Transcripts For MSNBCW Andrea Mitchell Reports 20220921

Deceive banks and the people of the great state of new york. Claiming you have money to you do not have does not amount to the art of the deal. Its the art of the steal. And there cannot be different rules for different people in this country or in this state. Former president s are no different. So today, we are making good on that promise, on our commitment, because no one no one is above the law. And i would like for them to understand this investigation was led by kevin walace, senior counsel andrew amer, assistant attorney general colleen faherty, assistant attorney general alex finkelstein, assistant attorney general stephanie toray, assistant attorney general austin thompson, special counsel to the solicitor general and Additional Support was provided by a data analyst anusa shattery and Data Scientist chun su sung, director of research and analytics, Jonathan Werberg as well as Energy Technology specialists using chin and paige puldony, Information Technology specialist john roach. Appellate support provided by judy veil, assistant solicitor general eric delposo, all under the oversight of first Deputy Attorney general jennifer levy. I thank you for your service. You may have a seat. Now i know that i have provided you with a lot of numbers, a lot of property. Members of the team will be available to answer any specific questions. But at this time, im going to turn it over to delaney who is going to lead the q a on ontopic questions. Thank you. I wanted to ask you say there was criminality involved here. I was wondering if you referred this to the manhattan d. A. As well, and should we expect to see state charges . Theres a parallel criminal investigation being conducted by the District Attorney of manhattan. We are cooperating with the manhattan District Attorney. Any information he is requesting, we will submit it to his office. We cooperate with any Law Enforcement office. Thank you. You said that his career and his empire was basically a sham and smoke and mirrors. Can you describe are you trying to shut him down . Where do we go from here . Again, this investigation has to do with his statements of Financial Condition over a period of 2011 to 2021. This is an attempt to seek redress for the taxpayers of the great state of new york for individuals in the great state of new york. He could reconstruct, reorganize a number of the corporations. But the relief that we are seeking from this judge is, again, for him to reform his practices in the state of new york and to prohibit him from engaging in any real estate commercial transactions in the state of new york going forward. As you know i apologize. As you know, the allegations are at least three years old. Thats the origin of your investigation. The doj and irs have had access to the same that you did. Do you hope to force their hand into action . Its not a question of forcing their hand. Its a question of presenting to them evidence which we believe suggests illegality and suggests that he was engaging in a number of schemes to benefit himself, his corporation and his family. We will present this information to the District Attorney of new york. If he requests it. As well as the Southern District of new york and the irs, based on the allegations we uncovered. Based on the evidence we uncovered. Are you willing to settle with the Trump Organization . If so, what terms would be appropriate and favorable for you that you would agree to settle . I will not negotiate in public. As you know has been reported, we rejected settlement offers they submitted. Our doors are always open. It has been suggested by mr. Trump and his advocates that they were engaging in Standard Practices this is standard in the real estate business. How is what they were doing different from Standard Practice here . Can you comment on their that defense . This conduct cannot be brushed aside and dismissed as some sort of goodfaith mistake. Statements of Financial Condition were greatly exaggerated, grossly inflated, objectively false. Therefore, fraudulent and illegal. As a result of that, we are seeking relief. Mr. Trump, the Trump Organization, his family, they should be held accountable. Thats the purpose of this litigation that we are filing today. In addition to referring the criminal conduct to the Southern District of new york as well as the irs. No one, my friend, is above the law. I have a twopart question. Number one, is there anything to prevent mr. Trump from establishing his corporations, even for the properties in new york, in another state since he is now a legal resident of florida . Secondly, you called it donald trump junior, the democratic witch hunt has begun. With regard to the name call, they attempted to delay this investigation. Two judges dismissed those claims this was a political witch hunt. I give no credence to those names that he is referred to me. Two, mr. Trump, the Trump Organization as well as his family will still have to deal with this complaint. They will have to respond. They will have to respond to the allegations therein. If he decided to move to florida, the reality is, he still has to deal with the great state of new york and respond to the complaint. Put these properties in a corporation that he cannot. These corporations are currently incorporated in the state of new york. Some are incorporated in delaware. But they do business in the state of new york. He cannot just pick up and those same corporations moved to florida, no. Again, just to put a finer point on that, we are attempting as part of our relief to dissolve these corporations. In practical former President Trumps biggest money Generating Properties are in manhattan, in new york state. If this relief is granted by the judge down the road, would he be able to collect rents, to