It's so tiring watching the media pretend not to understand something.
Loan estimates are completely irrelevant when we're talking about fraud on the actual mortgage paperwork. Are we expecting authorities to demand (and consider) documents that aren't even part of the actual process?
I know Orange Man Bad and all that, but whose fault is it that Cook lied on her application? Not Trump's.
I'm with you. I can't believe that people think banks just hand out money. They don't. They expect to be repaid.
An inflated valuation on an asset is easy to verify and rates are adjusted accordingly, but if someone says a home is going to be their primary residence, the only thing they have to go on is their statement. Cook deliberately misrepresented the intended use of the properties to get a better rate.
Are you f’ing kidding me? Trump came off like a bandit by lying shamelessly on every single loan application he ever filed. In exchange he received significantly lower interest rates and came ahead of people who filled their forms honestly. People go to jail for that all of the time.
Under the category of pretending not to understand something, let me show you where your post went wrong. If a loan seeker tells the bank that the collateral property is worth $1 million and the bank says the property is worth $950,000 to $1,050,000, and an incompetent judge says it worth $100,000, the only one lying is the judge.
Especially when the judge is using a tax assessment that was limited by law to a certain increase every year. The assessment was literally unable to keep up with the increasing valuation of the estate.
Banks perform due diligence, and they dig deep on large loans. They don't take anyone at their word. You can claim that your assets include a goose laying golden eggs in your backyard, but until the bank can verify that, it means nothing. The rates Trump International got on their loans were those that the banks offered after evaluating the risk and appraising the asset(s). He didn't get a significantly lower interest rate. He got the rate that his company's credit and the pledged assets could guarantee. Banks answer to boards, stockholders, and regulators. Trump paid back the loans that were made on time and in full.
Donald Trump is currently prohibited from doing business in NY. He was utterly toxic in the late 90s, having burned through the $400 million that Daddy slid him under the table. The two things that saved him were mysterious loans and ‘purchases’ coming from Russia and The Apprentice. Trump is a conman, people con banks all the time and, guess what? sometimes individuals in the banks are in on it. But it doesn’t matter when you lie as shamelessly as he did, claiming some properties were three times the size listed resulting in millions of dollars for the con man— they are fair game.
And yet the banks agreed to the loans and were paid in full and on time, so exactly who was the injured party here? Well, except the people who are always butt-hurt about anything Trump.
I wonder what we're talking about here. People buying 650K second homes and having 400 million bucks slipped under the table to smooth the way forward aren't the American young people who will never own a home paying every dime they make in rent to BlackRock and foreign investors who (with free money from the '08 crash they caused) bought up residential housing by the city block and turned it into rentals. In Europe Davos/EU controlled governments are creating systems--as was the Harris plan for our Republic--that strips home owners of their equity through taxation and--if you can't pay--get out!!--the boys in Brussels can. Consider the push to make the American commons and public parklands available for purchase--isn't Billy Gates the largest holder of farmland in the Republic. (Check out the CCP) No one thinks--or gives a f'k about the generational Dutch farmers--the greatest most productive in the world--who had their farms stolen by the EU/Davos crowd.
Lisa Cook? Obfuscation while the perps loot and destroy. Why not? "Getting away with it" is what they do. Housing? Look at what's happening to food prices. We're headed for the $5.00 Orange--and it ain't stoppin' there.
Want change? Destroy the "private equity"/BlackRock hold on American free enterprise by breaking up the "new Golden Age" monopolies bleeding the lives and labor of working two jobs buying food on credit to feed their families Americans. The latest BlackRock target--(still Gekko looting pension funds and dismantling American industry)--the 401K. Debt slaved much?
The $400 million slipped under the table is a total bogus fantasy.
Nothing personal here, but it never ceases to amaze me how people get all worked up over business or tech people making tons of money and complain how it's just so unfair, yet never seem to bat an eye about the money being paid to actors, musicians, and sports figures. No one ever whines about the disparity between how much Jay-Z makes vs his roadies.
If you want less expensive housing, they actually have to allow it to be built. That means clearing more land for construction without seven years of environmental impact statements, not larding on use restrictions, dictating what appliances people are allowed to have, and loading up impact fees. Our parents worked their asses off, lived below their means, saved their money, and, most importantly, lived where they could find work and afford to live. Ask your parents about the apartments and houses they lived in when they were starting out. No, they didn't get out of school and buy a 3/2 in the suburbs. They also didn't get themselves into serious debt for a Masters in French Literature. The truth is, and has always been, that not everyone can afford to live in places like NYC. Move where the work is and the cost of living is lower. Being a CPA at a big firm in Manhattan may seem glamorous, but dragging a baby stroller to a third-floor walk-up isn't. Des Moines may not be as exciting, but you could afford a nice 3/2 in the suburbs.
There's a difference between civil and criminal law. No one was robbed. There were mortgage agreements. Those mortgages were repaid. The contracts were fulfilled. Neither party was coerced or harmed. Neither party alleged that they were damaged in any way. Neither party sued the other.
People suffering from TDS lose touch with reality. We are tired of hearing that Trump is bad, and every success he has experienced doesn't count because you think in your mind that he is bad. Help is just a therapist away.
Many successful entrepreneurs have failed multiple times before they find success. Why are you so envious that he came from a wealthy family? Do you always covet your neighbor's property?
Interesting that Deutsche Bank testified that they continue to do business with Trump, and the allegation that they used his appraisals in the loan process was laughable. America witnessed lawfare in all its ugliness and sliminess. What type of person wraps their arms around that steaming pile of manure?
It is well-known in NY that Trump is the greatest welfare queen in US history. His daddy Fred built his fortune by obscenely over-billing for low to mid income housing. It’s hard to lose money when your dad slides $400 million under the table tax free, but Trump managed. He was saved by massive tax and loan fraud, dirty money from Russia and The Apprentice. His supporters are too blind to admit he’s a con, but we are now the laughingstock of the world.
"Every success" being defined as which ones, exactly?
"TDS" is the new "antisemitism" or "racism" or "terrorist" - totally meaningless attempt at a thought ender.
Yeah, interesting indeed that an institution like Deutsche Bank, well known for facilitating any number of criminal frauds in the past two decades alone would continue to do business with Trump. In addition, DB has received so many billions in bailout money for (also) fraudulent practices that it's hard to keep track.
Wells Fargo continues doing business with the Mexican cartels. Depending on whose estimate you believe, the main entities making up almost entire international banking system literally rely on dirty money and fraudulent/semi-fraudulent business practices to remain profitable and keep the doors open. It's an open secret. The fact that any of these entities continues to do business with any person or government not on the bogus US sanctions list shouldn't mean anything to a thinking person except that they'll do whatever they can to curry political favor and stay in the black.
