Due to a Freedom of Information Act request, the Securities and Exchange Commission has just released information pertaining to their 2001 civil fraud investigation of Trump's hotel and casino business. The charge was that the company manipulated their earnings report, which:
excluded a one-time expense but included an unusual gain of $17.2 million, which it didn’t disclose on the release. That allowed the firm to beat analysts’ estimates for its earnings, the SEC’s order said
The defense from Donald Trump was that the SEC should be kind to the company Because 9/11.
“I have been working very diligently to bring this company back from a very difficult time, especially since the tragedy of September 11,” Mr. Trump wrote in a Dec. 11, 2001, letter to the three SEC commissioners.
I'm not sure if this is more damning information about Trump, forever shameless when caught breaking the law to gain a business advantage, or the SEC, which appears to forever be settling these cases lest the companies they're supposed to be policing suffer the economic damage of being caught. Because yes, the case was settled with a promise that Mr. Trump's company would refrain from doing the Bad Thing in the future, no further penalties assessed. Whether it was Because 9/11 is unknown.