Reality tv host. And then however improbably, as candidate for the night and states. Trumps main asset, his Selling Point if you will, the reason were supposed to take him seriously, he was the successful leader of the Real Estate Empire that bears his name. But today, a judge in new york found that trumps Business Empire has built, in part, on rampant fraud. And the judge ordered the dissolution of trumps business is in the state of new york. Heres what he wrote. Ordered, any certificates filed by any of the entity defendants, or by any other entity controlled or been officially owned by donald j trump, donald trump jr. , eric trump, former Trump Organization cfo allen weisselberg, in trumps aviation controller jeffrey mcconney. Cancel. To put that in laymans terms, for now, the Trump Organization effectively has an outdoor order sign hanging on. At least in terms of its businesses in New York State. Which, again, in this moment, at this hour, is a fairly staggering development for the man whose entire reputation was built on his alleged business acumen. It is also not at all that this judge has decided. Because of this order, several of the crown jewels in trumps Real Estate Empire, the properties upon which he built his brand, those properties are now in limbo. The precise impact of todays ruling has yet to be seen. Trump could lose control of properties including trump park avenue, which is his luxury skyscraper in manhattans lenox hill neighborhood, he could lose control of 40 wall street, the historic tower trump owns in the financial district. He can lose control of his Seven Springs golf club in bedford, new york. Even his apartment in trump tower, the gilded bunker, and which he has sought refuge in his home city. Trump could lose control of that. Maybe even the golden toilet to. Todays ruling was not good, for mr. Trumps defense team. And the judge here, judge arthur anger on, the made very clear what he thought of the defense. Also, again, as part of his ruling. The judge accused the defense of Living In A Fantasy World not the real world he accused the defense of extra press conduct, and reliance on bogus arguments. And intentional in blatant disregard of Controlling Authority in law of the case. He admonished trumps legal team, and no uncertain terms, and wrote, sophisticated council should have known better. Again, not a great day for the trump defense. The Team Announced tonight, they plan to appeal this ruling, but for now, all of this looks like pretty good news for new York Attorney general, letitia james. His case against the Trump Organization is expected to officially go to trial on monday. Which is six days from today. Judge engoron, the same judge that accused trumps team of Living In A Fantasy World, he will be the Presiding Judge in that case. I love that trial, we are likely to find out the fate of trumps empire, whether he will lose control of his numerous properties, and whether he and his sons will ever be allowed to do business in New York State again. Joining me now, our laura jarrett, senior Legal Correspondent for nbc news, an investigative journalist, suzanne craig. One of the lead reporters in the New York Times pulitzer prizewinning investigation to trumps finances. Sue, laura, im so thrilled to have you. Help me understand, i read this ruling. Ive gotten slightly better at understanding, this one was tough for me. Im not gonna lie. Laura, i understood this to be a fairly devastating rebuke for trumps defense, is that how youre reading it . I think the plain language, the scathing language, in particular, the judge seems angry that his words werent taken seriously. Overt over, get essentially telling them, i warned you about these arguments last time. And yet, you continue to make them. Theyre borderline frivolous. So much so, he has ordered sanctions against the lawyers. This is not something you see often. The judges clearly so angry about what he calls glaring misrepresentations. Thats an embarrassing thing to receive as an attorney. You never want to have that associated with your name. In defiance of 75 . People who signed on to the briefs that he said were borderline frivolous. I think the question mark, i think, for what susan i have been talking about, what is the practical implication of having a Business Council . For all intents and purposes, the judge that is going to be trying this case, clearly has strong feelings about the defendants. In their arguments. Which does not bode well for what is supposed to go to trial on monday. Whats left of this case. Yeah, i mean, if im trumps defense, im not excited about monday. Given that this is what we got from the judge today. Its not a jury trial, by the way, its from the bench. The guy who had it today, the judge, hes the decider, hes there to decide the rest. How are you, again, theyre a lot of questions. The wording there about, in our script as i read, that its very careful. Its for now, its an out of order signed hanging on the trump i want to be careful about that. There can be immediately be appeals. Thats the first one, of course, hes going to appeal it. There is going to be a receiver put in. A receiver to control the assets . Right. Its going to be in the interest of, i think, in the short term, for those properties to do well. Were not done all of a sudden see an immediate sailor anything like that. Theres gonna be, if there is a sale, if thats what result, its gonna be a very controlled sale. Potentially, the proceeds of the sale, of, say the Commercial Area of trump, Seven Springs, the estate that he owns, or the golf courses, could go as discouragement to play whatever fine, ultimately happens at the end of the court case. Can we talk about that for a second . Discouragement, i got caught up in. That effectively, Laetitia James is