obtain loans on the properties . What Practical Implications to sell the properties should he want to . Is the corporation thats filed in new york necessary for him to do those things . Again, most of the corporations are have been incorporated in the state of new york. Some have beenincorporated in delaware. We are barring mr. Trump and his family members from serving as an officer or director in any entity in the state of new york. We are barring him from entering into any commercial real estate transactions for five years. We are barring mr. Trump and the organization from applying for any loans for five years. Just for five years. Requiring him to repay the financial benefits of 250 million, placing a monitor over these corporations, appointing requiring him to file a gap compliant Financial Statement of Financial Condition, replacing trustees if he creates a new trustee and permanently barring Allen Weisselberg. Are these relief that a judge would have to approve . Yes. These things arent happening at the moment . Yes. This will be litigated down the line . Correct. Its important to understand that mr. Trump will have a financial interest in a lot of these corporations. If he decides to at some point in time sell them or if he decides to he restructure them, this is part of the relief we are seeking. We are seeking to we are not seeking to dissolve them. He still has a financial interest in these businesses and corporations. To collect rent, to obtain a loan based on them as collateral, to sell the property maybe im missing some other practical things if approved by a judge down the loan, these are things he would not be able to do . Correct. For the next five years. Two more questions. Can you explain something about how the former president you allege he did this for at least a decade or more. How did he get away with what you are saying he got away with for such a long period of time . A lot of these transactions are with some of the largest Financial Institutions and Insurance Companies in the state of new york. Do they just not check anything that people tell them . They presumed it was true . Did they have hints that these things were not true that they were being told . What does it tell you about these institutions . With respect to mizars, they did not certify and they did not check. With respect to kushman wakefield, theres an investigation. We are in conversations with deutsche bank. They have been cooperating with our office. Do you feel like this lawsuit is going to be resolved quickly . Is this going to be a drawnout process . Thats up to the judge. Thats good . Okay. I thank you all for coming. If theres any specific questions, i believe my members of the team will answer your questions. Thank you. Good day. Im Andrea Mitchell in new york. We are following breaking news involving former President Donald Trump and his Adult Children. New York State Attorney general announcing moments ago her office is suing the former president , his Adult Children and the Trump Organization for what her office describes as bank, tax and Insurance Fraud with proposed penalties that total 250 million. Also among the possible penalties, barring the trumps from being present in any new york companys office for five years, preventing them from seeking lending from any Financial Institution during that same period of time. Joining me now for more on this breaking news, ari melbur, kristin welker, Chuck Rosenberg and suzann craig. Chuck, to you. This is a civil lawsuit. At the moment, theres no fear of any kind of criminal penalties, prison time, anything for former President Trump or his children. They are referring this to the manhattan d. A. And the irs for future investigation. Fill in what you see as the gravatus of this. Quite grave. You are right, andrea. This is a lawsuit. They are suing the trumps and their organization. They are not charging them with a crime. Thats a very important distinction. In a civil lawsuit, which the attorney general of new york state just described, they are seeking regress. They will bar the company and members of the company from financial transactions. They will seek disgorgement for compensation from the company in the tune of about a quarter of a billion dollars. Even if the attorney general succeeds in this, nobody goes to jail as a result of this. Its a civil lawsuit. That means that she has a lower burden of proof at trial. In a civil case, that burden of proof is a preponderance of the evidence. Think of that as 50. 001 . If you hit that, you win. To prevail at a criminal trial, you have to prove by proof beyond a reasonable doubt, a higher standard. To your initial question, this is a civil lawsuit looking for financial redress, not a criminal case. Ari, give us your any additional notes you have. One of the penalties would be trying to dissolve the Trump Organization. Yes. She referred to how that would work. They would retain property value, interest in it. The way i look at this, today is a big day for the attorney general probe. Theres more than one legal problem for donald trump. This is the highest, most severe type of outcome we could have seen for the reasons you just mentioned in your reporting with chuck. This is a civil probe. It was never going to go into people being incarcerated based on what she found. But shes basically saying, she sees incarceration level crimes. Shes referred those, what she called carefully possible federal crimes, to the irs and the federal prosecutors at fdny. Thats what shes doing with what she says might be criminal. The rest is her saying, found a lot of problems. [ inaudible ] shes basically throwing the book at him in court. He will get his day. He will get his response because its a lawsuit. A judge might disagree with some of what we heard. But this is a big, dramatic outcome