Comments by "" (@hewitc) on "Trump’s Civil-Fraud Trial, Explained: What’s at Stake? | WSJ" video.

  1.  @Hyperpandas  By law, it can only be used as a "club", a restaurant. It has seasonal business (closed all summer) and has extremely high operating expenses to maintain the landscape and the old landmarks. Even with the dues it would be almost impossible to get a fair return on an $18M investment. Selling it as a private residence is now impossible.
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  2.  @gerretoutdoors3710  Liable is for civil cases. Guilty is for criminal. Liable=pay $ damages. Guilty= Go to jail
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  3. So your clients are all crooks? Does the IRS have your name and number?
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  4. Fraud?
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  5. He could market "Trump Depends"
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  6.  @Hyperpandas  And it's closed for one quarter of the year during the summer. Florida ocean front weather entails constant repairs, painting, AC replacement, restoring damage to landscape, plus maintaining anything that is landmarked. Irrigation bills for the lawns can be $50K/month. All that to sell lunch and dinner (closed Mondays too), spa fees and periodic events. Trump didn't pay anything close to $18M so he may be break even on his investment, but it's probably a drain. Someone coming in paying $18M or more? How could that be a good way to use your money. And it is impossible to make this thing a huge Billionaire's Palace due to all the permanent legal restrictions.
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  7.  @jeffsimpson1421  defamation is a civil offense. Money damages, not jail time is the penalty
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  8. You know nothing about this property. It's worth $18M because it is permanently legally restricted to be a commercial restaurant. You cannot sell the property as a private residence. Too bad. Trump signed away that right for $millions in tax breaks years ago. Another bad business decision. @alexbowman7582 
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  9.  @SoCalRocs  see my comment on the legal impossibility of selling this as a residence and getting even $18M for it.
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  10.  @6j6666  He paid $10M for a property that no one else wanted. The seller tried to give it to the federal and state governments. Both declined because of the high maintenance costs. Trump bought a White Elephant. He tried to get rid of it by subdividing it and selling off the lots-- it wasn't allowed by the Town. It's a landmarked property. Trump couldn't afford to maintain it as a private residence so he converted it into a restaurant business that he styled a "Club" even though it is not a Club like the others in Town that are owned by the members. He was required to give free memberships to anyone living in the homes adjacent to the property. The membership flows with the deed. Then he permanently deeded to the National Trust the right to ever use MAL as a residence, in exchange for Millions in tax breaks. Permanently, so it can't revert to a private mansion. The golf course is on a property leased from the County, next to the airport. So that can't be sold as realty. The golf course lease allows the airport to use the air space directly over MAL for its jets. If you are at the Club (and the homes surrounding it) you hear the frequent roar of jets traveling overhead. Not ideal for a residence or even a club. You can feel the rumble from the planes and silverware rattles. This is all from The Palm Beach Daily News coverage of MAL (and personal knowledge)
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  11. Russians cannot vote here, so no
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