calling for two and 50 million. A lot of money. A huge question about how liquid trump is at this stage. And weather, to your point, he may need to sell off some of these properties, is that right . If, in fact, the judge rules in favor of Laetitia James. I think if the end of, it we keep rolling, theres appeals, we could very well see the sale of some of his new york assets that, potentially, could go to pay for things paying the fine. Which is a huge fine. Its a massive fine. Its not tax deductible. Its not a good day. Were not heading towards a moment now where, oh, that fine wont be to 50. It might be 100. This was devastating today. He was found liable on the fraud stuff. The main charge, gonna be some other trial, likely will start monday. Theres one legal maneuver coming this week. That we could expected to go ahead monday. And theres gonna be other things, that are going to be adjudicated. The main one was that fraud charge. Thats done. To the question of what practically happens to the businesses, laura, it seems like a very real possibility that the trumps will not be allowed to do business in the state of new york evergreen. Yeah how are you reading this sort of tea leaves in this as it pertains to that ultimate question . Well, i think thats part of why this was always the Wildcard Case for the business in the family. Theres been obviously so much focus on the four criminal indictments. And for good reason. The criminal cases. This is a civil case. This is not about jail time. But it is about the business, the reputation, the family steak. An interest in something that clearly was important to them. Look. If youre a lender, reading this, is this a business that you want to engage with anymore . And perhaps they already have reputational risk. And their point, all along, look, you shouldve done around due diligence. You shouldnt have relied on our statements of financial condition. You shouldve dug in for yourself. Truly, if youre a lender, looking at. This is a business that you want to engage with . Well, lets talk about the statements of financial condition. All along, this is the juicy part of the discussion, truly is, this is the thing upon which so much of trumps defense rests here. The statements of financial condition, they are not independently audited. They are meaningless. In the judge today ripped that argument apart. I think he says, the defendants reliance on these worthless disclaimers is, in and of itself, worthless. It was incredible. The hearing for what came today was on friday. I was there for. It just to hear trumps lawyers at the beginning actually both sides felt like they started with the phrase, we feel like weve walked through the looking glass. It was really, like a house of mirrors. The way they were just going through all the reasons why these Financial Statements were worthless. They were caveats on them. Well, just a lot of variation. The banks to their own due diligence. Themselves. They submitted all these documents, knowing, these were just a little bit off. This was something that is maybe worth 20 million, he said its worth 150 million. At one point, the judge, and it we all shouldve seen this coming, the judge, i dont want to paraphrase, it was so good. He was so angry, he started pounding on his desk and looking at the Trump Lawyers he said. You cannot make false statements and use them in business. Thats what this statute prohibits. He was furious. Just shut up. There is no gray area for him. No, he was really angry. They had all these excuses for why these Financial Statements were essentially worthless. I think the main one, the banks do their own due diligence. Will you still submit to them as a document to a financial institution, in other cases insurance companies. There are rules about that. Thats what the judge was saying. He was four years. That portends very poorly for what else needs to be resolved in this trial on monday. Its part of why, again, the fact that its a civil case, makes a difference here. The bar is lower. The judge makes it clear, intent is now required. Materiality, meaning, it actually matter to the party, so, the question is, well, if the lenders and the banks werent upset, they didnt sue, they dont have any damage, the judge has none of that actually matters. The purposes of just the plain vanilla fraud case, you dont need any of. That now, you may need it for some of the other claims that are actually going to trial on monday. As for just, that all you needed was that there were false representations, and thats it. Its a great point. In this case, you think of a normal trial, who are the victims, the bags in this case, the loans actually performed. Theyre not that was the case trump is making. Nobody lost any money, with the problem here . Well, it doesnt matter. Shut down by the judge. I would ask, laura, there are outstanding appellate issues here. Can you talk a little bit about the parallel avenue that trump is pursuing to get out of . This sure. Thats the right. They can try to appeal this. One whos to say, you know, what a panel do. Theyve tried another avenue, to try to go after the judge. Personally. And theyre suing him. Well see how that turns out. Does it look at where he so far as a strategy thus far. Well, you can correct me if im wrong. It seems like this is all speed to go on monday. It feels that way. Donald trump is suing the judge, he did this before fridays hearing on this. He knew. I wouldve been dissipated this. He anticipated something wasnt gonna go his way. Now, the Appellate Court, hes asking for one of it was, just more time. The time is limited. Thats how the court, in terms of what cases could potentially be looked at. The timeframe, and what fell where. I know i dont see the Appellate Court now, making predictions. We love. That