for her, them saying not that they land in the middle or a compromise, but rather they say, the attorneys general office, they have office this was more or less at times a knowing, intentional criminal organization and, thus, its officers, donald trump and his family as well as weisselberg, shouldnt be able to run any company for years in new york. They are taking a big swing. Its important to monitor is that it will ultimately be adjudicated in the court. Joining us is tom winter and kristin welker. I want to go to you on the Trump Organization response, which she prebutted by saying its not a witch hunt and it represents the culmination of nearly three years of persistent, targeted, political harassment by the new York Attorney general. We are seeing a response from former President Trump, the Trump Organization and his allies. Let me read you more of the statement from the Trump Organization. In addition to everything that you just laid out, its notable that the statement talks about the crime rates in new york saying, all of this happening while new york continues to decline with rising Violent Crime rates, the likes of which we have not seen in decades. That phraseology very trumpian. They said, its all about politics, pure and simple. Ending on the good people of new york should be disgusted. I want to read a little bit of what we got from through a trump spokesperson who sends this on behalf of one of his attorneys who writes, todays filing is neither focused on the facts nor the law. Its on advancing the attorney generals political agenda. Its abundantly clear the Attorney Generals Office has exceeded its Statutory Authority by prying into transactions where absolutely no wrongdoing has taken place. We are confident our judicial system will not stand for this abuse of authority and we look forward to defending our client. Gearing up for a fight. Taking a step back, this is one of several investigations that are swirling around the former president right now. That is unprecedented. Theres an investigation in georgia into allegations of election fraud. Of course, the january 6 committee. You have the department of justice and, of course, the fbi seized all of those documents from maralago. Thats going back and forth that the department of justice has said some of which are classified, hundreds of them. All of this is swirling around todays announcement. What we are hearing, not surprisingly, by the former president , who called himself a counterpuncher, is this defiant stance. To distract and talk about new york city crime and something outside the purview of todays allegations in a civil case. Its a strategy that we saw frequently when we covered him at the white house. You are right. Talk about a different topic. Tom winter, it was only yesterday at this hour, you were in another courtroom with a master, judge dearie. Swatting down the allegations in that in the case over the idea of classified documents and what they were presenting. Saying, really rather tartly, in a civil way, that you cant have your cake and eat it, too. You cant claim that the former president declassified documents without being willing to show some evidence of it. Well said. Thats something that we can continue to track. It remains an ongoing concern for the president. I want to tell you, we reached out to the u. S. Attorneys office and a spokesperson said they will decline to comment for now on this criminal referral the attorney general is sending over to their office and the irs criminal division, what we reached out to for comment. As far as the statement from the former president about crime in new york, we should be clear the new York Attorney general really doesnt have jurisdiction over daytoday crime in new york. Its more of a civil office. Thats not really a particular consideration. A couple of things have kind of come out struck out to me today. Her words really strike at a key thing for the president , that she alleges he inflated by billions, according to her, the value of his properties or personal financial wealth. One of the things that sticks out is that maralago, based on the ag office numbers, they value at 75 million. The president presented it at 750 million. Where he lives at trump tower, a few blocks from here, she says is only a 10,000 square foot property. He says its a 30,000 square foot property. Gave it a value that would make it the most expensive apartment sold in new york city. From the small to the large, shes painting a picture according to her investigation of widespread fraud. I think another key part of this penalty we are focusing on the fact the president may not be able to run his company anymore in new york city as well as his kids in this 250 million payment, but also he will not be able, if this lawsuit is successful and penalties are applied, to get a loan from any bank registered with the new York State Department of finance for five years. Im trying to think of banks that arent registered with them. How far does that go . What does that mean as far as getting access to any major bank . Thats something we are trying to figure out. That strikes to me to be potentially a very significant penalty for the president that has implications far beyond new york. Suzann craig is with us as well. You are reporting for the New York Times. You have been digging into what we have heard today, the tax records, the other financial records that you have reported on. Are you surprised that this moment has come . Is it in line with what you have been expecting based on the data you have been looking at . I think she has been, for years now, looking at this and trying to get a case together. Im not necessarily surprised the day has come. Im still sort of trying to get my head around the consequences and what tom was talking about. The lending issue is huge. Its