Donald Trump's Other Removal Proceeding in Palm Beach

The Palm Beach Attorney Suggested That Donald Trump Can Live at Mar-a-Lago as a Club Employee

Since January 20, President Trump has lived at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida. However, Trump's neighbors contend that he is violating a 1993 covenant. It provides that members of the club cannot live there for more than three, non-consecutive weeks per year.

The use of guest suites shall be limited to a maximum of three (3) non-consecutive seven (7) day periods by any one member during the year.

I wrote about this agreement in December. On Tuesday, the Palm Beach Town Council held a hearing on whether Trump's residency was proper. Yes, as Trump was being tried in the Senate, his neighbors were trying to expel him.

The Times reports on the proceedings:

On Tuesday, as Mr. Trump's second impeachment trial began in the U.S. Senate, the Palm Beach Town Council met via Zoom to discuss if Mr. Trump was in violation of a 1993 agreement that allowed him to convert his Mar-a-Lago estate from a private residence into a moneymaking club.

Lawyers for preservationists and some of his neighbors argued that the agreement required Mar-a-Lago to operate as a social club that no one could live in.

"This issue threatens to make Mar-a-Lago into a permanent beacon for his more rabid, lawless supporters," Philip C. Johnston, a lawyer for the group called Preserve Palm Beach, said, referring to Mr. Trump.

The town attorney, John C. Randolph, opined that nothing in the agreement specifically prohibited Mr. Trump from using the property as his residence — if, as the club's president, Mr. Trump is considered a Mar-a-Lago employee.

"The language in the agreement regulating the use of guest suites to members for limited periods of time is not applicable to this situation," Mr. Randolph said.

The Town Council did not take a vote. But it was clear that members had no appetite to pick a fight with the former president, if he even wants to live here year-round. South Florida shows off in February, but less so in August.

"It does not appear to me that there has been a violation," said Margaret A. Zeidman, the council president.

It is not clear whether 2/3 of the Town Council is willing to convict and disqualify Trump.

Comments

[Dr. Ed 2]

And we tell the rest of the world that the new leader jailing the old leader is bad...

[grb]

Dr. Ed 2 : "And we tell the rest of the world that the new leader jailing the old leader is bad…"

Someone is asked to follow the covenant he made & that equals what? Biden jailing Trump ?!? Who can make out Ed's "logic" thru all his wailing victimhood tears.

Implicit in Ed's snit is this : The neighbors of Donald John Trump should be more generous. Well maybe that's true on Golden Rule grounds, but only just barely. After all, when has Trump ever treat anyone with generosity his entire life?

Today we learned Trump tweeted this on 06Jan:

“Mike Pence didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution, giving States a chance to certify a corrected set of facts, not the fraudulent or inaccurate ones which they were asked to previously certify. USA demands the truth!”

And he did so even knowing Pence was trapped inside a building overrun by rioters. The Secret Service hadn't yet secured the Vice President as one rioter read off Trump's tweet through a megaphone, and others called the Vice President a “traitor”, "bitch” and screamed “Mike Pence, we’re coming for you too, you fucking traitor!”. Soon they were chanting, “Hang Mike Pence!”

So yeah, it's really awful those neighbors are being rule-stickler meanies to poor Trump. Remind me to shed a crocodile tear or two over't.

[Dr. Ed 2]

All I am saying is that we are making Putin look honest.

[DaivdBehar]

Putin became the richest man in the world through phony lawfare. Make your second dollar, the police is investigating fraud and tax evasion.

[Zarniwoop]

Laches could be (probably is?) hard to show here: prior to becoming President, he said his residence was in NY, and during the presidency his residence was at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Not sure where in there he would have had a continuous 3-week+ stay at Mar a Lago that would start a laches clock, or give adequate notice that a cause of action had started to accrue.

It's possible, of course; I don't know what the facts on the table are. Before we go into speculation about the legal theories, it's good to assess the factual basis for the potential arguments.

But if he were to claim now that his long-term residence was really in Florida ... well, he might want to check with his accountants to make sure his old tax filings were in agreement with that. Handy impeachment (rimshot) evidence there.

[Zarniwoop]

argh, lack of edit function and reply-to-wrong-comment. apologies.

[DaivdBehar]

Democrats are really nasty. The remedy is a visit of the MAGA crowd to the homes of these snooty nasty lawfare Democrats.

[Bored Lawyer]

Gee, someone actually has to live up to a contract he agreed to. What a scandal.