very careful. I dont see this is gonna get moved. Unless you get a, state this is going full bore. Assuming the suing the judge rule personally, and right of the ruling that just handed down. I mean, i dont know legally, politically speaking, in terms of a clash of personalities, not a wise move, given the judge giving ruling from the bench on monday. I think he knew this is gonna be a loss. He knew that and not much to lose in terms of, i dont think it wouldve made much of a difference. Like, i think he knew something was coming. And he wants the Appellate Court to rule that the judge should be removed. I will ask you, because you followed this case so exhaustively for years now. Is this, i mean, could this be the sort of finale for the Trump Organization that were looking at right here . I said could, i did say it will. Given the gravity of whats at stake here . Im gonna say, first of all, obviously, its not good. I left work, i work for the New York Times for 15 minutes. You know when you come over here past any buildings that of trumps on the name on it, he does have significant assets here. But a lot of his businesses is conducted outside of the state. Thats important. Business includes largely golf courses. Elsewhere in the country. And other properties. I dont know if the majority is open, i see the majority of his not in new york. So, he still has assets that he can sell, if theres a fine that comes from this. Hes also, you know, i think smartly, from his point of view, switched his lending. So his lenders were anticipating this. His loans have been moved to institutions where this is baked in. I dont know. I think were also, and this is, again donald trump for a long way from the end. Theres gonna be appeals, theres gonna be for, now receivers gonna come in, theyre gonna be stewards of these properties. May one day be sold, i think were a long way from. That just important people know that. Its a big headline today, still a lot. Perhaps the end of one chapter. And a longer saga, and i thank you for being narrators for all of this. My friends. Laura jarrett, sue craig, thank you both for your wisdom and thoughts. We have much more still ahead this evening. Including the ex president s latest legal brief, claiming that he has not intimidated anyone. As he threatens prosecutors and flirts with buying a gun. That is still ahead. First, why dont you resign, sir . Senator . Im innocent. Why were the gold bars there . Why were there gold bar . s a least 24 senators are now calling for their colleague from new jersey to resign. Michelle goldberg is here on that. Coming up next. Up next upbeat music [narrator] what if there was a hearing aid that could keep up with you . Notification Dings this is jabra enhance select. Its a Smart Hearing Solution that makes hearing aids more convenient and less expensive. It connects with your phone so you can stream calls and music. With jabra enhance selects premium package, better hearing doesnt have to start in a doctors office. It starts with a free online hearing test you could take almost anywhere, so you can get your Hearing Aids Custom Programed for you and delivered in days. From there, you can fine tune your settings with your remote Audiology Team seven days a week, so your hearing aids work when it matters most. Notification Dings in fact, more than 95 of enhance select premium customers report hearing better with their friends, family, and colleagues. With jabra enhance select, you can get the same advanced Hearing Aid Technology and professional care you expect from a clinic at a fraction of the cost. Try at risk free for 100 days. Visit jabraenhance. Com. [music this little light of mine] in the worlds poorest places, children with cleft conditions live in darkness and shame. Theyre shunned, outcast, living in pain. You can reach out and change the life of a suffering child right now. A surgery that take as little as forty five minutes and your act of love can change a childs life forever. Please call, scan or go online to give a new smile. Thousands of children are waiting. My name is caron and im from brooklyn. I work for the city of new york as a police administrator. I oversee approximately 20 people and my memory just has to be sharp. I always hear people say, you know, when you get older, you know, people lose memory. I didnt want to be that person. I decided to give prevagen a try. My memory became much sharper. I remembered more ive been taking prevagen for four years now. Prevagen. At stores everywhere without a prescription. The power goes out and we still have wifi ive been taking prevagen for four years now. To do our homework. And thats a good thing . Great in my book who are you . No power . No problem. Introducing stormready wifi. Now you can stay reliably connected through Power Outages with unlimited cellular data and up to 4 hours of battery backup to keep you online. Only from xfinity. Home of the xfinity 10g network. Every day, businesses everywhere are asking is it possible . With comcast business. It is. Is it possible to help keep our Online Platform safe from cyberthreats . Absolutely. Can we provide health care virtually anywhere . We can help with that. Is it possible to use predictive monitoring to address Operations Issues . We can help with that, too. With the advanced connectivity and intelligence of global secure networking from comcast business. Will you run for reelection, its not just possible. Its happening. Sir . As i said, im here to do the work of the people of new jersey. Why wont you resign, sir . Because im innocent. Whats wrong with you guys . Why were there gold bridge there . Democratic senator, bob menendez, trying to get the Elevator Doors to close as quickly as possible today. Telling reporters he will not be resigning, even though he fac