I agree that there are many antisocial personality disorders associated with the radical left from the Democrat party. In particular, their sociopathic behavior, caused by a weak sense of conscience, led to emotional outbursts and violent behavior. Americans have observed the rise in politically motivated shootings around the country by young adults who have been radicalized.
Our broken educational system and domestic terrorist organizations have enabled the rise in violent behavior by promoting anti-social ideologies. It will take time to undo the damage to American society, but the current administration is taking action to combat these anti-social ideologies.
The game sees no difference between legal and illegal money. If I have a billion dollars I hire a lawyer, who hires a lawyer, who hires a PR firm and a lobbyist who buys the necessary politician--state or national. And--as you point out--I also pay an enforcer who puts loud mouth doggies to sleep. Unless, I'm pipelined into the "black ops" surveillance crowd who will gladly do it for me.
How is it that We the People allow ourselves to fall beneath the spell of distrust--speculation and suspicion--wondering where the moral line of human demarcation is when the perps have no concern for a line at all?
Our founding fathers worked overtime to produce a Constitution and a Republic that set clear lines of moral demarcation that allowed for and protected We the People from human error and grift. It still does. It isn't them--we are the responsible party. Know that and be that and the Republic will survive.
Trump is "recently" banned fron NY Business, based on the frivolous suit brought by James. When that suit is finally tossed from the court records, Trump will be able to do business in NY. (not sure why he would...)
in addition, it is inconsequential to our discussion that Trump was toxic in NY for spending his dads inheritance. That is purely subjective commentary and sour grapes. There is also no evidence that Russia saved his ass. The Apprentice was Trumps creation and he made money from it, so what?
The suit against Trump was BS and will be vacated.
Like him or not, as the wright stuff does not, Trump has not been found to have defrauded any banks in his career.
The fact that you wish it to be so, does not make it so. The Apprentice was not Trump’s creation it was Mark Burnett’s. The only bank that would loan to Trump in the late 90s early aughts was Deutsche Bank, the bank of choice for laundering the money of Russian oligarchs. They loaned Trump $2.5 billion at a time when he was toxic because of one boneheaded business move after another.
In addition there were dozens of suspicious purchases of Trump properties at the time by Russians often at stratospheric amounts above market value. Those are the ones we know about. As late as 2022 Trump was getting suspicious loans from individuals with ties to Putin. Those are the ones we know about, likely this is the tip of the iceberg because most transactions are hidden due to banking confidentiality rules.
So, forget the pee tapes, as is always the case with Trump, the perfidy is out in the open.
We the People--and those journalists we support have yet to understand the potential of subscription journalism. The creation on a truth/fact based solution oriented nation conversation is underway.
You have a very tenuous grasp of reality. It’s a violation of federal law. Look it up. It sounds, though, like you are mounting a defense for Lisa Cook?
I have no earthly idea if he was "lying shamelessly on every single loan application he ever filed". But as an almost 40-year commercial appraiser, I can say that no lending institution that has ever engaged me, and I've worked as a fee appraiser for some of the largest, has taken the word of a borrower as to the market value of their collateral.
The borrower has agreed to pay a certain amount for a property. The bank does take that word from the sales agreement, buyer and seller; or in the case of a refi, just the borrower and then they do their due diligence to determine if the property will cover the money loaned. Both sides have to agree. Having said that, banks screw this up all the time. Is anyone taking them to court for losing money?
Ummm Trump has faced the music? He’s become the undisputed King of the Grift. Will leave office the richest man in the world. A little lawfare- wah wah.
It is kinda sad that someone has to explan this to anyone posting on this topic, but, net worth is the total value of an individual's or entity's assets minus their total liabilities, essentially what they own minus what they owe.
Forbes: Estimated Trump's net worth at $3.7 billion in its October 2016 ranking. Nov. 2024 it was $6.2 billion.
Do you ever think about how making utterly counter-factual claims completely destroys your credibility?
Who actually believes that We the People can "bell the cat"? There is an entire industry built on lie and deception and--in order to work-- it depends on our participation in it. Some things are so bad it doesn't matter who did them. Surviving the consequences of the psychopathy in play and maintaining the human freedom of thought-mind and body--that is-- shelter and food--work and sleep-- is the actual reality of most Americans. They don't even know who Lisa Cook is. If she quit tomorrow and Donald T. took full control--what would change for them? The political theatre of "gotcha" revenge to provide headlines for the psyop doesn't produce a child familiar with the classics and a future for young Americans-- or clear the streets of dead on the corner Fentanyl--car jacking's and murder. Nor jobs and an economic system that works to support "..life-liberty and the pursuit of happiness." Boiling L. Cook in oil won't change a thing unless the system allowing a handful of international psychopaths to feed on the tax treasure--labor and lives of We the People is dismantled.
"I've been thinking about some things I've seen--worryin' about some things I've heard--everybody's crying mercy--but they don't know the meaning of the word." Mose Allison
I never heard MSM or Schumer or Schiff claim he lied on every single loan application he ever filed. How did you obtain that info? Did you share it with Schiff, Schumer, MSM? You should. That's powerful stuff.
I mean, my hate for Trump and his business dealings goes pretty far back and is tied to what he did in Atlantic City, but... come on... you really need to put that pipe down. You really don't know much about what you are spewing here.
That, or you've just never been around people in this class and how they use leverage in business and real estate. People on the Forbes list don't operate on our wavelength. They should, but the rules of us mortals don't apply here.
I’m afraid to your rather clueless. I’m well familiar with the world of high finances, including the criminal aspects and the legal ins and outs. I’m from New York. There are a lot of foolish things being said on these pages— banks and financial types get ‘conned’ all the time, often with inside collaborators. If you don’t believe that, I have a bridge to sell you. It’s the old adage— the harder they fall, and Madoff made a living scamming that class, including people who ‘should’ve known.’
Banks and financial institutions are indeed vulnerable to scams. Those companies lose money because they did not follow their established processes.
In this case, the bank followed its process and, under oath, testified that it did not use the appraisals submitted because that doesn't follow its process. They conduct their own assessment. The claim that they used the applicant's appraisal was laughable.
When you are conducting a lawfare political prosecution, facts don't matter.
Ever sat in on a meeting with a state/local official and a businessman trying to put in a warehouse/factory? Yeah.. I have. But, I am sure you know everything. I am not an expert you are correct there, but I've seen enough shit in my time from both sides of the Politician business leader table.
I’ve sat in on plenty of business meetings with government authorities— I suspect many more than you. I think the confusion is you’re talking about meetings where things are on the up and up. Read a little about Trump— he cut his teeth with the Mob— Roy Cohn and the Italian mob, to be precise. Judge Arthur Engoron is probably the most experienced and respected judge in the Southern District and he’s seen a lot in his day. Read his verdict. He says, the frauds “leap off the page and shock the conscience.”  And the defendant showed a “complete lack of contrition and remorse that borders on pathological.” New Yorkers know Trump, he’s cheated every step of the way, which is why he is generally reviled in his home town.