[DaivdBehar]

All nitpicking, gotchas, and paper work crime allegations are phony lawyer lawfare. They should be criminalized with the same prison sentences as perjury. To deter.

The lawyer profession is the most toxic occupation in the nation. It must be crushed to save our nation.

[Bored Lawyer]

Yup. Making someone live up to their word is "nitpicking." You sound like you have the same lack of morals as your orange-haired hero.

[DaivdBehar]

Any legal utterance with a readability score above the sixth grade is lawyer rent seeking bullshit, unconscionable in procedure, and void. The same is true for any lawyer utterance with a Latin phrase, the language of the Catholic Church, prohibited in our secular nation.

[DaivdBehar]

Bored. I have mentioned the criminal law as the greatest failure of the lawyer profession, allowing billions of federal crimes a year, 15 million common law crimes, 5 million being violent. Nice job. Your profession stinks. There is no drop crime as the Democrat liars claim. It upgraded, as the rest of society has.

Another major failure? Contract law. No contract under $million is enforceable, because it will cost $50000 to hire the worthless rent seeking lawyer. When I sue the tech giants, I will be asking the judge to explain the content of the Terms of Use. No one on earth can understand them.

Compare to eBay. I will ship a CD for the winning bid of one cent. Why would I do that? Ratings. If I get 3 poor ratings, I get kicked off eBay, a multi-billion market. Low ratings drop bids in compensation for the risk of sending me money. Imagine the failed lawyer profession enforcing a promise of a CD for 1 penny.

Trump would have poor ratings on eBay, since he never pays a debt. In his book, he not only said that. He also hires all the local lawyers for one hour. You try to sue him to enforce the payment in the contract with Trump, all local lawyers refuse since he is a client. Only a fool would do any work or sell any property to Trump without advance payment. That reputation voids any contract Trump signs. Anyone contracting with Trump deserves the breach. Trump, as all NY real estate moguls, lacks the capacity to contract.

Stupidity is everywhere in contract law. It stopped evolving in the 17th Century.

[Queen Amalthea]

Notice the kinds of nuts Trump attracts? Yeah.

[DaivdBehar]

Hi. Queenie. You're funny. You lawyers believe minds can be read. The future can be foreseen. Standards of conduct should be based on a fictitious character with anxiety problems.

[Rev. Arthur L. Kirkland]

Mostly the same group the Volokh Conspiracy attracts. Life at the disaffected fringe is sad life.

[Krychek_2]

So just to be clear, you don't think contracts are enforceable? A simple yes or no.

[DaivdBehar]

They are enforceable above a $million controversy, where it becomes worthwhile to hire a lawyer for $50000. Then it takes years. Trump wrote in his 1984 book, he never pays a debt, hires all the lawyers of a town for 1 hour.

Compare to the effective eBay approach. I will keep my promise to ship a CD for the winning bid of 1 cent to get good ratings and to avoid beng kicked off eBay. No doubt eBay promises are 95% enforced. That is a remarkable track record for any human enterprise, and highly successful compared to the 17th Century technology of lawyer contract law.

[Jason Cavanaugh]

An Etch-A-Sketch in a washing machine would likely come up with more intelligible comments than your bullshit.

Hire a better ESL instructor, or just speak in your native Russian.

[Dr. Ed 2]

What exactly was the contract? As there is an exemption for employees, I'm thinking they didn't want lots of condos.

However, he can honor the 3-week rule by turning it into a resort for drunken college kids on spring break. I'm sure the neighbors would prefer that...

[Brett Bellmore]

Didn't you read above? The town's own attorney thinks Trump has the contract language on his side here.

[Krychek_2]

I don't care enough about this case to bother reading the contract and forming an opinion as to whether Trump is in breach. Assuming for sake of argument that he is in breach, I don't think claims that he's being persecuted are well founded. Contracts are either enforceable or they're not.

[Brett Bellmore]

Well, sure, assuming he's in breach, it's obviously not persecution. But when the town's own attorney says he isn't in breach, why assume he is?

[Queen Amalthea]

Brownshirts gonna brownshirt.

[Dr. Ed 2]

BLM = Brownshirts

[bevis the lumberjack]

You assholes need to stop that shit. The holocaust was a real thing with massive suffering, and you diminish it by comparing it to anything related to Trump.

[IPLawyer]

Funny, I've never seen you concerned with David Behar's posts where he suggests jews should be killed for whatever it is that bothered him that day.

[bevis the lumberjack]

Funny, I don’t read Behar’s posts because they’re mostly incomprehensible silliness and I don’t want to waste my time.

