Lawsuits have started surfacing against former President Donald Trump and his affiliated businesses following his indictment on charges of falsifying business records. New York City, MGM Resorts, and the District Attorney’s office for Manhattan have all filed suits against him in recent months. While the suits’ success rates remain uncertain, and no timeline for when the lawsuits will be resolved has been set, they represent the latest avenues for holding Trump accountable. In the case of New York City’s suit, which seeks to recover more than $166 million reimbursed to the Trump Organization for security services during Trump’s time in office, a bankruptcy judge recently appointed special counsel McKay Tanner to address questions of legal liability and damages. MGM, an owner of the Planet Hollywood casino near Trump’s marquee hotel undertakings on the Las Vegas Strip, has filed a lawsuit against him for breach of contract, alleging that the multiple guest suites that Trump referred to in a Washington Post interview as free to any members of Congress who stayed at his hotels were a “wholesale failure” to perform under contract. And the District Attorney’s office for Manhattan is seeking to recover money used for “personal and political purposes,” citing allegations from Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen and accountant Allen Weisselberg that Trump received millions in rent from the Trump Organization when he should have paid market value, along with Weisselberg’s cooperation with the investigation into top-tier executives. The recent criminal case against Trump relating to a said falsification of business records refers to hush money payments to porn actress Stormy Daniels and journalist Karen McDougal during his 2016 election campaign. If convicted against a Class E felony, which may include a sentence up to six years in prison and a $6,000 fine, Trump would be disqualified from seeking lawful reelection.
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