NEW YORK: Michael Cohen said during his congressional testimony Wednesday that Donald Trump grossly overstated his wealth before becoming president, including inflating his assets during a failed bid to buy the Buffalo Bills in 2014.
The claim raises questions about whether Trump could face even more legal trouble if, as Cohen said, he misrepresented his worth in applying for a loan to buy the NFL team.
Experts said a criminal case against Trump appears unlikely for several reasons. But Cohen’s latest assertions could affect the court of public opinion at a time when lawmakers are discussing the possibility of impeachment.
Trump was one of three known finalists in the bid to purchase the Bills in the summer of 2014 following the death of franchise founder and Hall of Fame owner Ralph Wilson. He lost out to NHL Buffalo Sabres owners Terry and Kim Pegula, who purchased the Bills for $1.4 billion. The third group was led by rocker Jon Bon Jovi that included two Toronto businessmen.
As part of his effort to buy the team, Cohen said Trump gave financial statements to Deutsche Bank in hopes of getting a loan.
The documents, which Trump provided to a House committee, said Trump’s net worth was $4.55 billion in 2012 and soared to $8.66 billion in 2013 because of the addition of a line item for $4 billion worth of “brand value“— essentially the value Trump placed on his name.
Cohen told lawmakers Trump inflated his wealth “when it served his purposes, such as trying to be listed among the wealthiest people in Forbes,” even as he deflated assets to reduce his real estate taxes.
He didn’t go into specifics as to how the financial statements provided to Deutsche Bank were inaccurate or offer evidence backing his assertion they were inflated.
Duncan Levin, a former federal prosecutor, said Cohen is accusing Trump of a crime similar to mortgage fraud, a common offense in which a home buyer lies about his assets to get a loan.
“What he is laying out is something that is not only criminal but the type of behavior that authorities investigate and prosecute every day,” Levin said. “It’s a bread and butter offense.”
If what Cohen said is true, he added, the president could be charged under federal law for wire and mail fraud or under New York state law for what is called “causing a false filing.” Such cases usually involve instances where the borrower gets the loan, but that isn’t required for all prosecutions.
The Trump Organization didn’t immediately respond to an email or call Wednesday seeking comment.
A Deutsche Bank spokesman declined to comment on Cohen’s remarks and would not say whether the bank has been contacted by law enforcement authorities.
The US Attorney’s Office in Manhattan declined to comment.
The statute of limitations— five years for most federal offenses — could preclude a prosecution. Trump could theoretically face criminal bank fraud charges if prosecutors could prove Trump intended to deceive with financial statements and that the bank relied on those figures, said John Coffee, a law professor at Columbia University.
Banks are skeptical of estimates of personal wealth, and Trump was well known for inflating the value of his assets. Trump once admitted in a deposition that his net worth calculations depend partly on “my own feelings.”
Brand value is part of what accountants call “goodwill” and is difficult to value. Companies frequently adjust goodwill because their estimates are so flawed. In 2017, publicly traded companies in the US admitted they overestimated “goodwill” by $35 billion, according to the advisory firm Duff & Phelps.
While Trump said he could get $4 billion for his brand, Forbes pegged the value at just $125 million two years later.
The financial statement provided to Deutsche Bank said Trump’s “Seven Springs” mansion and estate north of New York City was worth $291 million in 2012. His 2018 government ethics filing said it was worth between $25 million and $50 million.
Questions were raised about Trump’s seriousness and value as he campaigned to get the Bills, but Cohen, who served as Trump’s spokesman through the process, insisted Trump was intent on acquiring the franchise. He insisted at the time that his boss was worth $9 billion, citing Forbes estimates.
“There’s nobody more serious than Donald Trump,” Cohen said then.
His effort to buy the team included, according to some people who were involved, the creation of a fan group called 12th Man Thunder that pushed to keep the team in Buffalo amid speculation that Bon Jovi planned to move the franchise to Canada. One of the group’s leaders later said that Trump was secretly behind the creation of the fan group.
Depending on how much Trump sought to borrow from Deutsche Bank, it’s not clear the league would have approved Trump as an owner.