collateral consequence. When these things happen, there are consequences outside of the immediate filing. A big one is the lending. He has been looking at what donald trump has been doing in the last year or two, and it feels a little bit like it was heading towards this day. He shifted his lenders. He has got a lot of money that he just refinanced in the last year. Its done out of a bank in san diego, a not wellknown bank that has political ties. He has been moving that. He sold a major asset, the old post office, which accrued a lot of cash for him. Its unusual to see a Company Build a big, shiny thing and right away sell their crown jewel. That got him some money. You sort of think that they have been waiting for this. I think they have been expecting it. They wouldnt have known details, but this has been coming. He still has loans he will have to renegotiate. It will be interesting to see where those go. If you are charged, that loan is due immediately. If you are convicted of fraud, and then getting loans, once in the situation, is very hard. Trump tower is one of the loans that he renegotiated in the last year. Thats behind him. This is tough stuff for the Trump Organization. Theres no question, this is a dark day for them. Lets talk about where this started. Chuck, this started with his former attorney, Michael Cohen, and his testimony to congress and talking about both inflating and deflating assets for the purposes of tax and insurance and bank loans. It led to Allen Weisselberg, the cfo, for years and years with the Trump Organization, going back to his father. Thats right. It also started because of terrific reporting from people like suzann. Much of this was known in the trump orbit. I imagine, andrea, it was going to happen one way or the other, with or without Michael Cohen, with or without Allen Weisselberg. I do want to reiterate something tom and suzann said. Liquidity for the Trump Organization is going to be a huge problem. Loans might be called. Its going to be harder to get additional loans. The value of the properties, if the attorney general has correctly stated them, are much, much lower than the trumps had proclaimed. This could lead, without being apocalyptic here, to financial ruin for the company. Sure, they can reorganize in another state. They are going to have to face the consequences of this lawsuit in new york state one way or the other. Litigation takes a long time. Particularly in civil cases. Particularly in crowded dockets like those in new york state. I dont expect were going to know the answer to this next week or next month or even next year. The financial problems are huge for the Trump Organization and for the trump family. As i mentioned earlier, i think one way or the other, we were going to end up in court with a lawsuit like this, whether you want to attribute it to Michael Cohen or Allen Weisselberg or reporters at the New York Times and nbc, thats all for the good. This was known this was coming. Now we get to read about it in a 200 plus page criminal complaint. Ari, when we talk about this, merrick garland, the attorney general and any criminal investigation would not proceed at any point publically at least during this window, leading into a midterm election. But in this instance, theres no rule or tradition or reluctance to bring something within 60 days of an election. Clearly, as you say, andrea. And i think if you talk to people on the james side, they argue the time line has been delayed and the process compromised by donald trump repeatedly. They dont want to reward that behavior. For example, she referred today to him invoking the fifth amendment, which is his right. That can be cited as an inference in a civil case. He did that after being held in contempt by a new york judge and getting fined. They didnt incarcerate him, which sometimes happens when other people are held in contempt. That played out. This time line is a product of both the james investigation and their subjects delay tactics. To your point about the federal side, this is now a huge hot potato that james has handed to attorney general garland. We mentioned how long it would take to litigate this in civil court. Again, donald trump and everyone in this lawsuit will get their day. We owe them their version, their turn. They will get a chance to speak through the process. They may find a hospitable judge. Theres a hot potato where they have to take this referral and either start investigating these issues or determine in a Legal Process and explain why they are not, they dont see enough there. As always, go back to the comey days who doesnt want to relive that comey era . You have the question of whether they find extraordinary reasons to explain what theyre doing on this referral or not. That can bite you either way. I think its a fascinating separate question that the attorney general of new york has just put on the desk of the attorney general of the United States of america. Are you going to go investigate what she says is evidence of crimes, of irs federal tax crimes or not . Joining me now is peter baker, chief White House Correspondent for the New York Times. Peter, you have just written your book with your spouse called divided. You have lists of these investigations. In this book, you have chronicled trumps time in office. Its coming out today. This is a mammoth collection of 700 plus pages, from 300 interviews after mr. Trump left office, including two with the former president himself. Tell us how todays announcement fits into the framework of your reporting. It is of a piece. What you see in this lawsuit, what you see in the allegations is a person whose association with the truth is tenuous at best. Truth is what he wants it to be, what he chooses to make it. If i say it is valued this, its valued at that. It may be different