New Jersey threatens to revoke Trump’s golf clubs’ liquor license after conviction

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New Jersey’s liquor regulator is demanding that Donald Trump’s golf clubs in the state prove they are eligible for a new liquor license after the former president was found guilty of falsifying business records.

The hearing, scheduled for July 19, about a week after his conviction in the hush money trial, was requested by the New Jersey Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control, which concluded that Trump has a “direct economic interest” in at least two liquor licenses, the New Jersey Attorney General’s office said.

Under New Jersey law, anyone convicted of a crime “involving moral turpitude” is prohibited from holding a liquor license. Liquor licenses must be renewed by July of each year.

Moral turpitude is a legal term that, in the broadest sense, refers to deviant, immoral behavior that would be unacceptable by social standards or that would shock a community.

The Trump National Golf Club Bedminster and the Trump National Golf Club Colts Neck are owned by the Trump Organization, which is currently run by Trump’s adult sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump.

But the alcohol regulator said its review found that the former president was “the sole beneficiary of the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust” – the financial institution that allows him to retain assets and own his businesses.

Now the golf clubs must prove to the state by a preponderance of evidence that they are qualified to maintain their licenses.

In May, a jury found Trump guilty on 34 counts of falsifying business records for falsely reporting payments to his former lawyer Michael Cohen in 2017.

Trump claimed that the payments, totaling $420,000, were part of a nonexistent attorney’s fee. In fact, they were reimbursement of hush money Cohen paid to a porn star to buy her silence before the 2016 election about an alleged affair between her and Trump.

Because the New Jersey Liquor Commission questions the validity of liquor licenses, it may view falsification of business records as morally reprehensible.

Currently, the golf clubs’ liquor licenses are held by LLCs and signed by Donald Trump Jr.

But those LLCs are listed as assets in Trump’s revocable trust, according to a 2018 document.

Until a judge makes a final decision, the Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control said it would allow two golf clubs to operate with temporary licenses, otherwise those would have expired on June 30.