NFL rules require owners to control 30 percent of the team and have a debt limit of $350 million.
Trump submitted a non-binding bid for $1 billion. He also submitted a binding bid, though the value was never revealed.
Trump, following his failed bid, said on Twitter he “would have produced a winner” even though he “refused to pay a ridiculous price” for the franchise.
“The @nfl games are so boring now that actually, I’m glad I didn’t get the Bills,” Trump wrote. “Boring games, too many flags, too soft!“
Trump inflated his wealth in failed bid to buy Buffalo Bills: Cohen
Trump inflated his wealth in failed bid to buy Buffalo Bills: Cohen
- Trump lost out in his bid to buy the Buffalo Bills, with NHL Buffalo Sabres owners Terry and Kim Pegula purchasing the Bills for $1.4 billion
- Cohen is accusing Trump of a crime similar to mortgage fraud, says former federal prosecutor
UN agencies tremble as Trump term nears
- With just days to go before Donald Trump again enters the White House, anxiety is rising across UN agencies fearful he could wreak even more havoc than last time
GENEVA: With just days to go before Donald Trump again enters the White House, anxiety is rising across UN agencies fearful he could wreak even more havoc than last time.
During Trump's first term in office, Washington slashed its contributions to United Nations operations and agencies, stormed out of the UN Human Rights Council, exited the Paris climate accord and the education agency UNESCO, and began withdrawing from the World Health Organization.
But while Trump's first administration did not get to the harshest measures until later in the term, experts warn things could move faster this time.
"I don't think Trump is going to hang about so long this time," Richard Gowan of the International Crisis Group told AFP.
"He's likely to walk away from those UN mechanisms and arrangements that he boycotted before without much ceremony."
The United States remains the largest donor to the UN, which is already facing significant budget pressures, spurring palpable anxiety over the prospect of funding cuts.
UN officials have scrambled to emphasise the value of US partnership.
"The cooperation between the United States and the United Nations is a critical pillar of international relations, and the UN system," Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN chief Antonio Guterres, told AFP.
But the love is not always mutual.
Republican Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, whom Trump has tapped to become his UN ambassador, has described the organisation as "a corrupt, defunct and paralysed institution".
And fears abound that Republicans in Congress could push ahead with a bill calling to defund the organisation completely.
Jussi Hanhimaki, an international history professor at the Geneva Graduate Institute, played down that threat.
"The total exit is unlikely," he told AFP, suggesting that Washington would not want to cede the leverage it has within the UN system.
"The best argument against the US wholesale withdrawal is (that) China will... become more and more influential," he said.
During Trump's first term, China and its allies clearly expanded their influence in the bodies he left in Geneva, like the Human Rights Council.
Outgoing US ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Sheba Crocker, highlighted that "some of our strategic rivals are heavily invested in promoting their interests in Geneva".
That, she told AFP in an email, "is why I believe the United States will remain engaged, and why I believe it is in our interest to do so".
The exiting administration of Joe Biden has protected against another high-profile walk-out from the Human Rights Council, by opting not to re-apply for membership.
Hanhimaki suggested that the World Trade Organization might face "the most challenging times" to start with, pointing to Trump's focus on imposing tariffs on traditional foes and allies alike.
There is particular concern about funding for reproductive rights-linked programmes.
During Trump's first term, Washington cut funding to the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), which works to improve reproductive and maternal health worldwide.
"We're very worried," said Rachel Moynihan, deputy director of UNFPA's Washington office.
But the agency, which says US contributions allowed it to prevent 3,800 likely deaths during pregnancy in 2023 alone, is accustomed to seeing its funding cut during Republican administrations.
"We are a resilient agency," Moynihan told AFP.
Other agencies may be less prepared, with UN Women expected to be in the firing line, as was the UN rights office.
And word on the street in Geneva is that the new Trump administration aims to withdraw from the WHO on day one.
Suerie Moon, co-director of the Global Health Centre at the Geneva Graduate Institute, said that would be a mistake.
"Having a well-functioning, impartial WHO is very much in the US national interest," she told AFP.