on different occasions to suit his needs. That was true in his presidency as well. Time after time he recast reality in order to suit his political gains, just as he did according to this, his financial gains. He told us again and again that he was the best president for African Americans of any president except perhaps lincoln. He told us this was the greatest economy in the history of the world. Job growth was equivalent to the job growth he inherited when president obama left office. He told us he was the toughest president on russia. Even as he was admiring putin time and time again. He chose throughout his presidency to determine what was real and what was not. Finally, of course, leading to this january 6, when he told us the election was stolen, and, of course, it wasnt. His own attorney general, his own campaign people, his own lawyers told him, thats not true. It didnt stop him. Reality is what he wants it to be. He has never been held accountable in the way james seeks to have him held accountable for private actions for what he did in public. We will see if that happens in some of the various investigations. As i correct myself, the book is the divider. Its about donald trump dividing our nation, refusing to leave office and his rationalizations for that. Thats right. His response to this is to use the same approach that he has throughout his political career, find a way to exploit problems. American was polarized before he came along. But he found ways of tapping into that and turning part of the country against each other. He divided america. He divided his white house staff. He divided his family at times. Thats been a useful political strategy for him. Thats why i see him going after james as a political investigation rather than dealing on the merits. Thats why you see him appealing to his base through fundraising techniques saying they are coming after me. He is a supposed billionaire from new york with assets that the vast majority of americans couldnt dream of. Its been a political strategy. That may or may not be successful in court. We dont have two systems of justice. No one is above the law. Not even a former president. Thats right. She said that. She also said, this is not the art of the deal, its the art of the steal. Some powerful language from james. I have been talking to some of the former president s allies. Its clear theyre going to rally behind him and try to cast this as political. One ally telling me this sounds very political. The ag has had a personal mission of going after trump. I think you can expect to hear a lot more of that type of language. We are at an extraordinary political moment, less than two months from the midterms. This is the last thing that a lot of republicans want to see on their tv screens. They want to be talking about pocketbook issues, the economy and inflation. They dont want these midterm elections, even though the former president is not on the ballot, to be a choice election between donald trump and joe biden. Increasingly, thats what this is becoming. The question becomes, of course, the large x factor over all of this, will former President Trump run for reelection again . All of these data points are going to play into his final decision. He may see this as a rallying cry for his supporters. We will wait and see. It could be something that ultimately you have those around him dissuading him. Suzann craig, in your following all of this, this is a civil case and there will be delays going forward, which is what the former president and his team have done right now with the maralago documents that were seized. We have seen that. It has been weeks and weeks and we are arguing over whether they are classified and whether that matters. This is going to go on for quite some time. Months if not years, right . Yeah. It could go at a certain point we havent talked about this. But they could settle. Today we are seeing its the attorney generals day. The Trump Organization has been behind the scenes trying to get a settlement. It hasnt happened. That could still happen. The other thing thats on the horizon its coming up in october end of october, the criminal trial against the Trump Organization is going to start, unless theres a delay or a settlement. That is also similar to some similar issues. That is Allen Weisselberg has settled and that case is going forward. That will happen before we see any resolution in attorney generals case, unless theres a quick settlement. It doesnt look like thats going to happen. Thats what were going to be talking about for a while. I have to say, one of the things that just struck me, we dont know where its going to land, but 250 million is a lot of money for penalties that shes seeking. That in itself thats a tax. You cant deduct that from your taxes. We dont know if this goes to a judge and theres it ends up in a courtroom where theres going to end up. Thats a large number. Thats going to include interest. Thats got to be weighing on them as well. Chuck, what about these referrals to the irs, the referrals to the manhattan d. A. . Does that proceed quickly . This is just handing them her evidence and then they have to start all over again . Some of these are parallel. Sure. I dont know they have to start all over again. A number of these organizations had presumably their own investigations. Let me talk about a few of them separately. The irs has a criminal investigation division. I worked with them when i was a new federal prosecutor. I think very highly of them, exceedingly good. Theyre not part of the Justice Department, obviously. Theyre in the treasury department. But they have Law Enforcement authority and Law Enforcement powers. They can do investigations in conjunction with the u. S. Attorneys office. Like the Southern District of new york that apparently received