions. 19 plus to wager Ontario only. Please gamble responsibly. If you have questions or concerns about your gambling or someone close to you, please contact Connex Ontario at 1-866-531-2600 to speak to an advisor free of charge. BetMGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with iGaming Ontario. As we dig deeper into retired federal judge Barbara Jones's letter to Justice Arthur Ngoron in the New York Attorney General's civil fraud case from last week, it becomes apparent that she's actually provided a roadmap to both Justice Arthur Ngoron and the New York Attorney General's

office that there is additional fraud that needs to be looked into, serious additional fraud. Now, we've previously have done a hot take on Judge Barbara Jones's letter in general, where she finds that through her participation as an independent financial monitor, first appointed in November of 2022, during the 14 months where she has been reviewing the Trump organization and preparing interim reports. She's found that there's been a lack of transparency. She's found inconsistent reporting, improper reporting, and errors. She makes clear in her letter that it is not her job as an independent financial monitor to adjudicate any of these things or to go any further than flagging these issues. It's for the judge and the New York Attorney General to

take further action. But she addresses some serious, serious things. But the most serious thing that I've seen in her letter is actually in a footnote and it seems to be an unlawful debt parking scheme that Donald Trump tried to perpetuate for a very long period of time where once loans were forgiven on the Chicago Tower after he was in risk of default, after he filed all these lawsuits against the lenders like Deutsche Bank and others, he put a large sum of money, purportedly acquired this debt so that he would not have to pay taxes on the debt forgiveness, debt that's forgiven. You have to pay taxes on it as though it was income. So Donald Trump filed these lawsuits against his lenders, got them to forgive

the debt that he had owed, and then created this other entity to seemingly pretend that he was holding the debt that was forgiven because otherwise he would have had to pay taxes on it and he created this entity called Chicago Unit Acquisitions where he has been reporting that that's been holding 48 or 50 million dollars when it seems that it actually has no money at all. Let's just take a look at the footnote, but that's kind of what seems to be taking place here. Now, this idea of debt parking where debt is forgiven, but you remove the debt and place it in an entity, but pay the debt back, that's actually allowed, but where it's phantom debt, it doesn't exist, then it becomes unlawful, and it seems like that's what's taking place here. That could

clearly be subject to another New York Attorney General civil fraud case. It's criminal as well, if it is demonstrated that that's what's taken place. And again, I could only kind of read the letter here and kind of piece these things together. I would need more information to fully formulate that conclusion, but there's a persuasive argument to be made. And I encourage those who watch this who are tax specialists to chime in on the comments below as well. So here's the letter from Judge Barbara Jones. Here's footnote number six. It says, of particular note, I discussed the springing loan. Again, this is a letter from retired federal Barbara Jones.

She's appointed as an independent financial monitor to review the Trump organization's finances. She did that for 14 months. This is her report. This is in her report. Of particular note, I discussed the springing loan previously disclosed as being between Donald J. Trump individually and Chicago unit acquisitions, an entity related to the Trump Chicago Tower with the Trump organization several

times. When I inquired about this loan, I was informed that there are no loan agreements that memorialize the loan, but that it was a loan believed to be between Donald J. Trump individually and Chicago unit acquisitions for $48 million. However, in recent discussions with the Trump organization, it indicated that it has determined that this loan never existed, and thus it would be removed from any upcoming forms submitted to the Office of Government Ethics and would also be removed from subsequent versions of the MAML. MAML stands for Material Assets and Material Liabilities. So just what is a springing loan? Sometimes it's referred to as a bad boy loan when certain borrowers have demonstrated a history

of defaulting on their loans. You may want to have some punitive measures in their loans. They're not great loan terms. There's acceleration clauses, usually higher interest, but these are loans for bad borrowers or borrowers that have high risk, we'll say. But here's the interesting thing. The lender here, Chicago Unit Acquisitions, is owned by Donald J. Trump, loaning money to himself, purportedly Donald J. Trump in the amount of $48 million structuring it as a springing loan.

