After originally seeking a $250 million judgment in a civil fraud lawsuit against former President Donald Trump, New York Attorney General Letitia James is now requesting Judge Arthur Engoron award the state $370 million.
But Christina Bobb told Newsmax on Thursday the big question remains, regardless of the amount: Who was harmed by James' allegations that Trump, his sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, and his Trump Organization overvalued their assets to obtain favorable loan deals and insurance policies?
"This is a phantom victim," Bobb, an attorney representing the former president's Save America PAC, told "Eric Bolling The Balance." "The victim doesn't exist. The damages aren't real. The banks even admitted they were paid back in full. They thought it was a good business deal. Everybody made money. Everybody got what they wanted out of it. The loans were paid back early. The insurance company did its own valuation of the real estate [and] had no issues with the way that they were valued. Everything was done in accordance with the loan documents, and everything was closed earlier than the agreement in the contracts required.
"There is no victim. For her to come up with originally [$250 million] and now it's [$370 million] ... Normally, the number is tied to actual damages in the case, and then you can compound it based on something else. These numbers, as far as I can tell, appear to be completely made up."
Engoron already ruled in a preliminary judgment the former president persistently committed fraud and no trial was needed to determine the claim at the core of James' lawsuit. Trump and his sons have denied any wrongdoing. Closing arguments in the case were held Thursday.
It's up to Engoron to decide on the financial damages, and ABC News reported Thursday he would issue a decision by Jan. 31. But Bobb said she wouldn't be surprised if the timing of his decision will be made to inflict as much damage as possible on Trump, the likely Republican nominee for this year's presidential election.
"I don't think that Judge Engoron is doing this in a vacuum," Bobb said. "We've seen [special counsel] Jack Smith and [Fulton County District Attorney] Fani Willis collaborating. I would not be surprised and have my own suspicions that all of these cases against Donald Trump are coordinated in some way for the purpose of interfering with the 2024 election.
"I think they will delay [Engoron's decision] to try to do the most damage to his election, to his campaign. And then once that's over, you know, poof, everything goes away."
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Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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