a referral. I dont think any of this is news to them. I presume they knew about a lot of it, that they have ongoing information or even investigations. Whether or not they charge a criminal case is a completely different question, as we alluded to earlier, its proof beyond a reasonable doubt. When you wonder why the attorney general could file a lawsuit and the federal Law Enforcement authorities are still waiting or investigating or pondering, its that difference between proving a civil case by a preponderance of the evidence, a lower standard, and a criminal case, with proof beyond a reasonable doubt, a higher standard. The referrals dont require any criminal Law Enforcement authority act. It tells them that theres Additional Information out there should they need it. The new York Attorney general who would be happy to cooperate and provide what they need. Only too happy, tom winter. Sure. I was looking at the court docket. Its starting to be updated much theres 24 exhibits in, including statement of Financial Conditions for the former president , donald trump, that go back to 2011. To be clear, these arent his taxes. They are what he represented to various financial organizations. They clearly have the details and have the documents they think they need to prove this civil case. I think thats an Important Note when we talk about how the president intends to react to this, how his allies intend to react. This is a case thats based upon the documents and the work of whats been filed with new york state and whats been filed with manhattan county, where we live, new york county, i should say. When you look at this, already the numbers, the totals, the digits are in here for investigative reporters. Its an avenue. I think its going to be important to see and to follow this case, what other types of Financial Information comes out, and clearly here to what chuck was speaking about, if they have these type of documents and are making a referral, they could send this to the u. S. Attorneys office here in new york as well as the irs criminal division. For them to take a look at this, they might have a head start at least on digging out the facts. We have a couple of examples of what she called the gross over valuations. It was 11,000 square feet, but he valued it at 30,000 square feet. Trump park avenue, 12 rent stabilized apartments at 750,000 total, but in subsequent years they were valued at 50 million total. 40 wall street, the Trump Organization received a bank ordered appraisal for the commercial property calculating it at 220 million in 2012. The next year, it was valued at 530 million. That gives you a flavor of it. Suzann, you have been going through all of this. This matches a lot of your reporting. It does. You are hearing this, and its whether it was Michael Cohen or the reporting that we did, others have done, but we looked at this early on when he was president. You saw a pattern. We were able to see things like when they have when they have a charitable donation, they value something at a certain rate to maximize the tax benefits that will flow to them, because they want the tax deductions. They will go high. When they were looking at things where maybe an estate was involved, they went low. They didnt want to get the tax on that. You have a situation now these happen and they can happen sometimes it can happen within the parameter of the law. Shes clearly saying, they stepped over. Theres usually a bit of give and take. Shes saying they stepped over. Where she was talking earlier, the people of new york have been defrauded by this. Theres tax owed on a lot of these situations where they have played around with asset values. Thats where shes going with a lot of it and where she came up with that number potentially of what she feels should be paid to the new york state treasury. Michael beschloss joins us now. Using the word unprecedented for events involving the former president has been overworked, perhaps cliche. But this is extraordinary to see this kind of civil suit against the former president. It sure is. Anyone who knows the history not of the presidency, but of crime in america, knows that al capone, what he went down for was tax fraud. Many counts of it. As i heard the attorney general of new york talking about what donald trump is accused of, some of the language reminded me of the capone trial of the 1930s. Theres still a long way to go. Were not certain that any of these people are going to be guilty of this, either the former president or his family or his executives or his company. But if they are, it really calls a question thats poignantly said, whatever you think of donald trump, and that is, we love our american political system. Under our american political system, if donald trump committed these offenses against the United States and against the law for decades, as the attorney general of new york was saying this morning, how is it that our political system allowed him to be elected president in 2016 . Allowed tens of millions of people to vote for his reelection, even though he was defeated, in 2020. Tens of millions of people now who want him to come back to the white house. We should soberly think, what is there in our system that caused the founders to fail to keep someone who, if he is guilty of these crimes, to keep someone out of the white house. We should point out these this is a civil case. She has said that theres illegal conduct that should be investigated by prosecutors at the various levels. Being referred to the u. S. Department of justice, because she says it violates federal law. And the irs. If he is guilty, we dont know that yet. Ron allen joins us from outside trump tower, a block or two away. Reaction on the street . Are people aware of all of this swirling around the former president and his properties, including