It's bad either way. Do you know what level of detail people on the Federal Open Market Committee deal with? They don't make "mistakes" like this. She's either deliberately committing fraud, or she's not qualified to sit on the FOMC. Either way, she should go. Trump is right to fire her.
Matt has never been very good with financial stuff (this is why he calls in Saltzman and others). The level of miss and false narrative in this part is particularly hair-raising from the Corker Rolling Stone piece from 2017:
"In the first nine months of 2007, Corker made an incredible 1,200 trades, over four per day, including 332 over a two-day period.
When I asked Johnson about this, and asked if Corker was making those trades himself or through a broker, Johnson gave a curious answer.
“Soon after taking office in January of 2007, rather than continuing to have a broker make discretionary transactions on his behalf throughout the day or week on a wide range of stocks in various companies, the senator felt it would be prudent to eliminate this arrangement,” Johnson said. “The closing out of this arrangement would have added substantially to the number of trades normally made in the broker’s discretionary account.”
Johnson seems to be saying that Corker would have made substantially more trades if he had executed them through a broker. So, he didn’t. I can offer no commentary shedding light on what this means, except to say that at the bottom of all of this is the still-incontrovertible fact that Corker made a truly awesome number of financial transactions while in office."
As someone who actually is involved in this industry, I would add to Eric's point that it is meaningless to cite that the Freddie average was lower. It is just that, an average and without knowing if Cook was getting a higher rate to lower closing costs or knowing whether her rate was higher because she was putting less down or had a lower credit score or some combination of the two, one really can't draw any conclusion from the difference. The only useful comparison would be to see the Credit Union's rate sheet for the day she locked in including rates for both single family owner occupied and second homes. It is a sliding scale and the rate may have been close to the Freddie average if she were paying a point but if she was trying to trade a higher rate to reduce closing costs (out of pocket costs), it could easily match the rate she actually got. A lot of people do that- they will take a rate a half point higher to get thousands in credit to offset closing costs and thus out of pocket expenses. It is especially so in cases where they are trying to buy multiple properties in a short period of time. Oh, and mortgage fraud is a big deal. We had a banking crisis 17 years ago in part because of mortgage fraud, poorly underwritten loans, greedy Wall Streeters and others securitizing those loans, and bad government policy but a lot people lied about their income and other things to get loans for sure. And most of these loans, including the ones Cook got, are backed by the government through Fannie and Freddie Mac. That is why they come under Pulte's purview.
BTW, the CNBC piece is written not like a true journalist but like defense counsel for Cook. Like they are trying to create reasonable doubt in the jury, not trying to find the truth for the public. The Financial Times piece is also crap. OK, the Loan Estimate says vacation home. Show us the doc and what interest rate is quoted there. I would bet the discussion after that was what can be done to get a lower rate and someone asked if it was possible Cook might occupy the house and it was intimated that could yield a better rate. Instead we get a snippet of the document and defense counsel like spin from the Times. If the final docs said all said principal residence then the Loan Estimate is further evidence of the fraud.
The role of mainstream media, as they perform it, is absolutely, positively 100% anti-Trump, touting their authority to judge, while pretending to be objective. ABC and George Stephanopoulos hold a grudge. I don't go there for news, but for entertainment.
After the UN speech, they were apoplectic, bringing out the "hallowed" fact checkers, and feigning authority with a three- bullet format that they have fallen in love with. They had cute little Ginger Zee, weather babe, explain how "renewable" energy is 16% more efficient than fossil fuels.... Bull butter! I would be using it if it was 16% cheaper.
Only Dave Chappelle can compete with Ricky for being the funniest SOB alive. Those two are without peer, comically.
But Trump is totally without peer in terms of the UN. No one has ever come close to his calling the weasels out for the little suck-ups they are. New sheriff in town.
Yes- they are propaganda arm of the Democratic party. I had to write more because I referenced the Loan Estimate that supposedly the Financial Times has seen. There is a lot of info on that and they only shared a tidbit and that is total BS. That is part of what we have been discussing here for years. So much of it is what they do not tell us about, cover up, or suppress. That is why I say show us the Loan Estimate (LE). We will learn a lot. There would likely be second one or more than one when the loan was changed to an owner-occupied residence. I am almost 100% sure that is the kind of changed circumstance that would require a new LE to be issued by law. Where is that one? It is total BS.
So how many others will come under Pulte's review? Any members of Trump's cabinet or Republicans in Congress or the Senate? Can you give us an estimate for when we can expect the report(s)?
My commentary was on the reporting. I am sure if they find someone in the administration in the same circumstance, they will not be given the counsel for the defense treatment by the press.
Only a cultist partisan shill would read "...let's subject EVERYONE in power to the same checks that have apparently been applied thus far in what has the appearance of partisanism" as "....whataboutism."
I said this at the time. The media's reporting was quite ridiculous. A tax representation and a mortgage application are completely different things, and telling the truth on one doesn't prove you didn't lie on the other.
Especially when the financial benefit of one lie is bigger than the other.
Yes. She lied on the document where the lie could help her get approved and get a lower rate. If she didn't lie on a document where she would gain nothing from the lie, so what! Journalists who portray this as evidence that she did nothing wrong are genuinely stupid, or highly partisan. I suppose they could be both...
Do you ever feel like the vast majority of stories here on Racket, on ATW, and so many on X and Substack are primarily stories related to extreme (insanely extreme) news media bias? Just imagine if they reported the news honestly, fairly, without the bias, without the transparent reality that anyone with their eyes open can see, that they are all working for the Democratic Party. What a wonderful world it could be. I'll say it again, Trump's win in 2024 was so much more significant than is generally recognized because American voters choose Trump despite the overwhelming news media bias against him and in favor of Harris, despite the lawfare, and the RNC ran open primaries, with debates, which Trump won fairly. But he's the threat to democracy?
A bigger question they're ignoring with great deliberation is where in the constitution are these "independent" agencies described? Which article? They speak as if it is axiomatic the fed shouldn't be subject to "political influences", yet aren't these the same people who constantly carp about "our democracy"? How is an incredibly powerful but completely unaccountable agency in any way democratic? That's the story they're really burying.
I am a real estate attorney who has been in practice for 30 years. I served as an expert witness at a trial involving mortgage fraud allegedly perpetrated during the run-up to the Great Financial Crisis. Federal mortgage fraud is not "fraud" in the usual sense because the government doesn't have to prove the "fraudster" benefitted from the "fraud" or that the "victim" relied on the "fraudulent" misrepresentation. All that must be proved is that the defendant made a material false statement in the course of procuring a loan. Stating in closing documents in successive transactions that the defendant intended to occupy the premises as his/her primary residence is a material falsehood, beyond fair argument. Lots of people went to jail for less in the aftermath of the GFC.