So categorizing himself or characterizing himself as a bad borrower, by the way, which he is, but that's how he's characterizing himself. So there raises a lot of red flags right there. We all have a heartfelt reason to support our blood pressure. In fact, more than half the US population would benefit from blood pressure support. Super Beats Heart Chews are an easy and convenient way to support healthy blood pressure, and they promote heart-healthy energy. Paired with a healthy lifestyle, the antioxidants in Super Beats are clinically shown to be nearly two times more effective at promoting normal blood pressure than a healthy lifestyle alone. And with over 30,000 five-star reviews and counting, Super Beats Heart Chews are having their moment. Super Beats Heart

Chews are incredibly delicious and so much better than any alternative supplements out there. I take my Super Beats Heart Chews each morning and it's really kick-started my morning routine. After taking my Super Beats Heart Chews, I feel like I have more energy and I'm ready to take on the day. Super Beats is the number one doctor, pharmacist, and cardiologist recommended heart chew for cardiovascular health support. It's blood pressure support that you can trust. Support your heart health with Super Beats Heart Chews. Get a free 30-day supply of Super Beats Heart Chews

and a free full-size bag of turmeric chews valued at $25 by going to MidasBeats.com. That's right. Get this exclusive offer only at MidasBeats.com. M-E-I-D-A-S-B-E-E-T-S.com. When you go to some of the other government ethics reports that Donald Trump had to file while he was in office. And you can look at any of them, but just take this one, for example, that was filed in 2020. Here's the form. You go and you look at Chicago unit acquisitions. Look, 100% ownership Donald Trump has.

If you look at Chicago unit acquisitions, name, DJT Holdings LLC, role member. Role, Donald Trump's a member, so he has 100% ownership of that entity right there. And then if you go and look at the liability, so he's an owner, 100% owner of this Chicago Unit Acquisitions LLC. And then you go look at the section on Trump's financials that talk about liabilities. And let's take a look at Chicago Unit Acquisitions LLC. There it is.

You can see it right there. It's line 11. THT Chicago springing loan over $50 million year incurred 2012. And it's described as prime plus 5%, and its term is considered a springing loan term. So now you take that information and you go back and you look at what it is in that footnote right there and what the footnote says. So the footnote says, once again, talks about the following. Of particular note, I discussed the springing loan previously disclosed as being between

Donald J. Trump individually and Chicago Unit Acquisitions, an entity related to Trump Chicago. So now you know that Trump owns Chicago Unit Acquisitions 100% and did a loan with himself, with the Trump organization, several times. When I inquired about this loan, I was informed there are no loan agreements that memorialize the loan, but that it was a loan believed to be between Donald J. Trump individually and Chicago Union Acquisitions for $48 million. And by the way, they may be misrepresenting that number to Judge Barbara Jones because

I just showed you on the financial statements, they claim that that loan is over $50 million. However, in recent discussions with the Trump organization, it indicated that it determined this loan never existed, that this loan never existed. By the way, there are forms here of the Chicago unit acquisition. We take a look right here. Here's the LLC form that was filed on November 15, 2019. Limited liability company, Chicago unit acquisitions. Let's take a look at the address of its place of business.

Oh, look, it's 725 Fifth Avenue and Allen Weisselberg. So it's Trump Tower. Allen Weisselberg. So it's Trump Tower. Allen Weisselberg is the vice president who's signing these business forms on behalf of this entity. So what in the world is going on here? Let's take a look at what Mother Jones had to write in 2019 as we piece this together. Donald Trump has never explained a mysterious $50 million loan. Is it evidence of tax fraud? A Mother Jones investigation has uncovered new

information about a puzzling Trump deal. And this is from 2019. And here's what Mother Jones found in 2019. It says, Donald Trump's massive debts, he owes hundreds of millions of dollars, are the subject of continuous congressional scrutiny. But for years, one Trump loan has been particularly mystifying, a debt of more than $50 million that Trump claims he owes to one of his companies. According to tax and financial experts, the loan, which Trump has never fully explained, might be part of a controversial tax avoidance scheme known as debt parking. So here is what we know about this loan. We've talked about what a springing loan is and how it's being characterized there. And when Donald Trump was trying to finance

