Trump made Florida his official residence. He may have also made a legal mess.

[RandySF]

For nearly a quarter-century, President Trump has envisioned boats docking at Mar-a-Lago, his swanky club set on 17 acres of prime real estate in Palm Beach, Fla., that rambles across manicured grounds between the beach and the placid waters of the Lake Worth Lagoon and the Intracoastal Waterway.

Trump’s quest has, predictably, irked his wealthy neighbors, sparking one of those pesky territorial squabbles that occupy town halls and zoning boards in tony neighborhoods across the country. But the attempt by Trump and his legal team to squeeze through approval of his dock while the nation’s attention is trained on the coronavirus pandemic is now surfacing a potentially nettlesome problem for the president.

Digging into the catacombs of local records to build an argument against the dock, a small group of loosely aligned preservationists, disgruntled neighbors and attorneys have unearthed documents that they assert call into question the legality of Trump’s much-publicized decision late last year to change his official domicile from Manhattan to Mar-a-Lago and to register to vote in Florida using the club’s address. According to those documents, and additional materials obtained by The Washington Post, Trump agreed in writing years ago to change the use of the Mar-a-Lago property from a single-family residence to a private club owned by a corporation he controls.

The distinction is significant. The property is taxed as a private club — not as a residence, according to Palm Beach County property appraiser records. Trump’s own attorney assured local officials in Palm Beach before they voted to approve the club in 1993 that he would not live there. Mar-a-Lago’s website says only that Trump maintains “private quarters” at the club.


https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/trump-made-florida-his-official-residence-he-may-have-also-made-a-legal-mess/2020/05/07/17d53fb2-849c-11ea-878a-86477a724bdb_story.html

[lsewpershad]

1. But

he's God and above the law.

[mr_lebowski]

2. So Trump maybe loses one vote in Florida ... his ... hardly a big deal (nt)

[sop]

3. Yeah, only one...Melania probably won't vote for him.

[leftieNanner]

4. Don't Forget the First Bimbo

Wait. We don't know who she will vote for, do we?

[mr_lebowski]

8. Do we even know if she changed her address to FL too? (nt)

[leftieNanner]

9. Good question

I'm going to guess she's using her parents' house. I bet she mostly lives there anyway.

[Blue Owl]

5. He's definitely more FL than NY

If ya catch my drift...

[Tommy_Carcetti]

7. I beg to differ.

He's all New York, but New York in the way that Unauthorized Rip Off Times Square Elmo Predicting the End of the World is New York. That type of New York.

[sop]

10. As we say in S. Florida about these sharpies, "they honed their skills up in NYC, then come down

here to scam people."

[not_the_one]

13. I disagree with the broad brush painting, but NYC should have dealt with him decades ago.

They could have done it legally. Money laundering is money laundering, and they KNEW he was doing it. Apparently NYC can be bought (more than likely with $$rubles$$), too.

NOW the whole nation (make that WORLD) is having to deal with him.

[sop]

14. There's a particular type of New Yorker, usually involved in finance, real estate development or

as investment advisers, who relocates to Palm Beach, Broward or Miami-Dade counties to set up shop and ply their trade. It could be the sunny weather, no Florida state income taxes, lax state regulatory agencies, or the fact Florida is a well known debtors' haven. South Florida is crawling with them.

Over the years we've all read too many articles in our local papers about rich elderly widows being fleeced out of their life savings by unscrupulous financial advisers, stock brokers scamming their greedy clients', real estate developers selling overpriced condos to Russian mobsters, street gangs coming to Florida to buy guns to resell back in NYC, and a host of other sketchy stuff. More often than not, they come from NYC.

[RandySF]

11. Disagree

He's the racist store owner in the outer boroughs.

[leftieNanner]

6. The whole article is fascinating

And provides a very good vision into his way of doing "business".

I finally subscribed to the Washington Post ($29 for the first year) and I'm glad I did. Supports journalism and gets me through the pay wall.

Thanks for sharing this RandySF!

[greenjar_01]

15. Why is this in the "lifestyle" section. He literally committed voter fraud by voting from

a non-eligible address - and by mail, no less.

[dixiegrrrrl]

16. I had posted about that elsewhere,

and now here on DU. You are one of the few I saw that understood the voting issue.

The problem is, it will get buried in the virus/SCOTUS ruling.
Hoping maybe the Dems realize it is worth talking about in a day or two.