That's how the deposition starts. And it goes on and on.
He sat for seven hours! his defenders say. And this is why.
They were merely asking what role he played in the organization after he became president.
It must be a challenge to know when to shut him up and when to let him ramble long enough to hang himself.
Continue reading if you have time for lots of fun.
And don't miss "the worthless clause" section. That's where it reads like a Marx Brothers script.
...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.
UPDATE 09/05/2023:
Some excerpts:
While Trump was forced to admit over and over that the value of his assets was inflated, he blamed his accountants or other people and factors for that. But his main defense, which he repeated dozens of times, was what he referred to as a "worthless clause."
This clause is basically a disclaimer at the beginning of the statements that any entity who receives them should conduct their own assessment of the value of his properties and he was not responsible if the valuations provided by him were incorrect. Essentially, it is his position that this clause gives him immunity from being held liable for any misrepresentations since that disclaimer renders all the numbers in the statement "worthless."
Another common theme is that Trump always justifies overvaluations of his properties by discussing their potential worth - what he thinks could be done with them to make them more valuable - and he factored in these potential future earnings or projects in his statements of their current value.
[...]
He said that once he became president, his name became "the hottest brand in the world," and anything with his name on it is instantly worth more. P.36.
[...]
Trump said that the value of his name alone is worth more than the assessed value of all his other properties combined. He said that he has valued his name at $2.9 Billion on some financial statements, but he really thinks it is worth more like $10 Billion. P.38-39.
[...]
He said that when he submitted his net worth statement to Deutsche Bank for the financing, he included an item for $2.93 billion in his assets for the value of his name. He explained that "if I wanted to build up my net worth, all I had to do was include my brand value." However, the bank refused to consider that and made him remove it. P.342-343.
[...]
When discussing the value of the Doral golf courses and property, he made a point to say that it was zoned for gambling, so that made it potentially worth much more than its current market value if he was ever able to secure a gaming license. However, this has been something he has been unable to do. P.34.
[...]
Trump said when he valued his properties in these formal statements to lenders and other entities, he didn't have them appraised or assessed because it would take too long to do that. When asked what method he used, he said that he "would use common sense." P.100-101.
When he was confronted with a 2022 letter from his accounting firm Mazars that financial institutions could no longer trust the Statements of Financial Condition they prepared from 2011-2020 because the information they received from Trump Org was inaccurate, he said they only did that because the AG "harassed them and they were petrified." He claimed that he had a conversation with a senior partner and, "He was so scared, he was crying."
[...]
At one point, Trump had claimed that [his Silver Springs, NY] property was worth $291 million on his financial statement. He said it was the most valuable house in NY and if he sold it to the Saudis he could get that much. He was confronted by Forbes in a 2015 interview about that claim by a reporter who said they assessed it through a 3rd party at only $23 million.
Trump admitted that the $291 million was too high, thinks maybe Eric or Weisselberg came up with that original number, but still says it was worth at least $125 million. He then said if the AG would clean up crime in NY then the property could be worth much more. The prosecutor then noted that the property is in Bedford, which has virtually zero crime. P.178-191.
In 2013, this property was assessed at $191 million. In 2015, Trump valued it on his financial statements at $435 million. When asked how the value of the property could have more than doubled in just two years, he claimed that Sean Connery helped him negotiate a zoning permit for to build another course on the property but admitted that he hasn't actually build it yet. P.235-237.
[...]
In 2015, [his 40 Wall St] property was appraised for $260 million, but Trump listed it as valued at $530 million. When asked how it could be worth more than double what the bank (Capital One) appraised it at, he said that "bank appraisals are always low."
Meidas Touch
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