Another withdrawal would certainly leave Washington with "a less influential voice", she warned.
The WHO has been seeking to broaden its funding base since the last debacle, but Washington remains its largest donor.
Asked last month about the threat, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters he believed the new administration would "do the right thing".
Moon said the WHO could clearly survive a US withdrawal.
"But it would be painful... The real question is, which priorities get downgraded, which programmes?"
And "what do other countries do on the finances?"
Last time Trump was in power, European countries rallied to keep targeted UN agencies afloat.
But the Europeans now have "made it clear that they do not have spare cash lying around... to ride to the rescue of the UN", said Gowan, of the International Crisis Group.
Agencies likely to see funding slashed are already mulling alternatives and cost cuts, observers say.
Hanhimaki said reflections on alternative sources of funding were healthy.
"It's quite foolhardy to rely upon a country that is politically volatile as your long-term source of funding."
UK’s Starmer arrives in Ukraine for security talks with Zelensky days before Trump is sworn in
- The British government says Starmer and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will sign a “100-Year Partnership” treaty in Kyiv
KYIV: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer arrived in Ukraine Thursday with a pledge to help guarantee the country’s security for a century, days before Donald Trump is sworn in as US president.
The British government says Starmer and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will sign a “100-Year Partnership” treaty in Kyiv, covering areas including defense, science, energy and trade.
Starmer’s unannounced visit is his first trip to Ukraine since he took office in July. He visited the country in 2023 when he was opposition leader, and has twice held talks with Zelensky in 10 Downing St. since becoming prime minister.
One of Ukraine’s biggest military backers, the UK has pledged 12.8 billion pounds ($16 billion) in military and civilian aid to Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion three years ago, and has trained more than 50,000 Ukrainian troops on British soil. Starmer is due to announce another 40 million pounds ($49 million) for Ukraine’s post-war economic recovery.
But the UK’s role is dwarfed by that of the United States, and there is deep uncertainty over the fate of American support for Ukraine once Trump takes office on Jan. 20. The president-elect has balked at the cost of US aid to Kyiv, says he wants to bring the war to a swift end and is planning to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin, for whom he has long expressed admiration.
Kyiv’s allies have rushed to flood Ukraine with as much support as possible before Trump’s inauguration, with the aim of putting Ukraine in the strongest position possible for any future negotiations to end the war.
Zelensky has said that in any peace negotiation, Ukraine would need assurances about its future protection from its much bigger neighbor.
Britain says its 100-year pledge is part of that assurance, and will help ensure Ukraine is “never again vulnerable to the kind of brutality inflicted on it by Russia,” which seized Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and attempted a full-scale invasion in February 2022.
The deal commits the two sides to cooperate on defense — especially maritime security against Russian activity in the Batlic Sea, Black Sea and Sea of Azov — and on technology projects including drones, which have become vital weapons for both sides in the war. The treaty also includes a system to help track stolen Ukrainian grain exported by Russia from occupied parts of the country.
“Putin’s ambition to wrench Ukraine away from its closest partners has been a monumental strategic failure. Instead, we are closer than ever, and this partnership will take that friendship to the next level,” Starmer said ahead of the visit.
“This is not just about the here and now, it is also about an investment in our two countries for the next century, bringing together technology development, scientific advances and cultural exchanges, and harnessing the phenomenal innovation shown by Ukraine in recent years for generations to come.”
Zelensky says he and Starmer also will discuss a plan proposed by French President Emmanuel Macron that would see troops from France and other Western countries stationed in Ukraine to oversee a ceasefire agreement.
Zelensky has said any such proposal should go alongside a timeline for Ukraine to join NATO. The alliance’s 32 member countries say that Ukraine will join one day, but not until after the war. Trump has appeared to sympathize with Putin’s position that Ukraine should not be part of NATO.
As the grinding war nears the three-year mark, both Russia and Ukraine are pushing for battlefield gains ahead of possible peace talks. Ukraine has started a second offensive in Russia’s Kursk region, where it is struggling to hang onto a chunk of territory it captured last year, and has stepped up drone and missile attacks on weapons sites and fuel depots inside Russia.