that one . Reporter they are aware of it, yes, andrea. People we have been speaking to are cheering. This is not a trump friendly part of new york state or new york city. People here that we have talked to are elated something is finally happening after all these investigations that have been going on for some time. We have been hearing more from the trump side of things. Theres a tweet from donald trump junior. I think we can put it on the screen. This is all about politics, weaponizing her office to go after political opponents. Eric trump has a tweet that says, the attorney general is not working for the Attorney Generals Office, she works for the dnc, 49 days before her election. Its true theres an election coming up. Shes running for reelection here. She at one point was thought to be had said she was going to run for governor but changed her mind after a brief campaign. The tone we are hearing from the trump family and the attorneys are somewhat measured, you might say. We have not heard from the former president who, of course, has called her a racist because of the way she has gone after him during the past number of years. Theres no love lost between of two. It has been extraordinarily personal in terms of the vitriol they have fired at each other. Today she was sarcastic saying, this is not the art of the deal, this is the art of the steal. Striking in that shes using that kind of language to file these charges against donald trump and the trump family. Pointing out that former president s are no different. Nobody is above the law. That kind of language as well. Very personal. You can tell theres a lot of animosity between these two. We will see how this all plays out once this moves to a courtroom. Thanks to ron allen outside trump tower, just a block and a half or so away from here. Lets bring in former u. S. Attorney paul charlton. Paul, we have talked about some of the other investigations, maralago, but where do you see the accusations today fitting into the overall fabric of what donald trump faces . Its interesting, because of you and your guests have pointed out a number of times, this is a civil matter. The penalties that face the trump family are significant. But they dont involve a felony conviction or time in prison. As chuck so eloquently pointed out, the u. S. Attorneys office in Southern District of manhattan likely already had much of this information. They were likely very much aware of what the manhattan District Attorneys office is doing. In that regard, federal prosecutors will often monitor ongoing civil fraud cases so that they can determine if they can meet what chuck pointed out is that higher burden of proof. The u. S. Attorneys office in the Southern District of new york will closely watch this case, will closely Pay Attention to the defenses the trump team will put forward here and if they think they can meet that higher burden of proof, then they will go forward with the prosecution. Watching the civil case, paying attention to what develops there is smart, its ethical, its permissible. I think we can expect some period of quiet, some period of silence from the u. S. Attorneys office before we hear them remark in any way on whats happened here. Kristin welker, theres going to be a lot of political fallout. Already is. Theres no doubt about that. I think what you can expect to see, andrea, is the former president and his allies becoming defiant about this. We have seen that in those tweets, of course, that you heard ron allen read and the statements from the Trump Organization. I think you are only going to continue to hear more and more of that from the former president himself on his own social media site. But i think this is going to put some candidates in very difficult positions. Republican candidates are going to be asked to respond to this. All across the country in these tough races that are unfolding, a lot of these races are close, a lot of these races will make the difference and determine who controls congress in november. The question is going to be, how do they respond . Does it hurt them politically . Then, again, you cannot take 2024 off the table. In what way does this impact 2024 . Does it embolden former President Trump. I spoke close to him who says he feels emboldened because he felt as though it galvanized some of his supporters and republican detrack tors around him. Will he feel the same way in the wake of this . Thats part of where our reporting will go nec. Will some of these candidates in close races for the senate, in particular, want him to campaign for him. Theres already been an interesting divide on that. Absolutely, a numb of them walking a fine line. Thank you so much. Peter baker, who with your wife Susan Glasser have published the divider, which is an enormous 700page of what donald trump did in his presidency with so many interviews since he left office. Thank you very much. That includes the notes. You dont have to read the notes. What we found in doing this book is theres so much more still to be learned about donald trump. We thought we knew it all. We went back after he left office to see what more we could learn. This is the result of that. My guess is theres still more to learn as this lawsuit puts on the table that basically theres an endless mind of information out there to be gathered and reported to the public this one fashion or another. Thats what we try to do with this book. Congratulations to you and to susan for that. Well be talking more about that in ts weeks and months to come. Thank you for being with us today. Chuck rosenberg, lets talk about today. It comes so quickly after yesterday we saw the judge showing a little bit of his hand and saying basically in the maralago case, put up or shut up. Make your case, if former president says these were declassified. To a great