Banks and insurance companies that would prefer to keep their business dealings with Donald Trump under wraps aren’t happy that a judge ruled that he wouldn’t seal records in the run-up to the New York Attorney General’s upcoming trial against Trump. Via the Daily Beast:
A handful of firms associated with Trump made a last-ditch effort to hide documents that detailed the way they unwittingly became part of the Trump Organization’s alleged scheme to inflate assets. But the judge, Arthur F. Engoron, ruled that—aside from information like the home addresses of certain employees and bank account numbers—the public has a right to see the documents and communications.
[…] But with that trial around the corner, the companies that kept lending him hundreds of millions of dollars for business deals are trying to quietly slink away into the shadows—and hide the paperwork that shows how they played along.
Zurich American Insurance Company, WSFS Bank, Ladder Capital and others earlier this month asked the judge overseeing the case to seal documents that detailed the way they communicated with the Trump Organization while they evaluated its assets.
It’s very sad, isn’t it? After all, they were making their sketchy deals with Trump in private. Shouldn’t it stay that way?
On Tuesday afternoon, Judge Engoron said he’d allow the companies to hide personal information, but he sided with the AG that most of the documents should stay in the open.
“Here, the non-parties have failed to demonstrate a compelling interest in favor of wholesale sealing that outweighs the public’s right to access and the presumption in favor of open judicial proceedings,” Engoron wrote.
Couldn’t happen to a better bunch.