Certainly. During a media briefing on April 23, 2020, then-President Donald Trump discussed the potential use of disinfectants, including chlorine bleach, against COVID-19. He asked whether disinfectants could be used "by injection inside or almost a cleaning" to target the virus in the lungs, referencing their effectiveness on surfaces.
However, he did not explicitly advise people to inject bleach or other disinfectants into their bodies.
When a reporter followed up, Trump clarified that he was referring to sterilizing an area, not injections, stating, "It wouldn't be through injection. We're talking about through almost a cleaning, sterilization of an area".
The next day, Trump claimed his remarks were sarcastic, meant to test the media's reaction.
But if this is your killer point against the corporate media, I have to question your awareness. Are you somehow under the impression that prior to Trump the corporate MSM was always deferential to Democrats or dedicated to the truth, and the truth only?
It’s been propaganda, all the way down, to answer your last question. Back in the day of Andrew Jackson, politicians would actually buy a newspaper, in order to push their agenda, as an example.
Absolutely. Not just politicians either. Yellow journalism, the Hearst papers, the NYT, etc. Essentially the same thing has been said about banks. Although they serve a different purpose in the same rotten system, "the best way to rob a bank is to own one."
It has also been stated (accurately) that Americans are probably the most heavily propagandized people on earth, and they don't even realize it. An old Cold War era joke comes to mind, in which an American sits next to a Soviet on a plane.
An American meets a Russian while sitting on a plane leaving Moscow for Washington D.C. The Russian, claiming to work for the Kremlin, states he is traveling to learn American propaganda techniques. When the American asks what those techniques are, the Russian replies, "Exactly," implying the American's own society is the epitome of propaganda.
innocent until proven guilty…buuuut, i don’t see how this isn’t mortgage fraud. and any sort of fraud is a “crime of moral turpitude.” lawyers are disbarred for this all the time. she’s not a lawyer, but her job at Federal Reserve requires public trust in a similar way.
the right thing to do would be to step out of the position, but that’s not gonna happen b/c Dems want to use her as a cudgel to hit Trump with—if he’d kept a low-profile this likely would’ve resolved with his preferred outcome. ugh.
Now I am concerned that there is fraud here. Every 'fact' cited in these articles is complete bullshit. Take the mortgage rate: If you were looking at averages, the average in the state of MI or GA would be better, but still worthless. Mortgage rates are borrower specific (credit score, borrowing history, income level, property you're borrowing against, etc.), not set by a state average.
What she put on the disclosure forms is also useless. The only thing that matters is what is on the loan application. Ms. Cook has to know this. Has anybody checked state tax returns to see if she claimed homestead credits on both properties (I don't know about GA, but in MI homesteading gets you a nice property tax break)?
Purchasing two properties so close together (weeks?) would make claiming primary on both difficult to justify as an 'I forgot' mistake. All this is for a .25 point break on your mortgage rate.
In the past, a Fed Governor caught in outright fraud (have not seen the loan apps, so...) would have quietly resigned, thereby preserving 'Fed Independence'. It is Cook that has risked the institutional independence of the Fed, not Trump. For a .25% lower mortgage rate on one of the properties, just stupid...
Fed governors serve at the pleasure of the president. Just because they are assigned terms means dick. The president has cause to fire ANYONE. He’s the fucking president. These activist judges are making decisions based on not a damn thing legally based. If anyone wants the real truth the Fed should be abolished. A country that doesn’t control its currency isn’t a country.
Please provide the statute or law where this is explicitly stated. That the President can decide who or who doesn't serve on the board of the Federal Reserve, a private institution.
A private institution created by Congress whose board members are appointed by the President and confirmed by the US Senate and is governed by statute seems private in name only. As for the citation, Article II of the Constiution
If your reply was to me, you may have mistaken my views on the Fed, which are apparently the same as yours. Absolutely it's corrupt and illegal. By design.
If the allegations are true, that she LIED on her applications, that “would signal to the financial markets that the Federal Reserve no longer enjoys its traditional HONESTY AND INTEGRITY, risking chaos and disruption.”
This is very much a Fat Fanni type of problem. A prosecutor is required to have high character. How much more so a Federal Reserve officer?
Getting loan estimates for the property as a main residence (because that's loan she got), and as a vacation home just makes her look more guilty because the difference in rates between the two is right in front of her.
LOL! Yeah because I'm sure if you audited every single member of Trump's cabinet, entourage, or member of Congress and the Senate you wouldn't find any examples of the exact same thing, or similar types of fraud - on both sides of the fake two-party aisle. LMFAO.
It's so tiring watching the media pretend not to understand something.
Loan estimates are completely irrelevant when we're talking about fraud on the actual mortgage paperwork. Are we expecting authorities to demand (and consider) documents that aren't even part of the actual process?
I know Orange Man Bad and all that, but whose fault is it that Cook lied on her application? Not Trump's.
I'm with you. I can't believe that people think banks just hand out money. They don't. They expect to be repaid.
An inflated valuation on an asset is easy to verify and rates are adjusted accordingly, but if someone says a home is going to be their primary residence, the only thing they have to go on is their statement. Cook deliberately misrepresented the intended use of the properties to get a better rate.
Are you f’ing kidding me? Trump came off like a bandit by lying shamelessly on every single loan application he ever filed. In exchange he received significantly lower interest rates and came ahead of people who filled their forms honestly. People go to jail for that all of the time.
Under the category of pretending not to understand something, let me show you where your post went wrong. If a loan seeker tells the bank that the collateral property is worth $1 million and the bank says the property is worth $950,000 to $1,050,000, and an incompetent judge says it worth $100,000, the only one lying is the judge.
Especially when the judge is using a tax assessment that was limited by law to a certain increase every year. The assessment was literally unable to keep up with the increasing valuation of the estate.
Banks perform due diligence, and they dig deep on large loans. They don't take anyone at their word. You can claim that your assets include a goose laying golden eggs in your backyard, but until the bank can verify that, it means nothing. The rates Trump International got on their loans were those that the banks offered after evaluating the risk and appraising the asset(s). He didn't get a significantly lower interest rate. He got the rate that his company's credit and the pledged assets could guarantee. Banks answer to boards, stockholders, and regulators. Trump paid back the loans that were made on time and in full.
Donald Trump is currently prohibited from doing business in NY. He was utterly toxic in the late 90s, having burned through the $400 million that Daddy slid him under the table. The two things that saved him were mysterious loans and ‘purchases’ coming from Russia and The Apprentice. Trump is a conman, people con banks all the time and, guess what? sometimes individuals in the banks are in on it. But it doesn’t matter when you lie as shamelessly as he did, claiming some properties were three times the size listed resulting in millions of dollars for the con man— they are fair game.
And yet the banks agreed to the loans and were paid in full and on time, so exactly who was the injured party here? Well, except the people who are always butt-hurt about anything Trump.
