One prediction I can unequivocally make for the year 2025, should the worst happen and Donald Trump somehow gets reelected to office: the United States government will be run by Trump’s golf buddies. That’s an absolute. You can take that one to the bank. How can I be so sure? Simple. Everybody in Trump’s world, whether we’re talking about Dan Scavino, his social media director and former Deputy Chief of Staff in the White House to the “expert witness” you’re going to meet next, are golf people. Scavino was his caddy, Gary Giulietti, who took to the stand Friday in the Trump Organization Fraud Trial, is a golfing buddy.
Trump does not conduct business, as you and I understand that term, but he bullshits a lot on the golf course. And granted, many a corporate deal has been either hatched or consummated or both on the golf course and then celebrated later over cocktails and dinner at the club. There’s nothing unusual about that. But in the superficial, pretend world of Trump, the only reality is playing golf and whatever conversations or dreams take place there, that’s as real as it gets. The two met on the course, and Giulietti got involved on some level in Trump world and now he’s an expert on how the world of insurance works and how it wronged Trump. And so he appeared Friday on the witness stand in the Trump Organization fraud trial.
Apparently, Giulietti is here to talk about insurer Zurich’s business with the Trump Org. Zurich underwrote a surety bond program for the Trump Org. from 2007 through 2021.
— Stewart Bishop (@stewartbishop) November 17, 2023
Engoron’s comment arose out of Amer attempting to assess Giulietti’s credentials and Giulietti sniping back, “You’re sort of insulting me, aren’t you?” Odd that he would even feel that way, if he was legitimate. Courts of law are one place where a witness’s credentials are vetted and everybody understands that going in. In any event, things moved along.
The judge seems to be satisfied with Giulietti's credentials.
"I think I understand all of that, you put together the deal, and [the carriers accept it] or they don’t," Justice Engoron says.
— Stewart Bishop (@stewartbishop) November 17, 2023
Lockton “tee[s] up the result so it's…acceptable to the carrier,” Giulietti says. “We are doing the underwriting, they end up taking the risk.”
— Stewart Bishop (@stewartbishop) November 17, 2023
Giulietti says Lockton does business with the Trump Org.
“We place all the property coverage, all the casualty cover coverage,” he says.
— Stewart Bishop (@stewartbishop) November 17, 2023
There you go, friends. This is one of Trump’s golf buddies and he’s here to defend him in that capacity. Or something. It is worth nothing here that one of the attorney general’s claims is insurance fraud. Michael Cohen testified that two reasons existed for the doctored books: 1. obtain lower insurance rates for Trump businesses with insurance companies; 2. obtain lower taxes with the IRS.
This Giulietti guy is perfect for Trump. They both are narcissists with impressions of possessing unique abilities. Here’s an amusing clip from Raw Story, where Giulietti accuses Zurich Insurance Company of using “airballs and witchcraft.” Is he sure that’s not “hairballs?” I’m just thinking that cats are always hanging out with witches and as insane as this testimony has been, seems to me this is the next logical step downward, is to talk about hairballs. I’ll bet the judge wouldn’t bat an eye, he’s used to this by now.
A testy expert in Donald Trump’s $250 million civil court trial testified Friday that an insurance company’s scrutiny of Trump Organization finances amounted to nothing more than hocus-pocus, reports show.
Trump’s reported business partner and golf buddy Gary Giulietti, called as an underwriting expert, cast doubt on oversight provided by Zurich Insurance Group, according to ABC News.
“Airballs and witchcraft,” Giulietti reportedly said of their due diligence efforts.
Giulietti argued Zurich’s underwriter was wrong to rely on Trump Organization assurances that its $6 billion valuation was based on appraisals, as she testified she’d done in a deposition.
“They should have asked if they wanted it,” Giulietti said.
He also questioned the Zurich group’s policy of relying on media coverage to assess value, according to a Law360 reporter covering the trial Friday.
When state attorney Andrew Amer challenged the credentials of the witness, Giulietti spat back, “You’re sort of insulting me, aren’t you?”
Giulietti told the court, “There’s no one like me in the industry,” but later apologized, saying the statement that was, “Not my style.”
I can’t wait to see who Trump’s lawyers call on Monday. Trump and this case are on a hell of a roll here. Straight to defeat.
Your honor…I’d like to call the devil to the stand. He can verify everything Trump says is the truth.