Moscow is slowly taking territory at the cost of high casualties, along the 600-mile (1,000-kilometer) front line in eastern Ukraine and launching intense barrages at Ukraine’s energy system, seeking to deprive Ukrainians of heat and light in the depths of winter. A major Russian ballistic and cruise missile attack on regions across Ukraine on Wednesday, and compelling authorities to shut down the power grid in some areas.
Bollywood star Saif Ali Khan out of danger after stabbing at Mumbai home
- Khan, 54, was “on path to complete recovery” after receiving stab wounds on his spine, neck and hand, doctors told reporters
- Khan was attacked just after midnight when he tried to stop the intruder, believed to be a burglar, from entering his apartment
MUMBAI: Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan was stabbed repeatedly by an intruder at his home in Mumbai on Thursday, but doctors treating him said he was out of danger after surgery.
Khan, 54, was “on the path to complete recovery” after receiving stab wounds on his spine, neck and hand, the doctors told reporters.
“He sustained a major injury to the thoracic spinal chord due to a lodged knife in the spine. Surgery was performed to remove the knife and also repair the leaking spinal fluid,” said Nitin Dange, one of the doctors operating on Khan.
Khan was attacked just after midnight when he tried to stop the intruder, believed to be a burglar, from entering his apartment in the upscale neighborhood of Bandra, police and local media said.
A female employee at the apartment was also attacked and was being treated, police said.
Among the country’s most bankable stars, Khan, 54, is the son of India’s former cricket captain Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi and actress Sharmila Tagore. He is married to actor Kareena Kapoor, and his daughter from a previous marriage, Sara, is also a Bollywood actor.
Police had identified the perpetrator and had launched a search for him, senior police official Dikshit Gedam told reporters. “The accused attempted to enter through a fire escape. It appears to be a robbery attempt,” he said.
Khan, who has featured in more than 70 films and television series, is a regular on the red carpet. He and Kapoor have two young sons and are one of Bollywood’s most well-known couples.
Khan has acted in several notable films and series, including Sacred Games, Netflix’s first Indian production, which released in 2018.
Film stars and opposition leaders called for police to beef up security measures in the city.
“If such high-profile people with ... security can be attacked in their homes, what could happen to common citizens?” Clyde Crasto, spokesperson of the Nationalist Congress Party, asked on X.
India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its allies won November elections in the western state of Maharashtra, the capital of which is Mumbai.
Actor and filmmaker Pooja Bhatt also called for a greater police presence in the suburb home to many in the film industry.
“The city, and especially the queen of the suburbs, have never felt so unsafe before,” she said on X, using a popular description for the trendy Bandra area.
US imposes fresh round of sanctions against Russia ahead of Trump return to White House
- Sanctions target Russia’s military industrial base and evasion schemes
- Congressional approval required to lift some sanctions on critical Russian entities
- China-based entities, Kyrgyzstan financial institution among targets
WASHINGTON: The United States on Wednesday imposed hundreds of sanctions targeting Russia, seeking to increase pressure on Moscow in the Biden administration’s final days and protect some sanctions previously imposed.
The US State and Treasury departments imposed sanctions on over 250 targets, including some based in China, taking aim at Russia’s evasion of US sanctions and its military industrial base.
As part of the action, the Treasury imposed new curbs on almost 100 entities that were already under sanctions, potentially complicating any future efforts to remove the measures.
Russia’s embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The Treasury in a statement said Washington was imposing fresh sanctions on almost 100 critical Russian entities — including Russian banks and companies operating in Russia’s energy sector — that were previously sanctioned by the United States. It said the move increases secondary sanctions risk for them.
The new sanctions are issued under an executive order that a senior Treasury official said requires Congress to be notified before any of the actions can be reversed.
Jeremy Paner, a partner at the law firm Hughes Hubbard & Reed, said the actions are “Trump-proofed,” preventing reversal of the additional sanctions without congressional approval.
“You can’t just with the stroke of a pen remove what’s being done,” he said.
Edward Fishman, a former US official who is now a research scholar at Columbia University, called it a “very significant action.”