I wonder what we're talking about here. People buying 650K second homes and having 400 million bucks slipped under the table to smooth the way forward aren't the American young people who will never own a home paying every dime they make in rent to BlackRock and foreign investors who (with free money from the '08 crash they caused) bought up residential housing by the city block and turned it into rentals. In Europe Davos/EU controlled governments are creating systems--as was the Harris plan for our Republic--that strips home owners of their equity through taxation and--if you can't pay--get out!!--the boys in Brussels can. Consider the push to make the American commons and public parklands available for purchase--isn't Billy Gates the largest holder of farmland in the Republic. (Check out the CCP) No one thinks--or gives a f'k about the generational Dutch farmers--the greatest most productive in the world--who had their farms stolen by the EU/Davos crowd.
Lisa Cook? Obfuscation while the perps loot and destroy. Why not? "Getting away with it" is what they do. Housing? Look at what's happening to food prices. We're headed for the $5.00 Orange--and it ain't stoppin' there.
Want change? Destroy the "private equity"/BlackRock hold on American free enterprise by breaking up the "new Golden Age" monopolies bleeding the lives and labor of working two jobs buying food on credit to feed their families Americans. The latest BlackRock target--(still Gekko looting pension funds and dismantling American industry)--the 401K. Debt slaved much?
(Just sayin'--not aimed at you ELKFLA.)
The $400 million slipped under the table is a total bogus fantasy.
Nothing personal here, but it never ceases to amaze me how people get all worked up over business or tech people making tons of money and complain how it's just so unfair, yet never seem to bat an eye about the money being paid to actors, musicians, and sports figures. No one ever whines about the disparity between how much Jay-Z makes vs his roadies.
If you want less expensive housing, they actually have to allow it to be built. That means clearing more land for construction without seven years of environmental impact statements, not larding on use restrictions, dictating what appliances people are allowed to have, and loading up impact fees. Our parents worked their asses off, lived below their means, saved their money, and, most importantly, lived where they could find work and afford to live. Ask your parents about the apartments and houses they lived in when they were starting out. No, they didn't get out of school and buy a 3/2 in the suburbs. They also didn't get themselves into serious debt for a Masters in French Literature. The truth is, and has always been, that not everyone can afford to live in places like NYC. Move where the work is and the cost of living is lower. Being a CPA at a big firm in Manhattan may seem glamorous, but dragging a baby stroller to a third-floor walk-up isn't. Des Moines may not be as exciting, but you could afford a nice 3/2 in the suburbs.
That’s not how it works, Gary. If you rob the bank and pay them back, you’re still liable. Sucks, doesn’t it?
There's a difference between civil and criminal law. No one was robbed. There were mortgage agreements. Those mortgages were repaid. The contracts were fulfilled. Neither party was coerced or harmed. Neither party alleged that they were damaged in any way. Neither party sued the other.
That is one of the poorest displays of understanding that I have seen in a life form.
Ha ha. So perfect.
People suffering from TDS lose touch with reality. We are tired of hearing that Trump is bad, and every success he has experienced doesn't count because you think in your mind that he is bad. Help is just a therapist away.
Many successful entrepreneurs have failed multiple times before they find success. Why are you so envious that he came from a wealthy family? Do you always covet your neighbor's property?
Interesting that Deutsche Bank testified that they continue to do business with Trump, and the allegation that they used his appraisals in the loan process was laughable. America witnessed lawfare in all its ugliness and sliminess. What type of person wraps their arms around that steaming pile of manure?
It is well-known in NY that Trump is the greatest welfare queen in US history. His daddy Fred built his fortune by obscenely over-billing for low to mid income housing. It’s hard to lose money when your dad slides $400 million under the table tax free, but Trump managed. He was saved by massive tax and loan fraud, dirty money from Russia and The Apprentice. His supporters are too blind to admit he’s a con, but we are now the laughingstock of the world.
And the world is the laughingstock of Americans. So, we're even.
"Every success" being defined as which ones, exactly?
"TDS" is the new "antisemitism" or "racism" or "terrorist" - totally meaningless attempt at a thought ender.
Yeah, interesting indeed that an institution like Deutsche Bank, well known for facilitating any number of criminal frauds in the past two decades alone would continue to do business with Trump. In addition, DB has received so many billions in bailout money for (also) fraudulent practices that it's hard to keep track.
https://wallstreetonparade.com/2022/04/another-raid-of-deutsche-bank-another-dead-whistleblower/
https://wallstreetonparade.com/2018/06/deutsche-bank-not-michael-cohen-may-be-donald-trumps-biggest-problem/
Wells Fargo continues doing business with the Mexican cartels. Depending on whose estimate you believe, the main entities making up almost entire international banking system literally rely on dirty money and fraudulent/semi-fraudulent business practices to remain profitable and keep the doors open. It's an open secret. The fact that any of these entities continues to do business with any person or government not on the bogus US sanctions list shouldn't mean anything to a thinking person except that they'll do whatever they can to curry political favor and stay in the black.
I agree that there are many antisocial personality disorders associated with the radical left from the Democrat party. In particular, their sociopathic behavior, caused by a weak sense of conscience, led to emotional outbursts and violent behavior. Americans have observed the rise in politically motivated shootings around the country by young adults who have been radicalized.
Our broken educational system and domestic terrorist organizations have enabled the rise in violent behavior by promoting anti-social ideologies. It will take time to undo the damage to American society, but the current administration is taking action to combat these anti-social ideologies.
The game sees no difference between legal and illegal money. If I have a billion dollars I hire a lawyer, who hires a lawyer, who hires a PR firm and a lobbyist who buys the necessary politician--state or national. And--as you point out--I also pay an enforcer who puts loud mouth doggies to sleep. Unless, I'm pipelined into the "black ops" surveillance crowd who will gladly do it for me.
How is it that We the People allow ourselves to fall beneath the spell of distrust--speculation and suspicion--wondering where the moral line of human demarcation is when the perps have no concern for a line at all?
Our founding fathers worked overtime to produce a Constitution and a Republic that set clear lines of moral demarcation that allowed for and protected We the People from human error and grift. It still does. It isn't them--we are the responsible party. Know that and be that and the Republic will survive.
I don't expect the "but Trump" defense will work for Cook.
Maybe, maybe not. However, Cook is a privileged individual so she may get away with it.
And I don't expect the case to be litigated in an online comments section. Your point?
Mine was a response to an off-topic comment about Trump, under a post about Cook. Understand now?
The "wrong Stuff" is at it again,
Trump is "recently" banned fron NY Business, based on the frivolous suit brought by James. When that suit is finally tossed from the court records, Trump will be able to do business in NY. (not sure why he would...)
in addition, it is inconsequential to our discussion that Trump was toxic in NY for spending his dads inheritance. That is purely subjective commentary and sour grapes. There is also no evidence that Russia saved his ass. The Apprentice was Trumps creation and he made money from it, so what?
The suit against Trump was BS and will be vacated.
