Elon Musk, CEO of X, came to Donald Trump’s defense after a judge ordered Trump to pay a fine exceeding $350 million.
In a query on X, Musk wondered who would be the recipient of the sizable fine, noting the lack of identifiable victims with losses stemming from the fraud case against Trump. The court’s decision did not specify to whom the money would be paid.
“Given that there were no victims with losses, who is supposed to receive the money,” Musk wrote in response to a tweet by Charlie Kirk summing up the payments ordered by Engoron.
The legal finding mandates that aside from the substantial financial penalty levied against Mr. Trump, his sons Donald Jr. and Eric Trump are each expected to pay $4 million. Allen Weisselberg, the Trump Organization’s CFO, has received an order to pay $1 million.
Perhaps equally consequential is the order issued by Judge Engoron that enjoins the former President from serving as an officer or director of any legal entity in New York for three years, effectively sidelining him from direct corporate leadership roles in the state’s businesses.
New York’s case, spearheaded by Attorney General Letitia James, accused Mr. Trump of grossly inflating the values of his assets, with instances of property value exaggerations playing a central role. The Attorney General alleged a consistent pattern of deceitful behavior to bolster the Trump business empire’s financial standing.
What sets this case apart, as noted by an analysis by the Associated Press, is that it is without precedent under New York’s fraud laws. No similar action has been taken against an accused entity’s overall business operations in New York’s contemporary legal history. The press observed that while there has been only 12 analogous cases in 70 years, each had concrete victims with financial losses, unlike in the Trump case where banks were repaid and no parties suffered quantified financial harm.
