Donald Trump’s lawyers ask judge to clarify fraud ruling’s impact on ex-president’s business

By MICHAEL R. SISAK
Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — Does a judge’s fraud finding spell the end of Donald Trump’s real estate empire? The former president certainly seems to think so. He decried Tuesday’s ruling, shifting control of some of his companies to a court-appointed receiver, as the “KILL TRUMP” decision. But the judge himself isn’t so sure, telling Trump’s lawyers at a hearing Wednesday that he isn’t ready to discuss what the ruling — which strips Trump’s entities of their New York-issued business licenses — will mean for his company and the marquee properties bearing his name. Judge Arthur Engoron acknowledged that the “contours of the case has changed significantly,” but declined to elaborate on the real-world impacts of his fraud finding.