Like him or not, as the wright stuff does not, Trump has not been found to have defrauded any banks in his career.
Total derangement..Worried to death that Trump's dad may have helped him. Guess the left doesn't understand the value of having a dad..
The fact that you wish it to be so, does not make it so. The Apprentice was not Trump’s creation it was Mark Burnett’s. The only bank that would loan to Trump in the late 90s early aughts was Deutsche Bank, the bank of choice for laundering the money of Russian oligarchs. They loaned Trump $2.5 billion at a time when he was toxic because of one boneheaded business move after another.
In addition there were dozens of suspicious purchases of Trump properties at the time by Russians often at stratospheric amounts above market value. Those are the ones we know about. As late as 2022 Trump was getting suspicious loans from individuals with ties to Putin. Those are the ones we know about, likely this is the tip of the iceberg because most transactions are hidden due to banking confidentiality rules.
So, forget the pee tapes, as is always the case with Trump, the perfidy is out in the open.
We the People--and those journalists we support have yet to understand the potential of subscription journalism. The creation on a truth/fact based solution oriented nation conversation is underway.
You can CLAIM your property is worth whatever you want to. It is the BANKS assessor that is to verify it. I can't believe you can't understand that..
You have a very tenuous grasp of reality. It’s a violation of federal law. Look it up. It sounds, though, like you are mounting a defense for Lisa Cook?
Please point out the bank that will just "Take my word" for the value of my property..That is the one I want money from..LOL
I have no earthly idea if he was "lying shamelessly on every single loan application he ever filed". But as an almost 40-year commercial appraiser, I can say that no lending institution that has ever engaged me, and I've worked as a fee appraiser for some of the largest, has taken the word of a borrower as to the market value of their collateral.
The borrower has agreed to pay a certain amount for a property. The bank does take that word from the sales agreement, buyer and seller; or in the case of a refi, just the borrower and then they do their due diligence to determine if the property will cover the money loaned. Both sides have to agree. Having said that, banks screw this up all the time. Is anyone taking them to court for losing money?
Well sounds like Cook should face the music, then.
Trump sure did.
Ummm Trump has faced the music? He’s become the undisputed King of the Grift. Will leave office the richest man in the world. A little lawfare- wah wah.
Makes Nancy look like a princess.
When you come at the king, you best not miss.
Ummm...he went into the office as one of the richest men in the world.
No he went into office as one of the most indebted men in the world. Owning real estate loaded up with debt isn’t ‘rich’
It is kinda sad that someone has to explan this to anyone posting on this topic, but, net worth is the total value of an individual's or entity's assets minus their total liabilities, essentially what they own minus what they owe.
Forbes: Estimated Trump's net worth at $3.7 billion in its October 2016 ranking. Nov. 2024 it was $6.2 billion.
Do you ever think about how making utterly counter-factual claims completely destroys your credibility?
what grift is that?
be specific.
Not unles he marries Elon. Probably not on the agenda.
Who actually believes that We the People can "bell the cat"? There is an entire industry built on lie and deception and--in order to work-- it depends on our participation in it. Some things are so bad it doesn't matter who did them. Surviving the consequences of the psychopathy in play and maintaining the human freedom of thought-mind and body--that is-- shelter and food--work and sleep-- is the actual reality of most Americans. They don't even know who Lisa Cook is. If she quit tomorrow and Donald T. took full control--what would change for them? The political theatre of "gotcha" revenge to provide headlines for the psyop doesn't produce a child familiar with the classics and a future for young Americans-- or clear the streets of dead on the corner Fentanyl--car jacking's and murder. Nor jobs and an economic system that works to support "..life-liberty and the pursuit of happiness." Boiling L. Cook in oil won't change a thing unless the system allowing a handful of international psychopaths to feed on the tax treasure--labor and lives of We the People is dismantled.
"I've been thinking about some things I've seen--worryin' about some things I've heard--everybody's crying mercy--but they don't know the meaning of the word." Mose Allison
I never heard MSM or Schumer or Schiff claim he lied on every single loan application he ever filed. How did you obtain that info? Did you share it with Schiff, Schumer, MSM? You should. That's powerful stuff.
Didn't you read? They know things, and we are all foolish lemmings. They told us so. Like the "Scientists" that told us Smoking was good for us!!
I mean, my hate for Trump and his business dealings goes pretty far back and is tied to what he did in Atlantic City, but... come on... you really need to put that pipe down. You really don't know much about what you are spewing here.
That, or you've just never been around people in this class and how they use leverage in business and real estate. People on the Forbes list don't operate on our wavelength. They should, but the rules of us mortals don't apply here.
I’m afraid to your rather clueless. I’m well familiar with the world of high finances, including the criminal aspects and the legal ins and outs. I’m from New York. There are a lot of foolish things being said on these pages— banks and financial types get ‘conned’ all the time, often with inside collaborators. If you don’t believe that, I have a bridge to sell you. It’s the old adage— the harder they fall, and Madoff made a living scamming that class, including people who ‘should’ve known.’
Banks and financial institutions are indeed vulnerable to scams. Those companies lose money because they did not follow their established processes.
In this case, the bank followed its process and, under oath, testified that it did not use the appraisals submitted because that doesn't follow its process. They conduct their own assessment. The claim that they used the applicant's appraisal was laughable.
When you are conducting a lawfare political prosecution, facts don't matter.
Ever sat in on a meeting with a state/local official and a businessman trying to put in a warehouse/factory? Yeah.. I have. But, I am sure you know everything. I am not an expert you are correct there, but I've seen enough shit in my time from both sides of the Politician business leader table.
I’ve sat in on plenty of business meetings with government authorities— I suspect many more than you. I think the confusion is you’re talking about meetings where things are on the up and up. Read a little about Trump— he cut his teeth with the Mob— Roy Cohn and the Italian mob, to be precise. Judge Arthur Engoron is probably the most experienced and respected judge in the Southern District and he’s seen a lot in his day. Read his verdict. He says, the frauds “leap off the page and shock the conscience.”  And the defendant showed a “complete lack of contrition and remorse that borders on pathological.” New Yorkers know Trump, he’s cheated every step of the way, which is why he is generally reviled in his home town.
I am sorry.. I have to assume you are a bot, or you are a moron.. have a nice day.
Madoff's "living" culminated in arrest, conviction, imprisonment and eventual death while incarcerated.
You keep bringing him up as if he is some kind of success story?
I'm from NY????? So you are saying New Yorkers are all cons????
How did you get this information about Trump? Do you work for his lawyer? His accountant? The IRS?
sorry, charlie. the folks who lend money to people like Trump are not babes in the woods. They know what they are doing.
DARVO
Why do you keep re-posting the US and Israeli modus operandi as a single acronym reply?
Maybe they're not pretending. Deference to Authority seems to be their only virtue.
