By now you've heard that Trump committed fraud over at least a decade by dramatically undervaluing his properties for tax reasons and astronomically inflating them for loan reasons. But you may not have heard his defense, which literally amounts of influence peddling through money laundering.
That's right. Trump claims his wildly inflated property values are accurate BECAUSE HE COULD HAVE FOUND PEOPLE TO BUY THEM AT THAT PRICE, specifically naming "the Saudis."
The ruling is even funnier in context with his Truth Social posts. He keeps referencing that the financial statements had disclaimers, but those disclaimers were from the accounting firm that did the compilation. In a compilation, the accountant just takes whatever the client provides, and they aren't to be relied on. The client bears the responsibility. Mazars has since distanced itself from the compilations saying they were unreliable.