“It protects these sanctions against sort of any frivolous decision to lift them,” he said. “It gives the new Trump administration more leverage with Russia.”
Trump’s transition team did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
It was unclear how Donald Trump, who succeeds President Joe Biden on Monday, will approach the issue of sanctions on Russia. Trump has been friendly toward Russian President Vladimir Putin in the past and said on Monday that he would aim to meet quickly with him to discuss Ukraine.
When asked about his strategy to end the war, Trump told Newsmax: “Well, there’s only one strategy and it’s up to Putin and I can’t imagine he’s too thrilled about the way it’s gone because it hasn’t gone exactly well for him either.”
Sanctions evasion scheme
Washington also took action against a sanctions evasion scheme established between actors in Russia and China, targeting regional clearing platforms in the two countries that it said have been working to allow cross-border payments for sensitive goods. The Treasury said several Russian banks under US sanctions were participants.
“China firmly opposes any illegal unilateral sanctions and ‘long-arm jurisdiction’,” Liu Pengyu, spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Washington, said in a statement.
“The normal economic and trade exchanges between China and Russia should not be interfered with or disrupted, and should not be used as a tool to smear and contain China.”
Also hit with sanctions on Wednesday was Keremet Bank, a Kyrgyzstan-based financial institution the Treasury accused of coordinating with Russian officials and a bank identified by the United States as circumventing sanctions.
Keremet Bank did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The US State Department also imposed sanctions on Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the largest in Europe.
The plant, located in Ukraine’s south east, was captured by Russia shortly after it launched the invasion in 2022. It is shut down but needs external power to keep its nuclear material cool and prevent a meltdown.
The sanctions will not affect its operations, Russian news agencies reported on Wednesday, citing the plant’s spokeswoman.
The Biden administration has imposed rafts of punitive measures targeting Russia over its February 2022 invasion of Ukraine that has killed or wounded thousands and reduced cities to rubble. Washington has repeatedly sought to counter the evasion of its measures.
Less than a week ago, the administration imposed its broadest package of sanctions so far targeting Russia’s oil and gas revenues in an effort to give Kyiv and Trump’s incoming team leverage to reach a deal for peace in Ukraine.
Speaker Johnson removes chair of powerful House Intelligence Committee
WASHINGTON: House Speaker Mike Johnson on Wednesday removed the GOP chairman of the powerful House Intelligence Committee, who was a vocal supporter of assistance for Ukraine and held other views that put him at odds with President-elect Donald Trump.
Johnson told reporters late Wednesday that Rep. Mike Turner, an Ohio Republican, would no longer lead the committee, which oversees the nation’s intelligence agencies and holds tremendous influence over law enforcement and foreign policy. During Trump’s first term, the committee became a hotbed of partisanship as its powers were used to assist the then-president. Johnson last year also gave two Trump allies highly-sought spots on the panel.
Johnson said he made the decision to remove Turner because the “intelligence community and everything related to (the committee) needs a fresh start.”
The Republican speaker, who has aligned himself closely with Trump, said he would soon announce the new chair for the committee.
Johnson went on to praise Turner and say he would play an important role in working with NATO. But Turner’s stances on foreign policy had run afoul of the incoming president, who will take the White House next week with a vision of reshaping the federal government’s intelligence and law enforcement capabilities. Trump has picked fierce loyalists to lead agencies with vast power for surveillance.
In a statement, Turner said: “Under my leadership, we restored the integrity of the Committee and returned its mission to its core focus of national security. The threat from our adversaries is real and requires serious deliberations.”
Turner last year also pushed back on Trump’s false claims that Haitian migrants in his Ohio district were eating pets.
Punchbowl News first reported that Turner had been removed as the chair.
The top Democrat on the committee, Rep. Jim Himes, in a statement called Turner “a serious, security focused lawmaker dedicated at his core to the national security of the United States and to the thoughtful oversight of the Intelligence Community.”
Himes added, “The removal of Chairman Turner makes our nation less secure and is a terrible portent for what’s to come.”
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Associated Press writer Farnoush Amiri contributed.