extent, we discussed this before. The search warrant itself did not require these documents to be classified. Its just that those are the ones that the Justice Department wants to get back and keep out of the hands of the trump attorneys. Thats right. Theres an interesting through line between the litigation in front of the judge regarding the maralago search and the lawsuit filed today by the new York State Attorney general. So i would caution people to Pay Attention to what happens in court and try to pay a little less attention to the swirl that happens outside of court. We are creatured of the court. Thats where we litigated and prosecuted. The things that matter to the judge were the things said in court. He was obviously frustrated that the trump folks were making claims outside of court about this supposed declassification of documents, but offering no evidence in court. And today immediately after the attorney general of new york state announces the filing of the lawsuit, we see all sorts of extrajudicial statements. Statements outside of court by the the trump children and others calling this political and a witch hunt. Those things dont matter. What matters is what happens in court. So the judge was chastising the Trump Lawyers yesterday for saying one thing out of court and nothing in court. Watch what happens in court. Thats what matters. David is joining us now. Foreign Affairs Columnist for the washington post. And you and i have never seen anything like this. Just where this place is donald trump right now with these accusations in a civil suit, but of gross illegality ver years of common fraud. You have a sense of converging forces of accountability, prosecution closing in on trump. I was struck today listening to the attorney general how her investigation has been as meticulous as has been the Justice Departments maralago documents investigation. With detailed documentation. The same kind of meticulous effort thats gone into the january 6th hearings, which will continue soon. These are carefully structured efforts to get accountability for what trump has done. The detail in her presentation was just striking. The tripling the size of what he was claiming at trump tower to make it the most expensive apartment in new york history. It was cray stuff. The 65 times greater for apartments that he had in a building. All of that is in detail in the civil case thats been filed. So often we feel these things are femoral and will go away. I didnt have that feeling today listening to livety sha james. Tom winter, what happens next in the civil case like this . I think a couple Different Things will be around here. First off, the trump will have an opportunity to file their response in state court and to respond in the various allegations here. This is different from a criminal process. Theres no arraignment here or sort of normal pleading process that will take place. This is going to be a real back and forth. We should remember that the depositions have already been taken here. So they have already deposed the former president and his children and certainly numerous others associated with the Trump Organization. All those things could potentially be played if this went to trial. So thats something were going to have to keep our eye on here as things move forward. Which we will be doing. Thanks to our guests. That does it for this disof Andrea Mitchell reports. Chris jansing reports starts right after this. Follow us online. Well be here tomorrow. What about screening for colon cancer . When caught in early stages its more treatable. Im cologuard. Im noninvasive and i detect altered dna in your stool to find 92 of colon cancers, even in early stages. Early stages . Yep, its for people 45 plus at average risk for colon cancer, not high risk. False positive and negative results may occur. Ask your provider if cologuard is right for you. Consider it done. Your mission stand up to moderate to severe Rheumatoid Arthritis or active Psoriatic Arthritis and. Take. It. On. With rinvoq. Rinvoq is a oncedaily pill that tackles pain, stiffness, swelling. For some, rinvoq significantly reduces ra and psa fatigue. It can stop irreversible joint damage. And rinvoq can leave skin clear or almost clear in psa. Thats rinvoq relief. Rinvoq can lower your ability to fight infections, including tb. Serious infections and blood clots, some fatal; cancers, including lymphoma and skin cancer; death, heart attack, stroke, and tears in the stomach or intestines occurred. People 50 and older with at least one Heart Disease risk factor have higher risks. Dont take if allergic to rinvoq as serious reactions can occur. Tell your doctor if you are or may become pregnant. Ask your rheumatologist about rinvoq relief. Rinvoq. Make it your mission. Learn how abbvie could help you save on rinvoq. Finding the perfect developer isnt easy. But, at upwork, we found her. Shes in prague, between the perfect cup of coffee and her museum of personal computers. And you can find her, and millions of other talented pros, right now on upwork. Com any questions, chris . All good, thanks maura there you go, one new inhaler nice did you get my refill too . Maybe healthier is auto refills and delivery made easy. Youre a lifesaver. Have a nice day. Good day, im chris jansing. We start with the unpress dependented announcement from the new York Attorney general just about 90 minutes ago that shes filing a lawsuit against former President Trump, donald trump jr. , ivanka trump and eric trump and the Trump Organization for what she describes as a deliberate pattern of bank, tax and Insurance Fraud going back years identifying more than 200 alleged violations that include trump allegedly falsely doubling, tripling or even more the values of his properties to gain financial advantage. Fraud and deception used by