the Chicago Trump skyscraper, the majority of the hotel was bankrolled by Trump's lender of choice, Deutsche Bank. But a significant amount of money was also contributed by Fortress Investment Groups, which provided an additional $130 million in financing. Trump's Chicago project quickly became a financial debacle. So then Donald Trump started suing everybody, which is what he does. He then reached a, you know, to try to avoid defaulting, he then reached a settlement agreement with all of the parties and a lot of the debt was forgiven. So Donald Trump bullied, sued Deutsche and all of these lenders that gave him the money to build the Trump skyscraper in Chicago. Rather than pay back the money, he sued them. He used the financial crisis as a way to claim that they were at fault for the

financial crisis and that they defrauded him. He reached a settlement agreement with them where they basically forgave a huge amount of the loan that they gave to him. And because he got the benefit of the loan to build the skyscraper, what the IRS says is that if someone's going to forgive all of this loan that you owe them, that could be treated as income and you would then have to pay income tax on it. Unless you could try to come up with this tax avoidance scheme and there's a legal but controversial way to do it, debt parking, where rather than have the debt forgiven, you acquire that debt from Deutsche Bank or from Fortress. You put it and park it in some LLC, but you pay

it off. You have to pay off the debt. It has to be a legitimate transaction. You can't just park it in a self-controlled LLC and then do nothing with it. It has to actually exist so that there's a taxable event at some point in time. But here, that doesn't seem to be what took place because as Judge Barbara Jones is showing, seems like that never even took place. So what seems like actually happened here is that Deutsche Bank and Fortress, as part of this settlement agreement, forgave the debt or a significant portion of the debt, entered into a settlement agreement. Then Donald Trump created this Chicago unit acquisition and claimed that it had been holding this debt, that it was parking this debt, and it was going

to service this own debt in an arm's length way that it was legitimate that it actually but it seems like it didn't do that at all that it never acquired the debt the debt was forgiven the Deutsche Bank and Fortress were never seeking it anymore but then Trump was claiming to have acquired it if since it's claiming it doesn't exist, so that he didn't have to pay taxes on that amount. And then he could kind of further avoid taxes, potentially, if he's calling this a springing loan and claiming that these terms here are incredibly punitive and setting high, you know, whatever the interest rates are.

And then he could be trying to claim other deductions based on the nature of the springing loan on his other taxes. So by characterizing it as a springing loan, when there's no loan that even seems to be existing in the first place, he's double and triple dipping in what seems to be this scheme, if you will. So that's why, if you look at what Judge Barbara Jones is saying here, it has these more profound implications. Now, of course, I think that Judge N'Goran is going to issue a ruling for $370 to $500 million, and that's going to be the headline. But look at this. This Judge Jones letter is going to find its way into Justice and Goran's ruling in a big way. And here's what Judge

Jones says also. Look, my duties include reporting any unusual and suspicious activities, she says. But she goes that I'm not in a position, though, to, like, it's not her position to conclude whether fraudulent activity occurred. That's your job, Judge. That's your job, New York Attorney General. I'm just flagging the suspicious stuff for you and giving you a roadmap. And by the way, folks, I hope you understand now

what that Chicago unit acquisitions LLC, why it's so shady and how Trump seems to have engaged in this debt parking scheme, which may be improper. And it certainly seems to be, doesn't seem like the loan even existed in the first place that it was never even acquired. Chicago unit acquisitions, this deal between Trump and Trump seems to be riddled with problems. I'm Ben Micellis from the Midas Touch Network. Hit subscribe. We're on our way to 2 million subscribers.

Thanks to your support. Have a good day. Love this video? Make sure you stay up to date on the latest breaking news and all things Midas by signing up to the Midas Touch newsletter at MidasTouch.com slash newsletter.