I mean....they had to pretend fire alarms are confusing......
https://rumble.com/v6zid0m-bowman.html
Not even the media is that dumb.
You'd have a point if they actually thought about what they report. Simply put though, they don't think - only parrot.
Yeah these decisions are made far above the newsdesk, the "reporters" are just people good at reading off a cue card.
It's theater kids all the way down.
It underlies the whole corrupt way they insure they get to live in the style they’re accustomed to. “They” being the elites that run things.
Yeah.. Let's go with "Pretend not to understand anything..."
It's bad either way. Do you know what level of detail people on the Federal Open Market Committee deal with? They don't make "mistakes" like this. She's either deliberately committing fraud, or she's not qualified to sit on the FOMC. Either way, she should go. Trump is right to fire her.
Matt has never been very good with financial stuff (this is why he calls in Saltzman and others). The level of miss and false narrative in this part is particularly hair-raising from the Corker Rolling Stone piece from 2017:
"In the first nine months of 2007, Corker made an incredible 1,200 trades, over four per day, including 332 over a two-day period.
When I asked Johnson about this, and asked if Corker was making those trades himself or through a broker, Johnson gave a curious answer.
“Soon after taking office in January of 2007, rather than continuing to have a broker make discretionary transactions on his behalf throughout the day or week on a wide range of stocks in various companies, the senator felt it would be prudent to eliminate this arrangement,” Johnson said. “The closing out of this arrangement would have added substantially to the number of trades normally made in the broker’s discretionary account.”
Johnson seems to be saying that Corker would have made substantially more trades if he had executed them through a broker. So, he didn’t. I can offer no commentary shedding light on what this means, except to say that at the bottom of all of this is the still-incontrovertible fact that Corker made a truly awesome number of financial transactions while in office."
As someone who actually is involved in this industry, I would add to Eric's point that it is meaningless to cite that the Freddie average was lower. It is just that, an average and without knowing if Cook was getting a higher rate to lower closing costs or knowing whether her rate was higher because she was putting less down or had a lower credit score or some combination of the two, one really can't draw any conclusion from the difference. The only useful comparison would be to see the Credit Union's rate sheet for the day she locked in including rates for both single family owner occupied and second homes. It is a sliding scale and the rate may have been close to the Freddie average if she were paying a point but if she was trying to trade a higher rate to reduce closing costs (out of pocket costs), it could easily match the rate she actually got. A lot of people do that- they will take a rate a half point higher to get thousands in credit to offset closing costs and thus out of pocket expenses. It is especially so in cases where they are trying to buy multiple properties in a short period of time. Oh, and mortgage fraud is a big deal. We had a banking crisis 17 years ago in part because of mortgage fraud, poorly underwritten loans, greedy Wall Streeters and others securitizing those loans, and bad government policy but a lot people lied about their income and other things to get loans for sure. And most of these loans, including the ones Cook got, are backed by the government through Fannie and Freddie Mac. That is why they come under Pulte's purview.
BTW, the CNBC piece is written not like a true journalist but like defense counsel for Cook. Like they are trying to create reasonable doubt in the jury, not trying to find the truth for the public. The Financial Times piece is also crap. OK, the Loan Estimate says vacation home. Show us the doc and what interest rate is quoted there. I would bet the discussion after that was what can be done to get a lower rate and someone asked if it was possible Cook might occupy the house and it was intimated that could yield a better rate. Instead we get a snippet of the document and defense counsel like spin from the Times. If the final docs said all said principal residence then the Loan Estimate is further evidence of the fraud.
The role of mainstream media, as they perform it, is absolutely, positively 100% anti-Trump, touting their authority to judge, while pretending to be objective. ABC and George Stephanopoulos hold a grudge. I don't go there for news, but for entertainment.
After the UN speech, they were apoplectic, bringing out the "hallowed" fact checkers, and feigning authority with a three- bullet format that they have fallen in love with. They had cute little Ginger Zee, weather babe, explain how "renewable" energy is 16% more efficient than fossil fuels.... Bull butter! I would be using it if it was 16% cheaper.
Trump at the UN reminded me a little bit of Ricky Gervais at the 2020 Golden Globes. "I don't care anymore, I don't"
Only Dave Chappelle can compete with Ricky for being the funniest SOB alive. Those two are without peer, comically.
But Trump is totally without peer in terms of the UN. No one has ever come close to his calling the weasels out for the little suck-ups they are. New sheriff in town.
🎯
Yes- they are propaganda arm of the Democratic party. I had to write more because I referenced the Loan Estimate that supposedly the Financial Times has seen. There is a lot of info on that and they only shared a tidbit and that is total BS. That is part of what we have been discussing here for years. So much of it is what they do not tell us about, cover up, or suppress. That is why I say show us the Loan Estimate (LE). We will learn a lot. There would likely be second one or more than one when the loan was changed to an owner-occupied residence. I am almost 100% sure that is the kind of changed circumstance that would require a new LE to be issued by law. Where is that one? It is total BS.
So, if the rates turned out to be equal, or unfavorable, would that erase her lying on the applications?
No, but it would be surprising.
So how many others will come under Pulte's review? Any members of Trump's cabinet or Republicans in Congress or the Senate? Can you give us an estimate for when we can expect the report(s)?
My commentary was on the reporting. I am sure if they find someone in the administration in the same circumstance, they will not be given the counsel for the defense treatment by the press.
Ah, what about ism surfaces, as we knew it would.
The only "ism" here is your partisanism.
Only a cultist partisan shill would read "...let's subject EVERYONE in power to the same checks that have apparently been applied thus far in what has the appearance of partisanism" as "....whataboutism."
Moron.
They invented “No Verification” loans just for that purpose
The criminal class in this country doesn't rob banks from the outside.
I said this at the time. The media's reporting was quite ridiculous. A tax representation and a mortgage application are completely different things, and telling the truth on one doesn't prove you didn't lie on the other.
Especially when the financial benefit of one lie is bigger than the other.
Yes. She lied on the document where the lie could help her get approved and get a lower rate. If she didn't lie on a document where she would gain nothing from the lie, so what! Journalists who portray this as evidence that she did nothing wrong are genuinely stupid, or highly partisan. I suppose they could be both...
True, partisan because they’re stupid.
Do you ever feel like the vast majority of stories here on Racket, on ATW, and so many on X and Substack are primarily stories related to extreme (insanely extreme) news media bias? Just imagine if they reported the news honestly, fairly, without the bias, without the transparent reality that anyone with their eyes open can see, that they are all working for the Democratic Party. What a wonderful world it could be. I'll say it again, Trump's win in 2024 was so much more significant than is generally recognized because American voters choose Trump despite the overwhelming news media bias against him and in favor of Harris, despite the lawfare, and the RNC ran open primaries, with debates, which Trump won fairly. But he's the threat to democracy?
A bigger question they're ignoring with great deliberation is where in the constitution are these "independent" agencies described? Which article? They speak as if it is axiomatic the fed shouldn't be subject to "political influences", yet aren't these the same people who constantly carp about "our democracy"? How is an incredibly powerful but completely unaccountable agency in any way democratic? That's the story they're really burying.
I am a real estate attorney who has been in practice for 30 years. I served as an expert witness at a trial involving mortgage fraud allegedly perpetrated during the run-up to the Great Financial Crisis. Federal mortgage fraud is not "fraud" in the usual sense because the government doesn't have to prove the "fraudster" benefitted from the "fraud" or that the "victim" relied on the "fraudulent" misrepresentation. All that must be proved is that the defendant made a material false statement in the course of procuring a loan. Stating in closing documents in successive transactions that the defendant intended to occupy the premises as his/her primary residence is a material falsehood, beyond fair argument. Lots of people went to jail for less in the aftermath of the GFC.
How many bankers, real estate attorneys, agents or others went to jail for more?
I agree. Did it happen? I haven’t seen the original docs.
Another example that laws apply only to peasants - not to the ruling class
The initial "ruling" was ridiculous. A TRO requires that the "injury" be irreparable
Being fired is not irreparable . (reinstatement, back pay etc)
And then the ruling class leaps to the defense of their own.
"luminaries" cry about FED "independence" - when the FED has always been a political animal.
The media throws out a smokescreen - "documents" that have nothing to do with the central
issue - did Cook make false statements on her mortgage application?
Again, if a peasant did that - they'd be in jail
This is the same playbook used to cover up the
Hunter laptop
US funded Biolabs in Ukraine
To discredit Ivermectin
to push the Covid "shots"
We also saw in America This Week today a clip citing Trump saying inject chlorine in your veins, which he never said.
Certainly. During a media briefing on April 23, 2020, then-President Donald Trump discussed the potential use of disinfectants, including chlorine bleach, against COVID-19. He asked whether disinfectants could be used "by injection inside or almost a cleaning" to target the virus in the lungs, referencing their effectiveness on surfaces.
However, he did not explicitly advise people to inject bleach or other disinfectants into their bodies.
When a reporter followed up, Trump clarified that he was referring to sterilizing an area, not injections, stating, "It wouldn't be through injection. We're talking about through almost a cleaning, sterilization of an area".
The next day, Trump claimed his remarks were sarcastic, meant to test the media's reaction.
But if this is your killer point against the corporate media, I have to question your awareness. Are you somehow under the impression that prior to Trump the corporate MSM was always deferential to Democrats or dedicated to the truth, and the truth only?
It’s been propaganda, all the way down, to answer your last question. Back in the day of Andrew Jackson, politicians would actually buy a newspaper, in order to push their agenda, as an example.
Absolutely. Not just politicians either. Yellow journalism, the Hearst papers, the NYT, etc. Essentially the same thing has been said about banks. Although they serve a different purpose in the same rotten system, "the best way to rob a bank is to own one."
It has also been stated (accurately) that Americans are probably the most heavily propagandized people on earth, and they don't even realize it. An old Cold War era joke comes to mind, in which an American sits next to a Soviet on a plane.
An American meets a Russian while sitting on a plane leaving Moscow for Washington D.C. The Russian, claiming to work for the Kremlin, states he is traveling to learn American propaganda techniques. When the American asks what those techniques are, the Russian replies, "Exactly," implying the American's own society is the epitome of propaganda.
innocent until proven guilty…buuuut, i don’t see how this isn’t mortgage fraud. and any sort of fraud is a “crime of moral turpitude.” lawyers are disbarred for this all the time. she’s not a lawyer, but her job at Federal Reserve requires public trust in a similar way.
the right thing to do would be to step out of the position, but that’s not gonna happen b/c Dems want to use her as a cudgel to hit Trump with—if he’d kept a low-profile this likely would’ve resolved with his preferred outcome. ugh.
It's only fraud when YOU do it, racist.
😉😏🤣
Now I am concerned that there is fraud here. Every 'fact' cited in these articles is complete bullshit. Take the mortgage rate: If you were looking at averages, the average in the state of MI or GA would be better, but still worthless. Mortgage rates are borrower specific (credit score, borrowing history, income level, property you're borrowing against, etc.), not set by a state average.
What she put on the disclosure forms is also useless. The only thing that matters is what is on the loan application. Ms. Cook has to know this. Has anybody checked state tax returns to see if she claimed homestead credits on both properties (I don't know about GA, but in MI homesteading gets you a nice property tax break)?
Purchasing two properties so close together (weeks?) would make claiming primary on both difficult to justify as an 'I forgot' mistake. All this is for a .25 point break on your mortgage rate.
In the past, a Fed Governor caught in outright fraud (have not seen the loan apps, so...) would have quietly resigned, thereby preserving 'Fed Independence'. It is Cook that has risked the institutional independence of the Fed, not Trump. For a .25% lower mortgage rate on one of the properties, just stupid...
GA is a homestead state, too. One receives a property tax break.
I thought that declaring two primary residences was tax fraud, and that tax fraud was more serious than lender fraud.
Fed governors serve at the pleasure of the president. Just because they are assigned terms means dick. The president has cause to fire ANYONE. He’s the fucking president. These activist judges are making decisions based on not a damn thing legally based. If anyone wants the real truth the Fed should be abolished. A country that doesn’t control its currency isn’t a country.
Please provide the statute or law where this is explicitly stated. That the President can decide who or who doesn't serve on the board of the Federal Reserve, a private institution.
A private institution created by Congress whose board members are appointed by the President and confirmed by the US Senate and is governed by statute seems private in name only. As for the citation, Article II of the Constiution
Whose board members sit for mandated 14 year terms. The President does not have the stated power to remove board members at will.
I guess we will find out from the Supreme Court.
Find it yourself. Go look at how the Fed was created and you tell me this isn’t a corrupt illegal enterprise.
If your reply was to me, you may have mistaken my views on the Fed, which are apparently the same as yours. Absolutely it's corrupt and illegal. By design.
If the allegations are true, that she LIED on her applications, that “would signal to the financial markets that the Federal Reserve no longer enjoys its traditional HONESTY AND INTEGRITY, risking chaos and disruption.”
This is very much a Fat Fanni type of problem. A prosecutor is required to have high character. How much more so a Federal Reserve officer?
Getting loan estimates for the property as a main residence (because that's loan she got), and as a vacation home just makes her look more guilty because the difference in rates between the two is right in front of her.
Cook, Adam Schiff, Letitia James, mortgage rate privilege must be a wink-and-nod thing shared by Dems.
LOL! Yeah because I'm sure if you audited every single member of Trump's cabinet, entourage, or member of Congress and the Senate you wouldn't find any examples of the exact same thing, or similar types of fraud - on both sides of the fake two-party aisle. LMFAO.
Just another day of ... "Rules for Thee (sucker!) but, not for Me!"