And the post you’re responding to was aimed both at Queenie and Ed, both of whom made the holocaust comparison. Which should offend any decent person. But defend it if it makes you feel better.

[apedad]

Erin Hawley (wife of Sen. Hawley), would like to have a word with you.

https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/erin-hawley-assault-home-attacks-family-civil-discourse

[Cal Cetín]

It seems that this petition against Trump is some neighbors who don't like him, and as is the practice in local government, they can get in front of their local government to air their grievances.

God bless America!

But the neighbors don't seem to have persuaded the local govt.

[rsteinmetz]

Trump has spent a lot of time in court over Mar-a-Lago, the neighbors have never liked him or his plans.

Things would have been simpler if the US Government had just accepted the gift of Mar-a-Lago for use as a isotherm white house, conference center and other stuff. The Government thought upkeep would be too expensive.

[Bill Poser]

Do individual residents of Palm Beach have standing to sue to enforce the agreement if, in their view, Trump is not allowed to live at Mar-a-Lago? Or does the decision of the town council settle the matter?

[DaivdBehar]

The town attorney found a loophole reply to the nitpicking by the neighbors. He is a good lawyer.

[Michael P]

Applying the plain language of a contract is hardly a loophole.

[Brett Bellmore]

On the contrary, it's the best sort of loophole, because you can demonstrate that it's actually permitted by the contract.

[Bill Poser]

My question is whether, regardless of the ultimate merits of the case, they have standing.

[Doug Heffernan]

Where can I get a job watching TV and playing golf that also includes free room and board? I've checked all of the major job sites but there are no listings.

[DaivdBehar]

You may do so after become the greatest President since George Washington.

[Brett Bellmore]

There are a number of jobs that allow for you to watch TV on the clock. Most of them involve being on call between moments of extreme danger, of course.

But, here's an idea: If you own the company, you can create the position of "chief TV watcher and golfer", and hire yourself for it.

[Bill Poser]

A friend of mine learned Arabic at the Defense Language Institute and was then assigned to an intelligence unit. His first job was to read the Syrian newspapers and take note of anything of interest.

[Darth Chocolate]

He is hardly a "guest". He owns the place.

All y'all need to grow up.

[Martinned]

Actually, a company owns the place. Trump is the (only?) shareholder in that company, but that doesn't mean he owns the property.

[DaivdBehar]

That's lawyer nitpicking. Lawyer nitpicking should be crime, punishable by the penalty for perjury, like 5 years in prison.

[DonP]

Gee, I guess Trump could just move out. Then tear down Mar El Lago, like so many others and move to Texas. Then get rid of the Heli Pads, Golf Courses, Luxury Condos etc. and replace it with some nice Section 8 housing. That might make the neighbors happy?

[Voize of Reazon]

Maybe the ex-President is an employee of the club and can live there, but without his Secret Service agents.

[ReaderY]

This was the outcome ReaderY predicted earlier.

It seems a very straightforward argument that an employee is not a guest.

[Martinned]

Because Mar-a-Lago is like Downton Abbey, where employees live at the property as a matter of course? I don't see why someone couldn't be both a guest and an employee. Being the latter has nothing to do with being the former.

[Per Son]

I am not sure why anyone really gives a damn about this. Not sure why it is news outside of the community nearby Mar-A-Lago.

But since everyone is guessing here, I'll toss in a guess. The neighbors want quiet solitude, and a big personality is the opposite. It only makes it worse that Trump's comings and goings create massive traffic issues due to road closures. I wouldn't be surprised if any well other known wealthy big-personality type would have received the same response.

[Per Son]

I'll also add that while many of his neighbors are likely Dems, the back and forths over the years happened when Trump was still a Dem and a big donor to Dem causes and politicians.

[y81]

No, Palm Beach is very Republican.

[Brett Bellmore]

I'd be hard put to conclude that from the election results.

In fact, the reason Palm Beach was one of the counties Gore asked for a recount of in 2000, was precisely that it was very Democratic!

[Ridgeway]

Does anyone know how long Trump has (allegedly) been in violation of this Agreement?

It would be ironic if he were able to prevail on laches grounds.

[Zarniwoop]

Laches could be (probably is?) hard to show here: prior to becoming President, he said his residence was in NY, and during the presidency his residence was at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Not sure where in there he would have had a continuous 3-week+ stay at Mar a Lago that would start a laches clock, or give adequate notice that a cause of action had started to accrue.

It’s possible, of course; I don’t know what the facts on the table are. Before we go into speculation about the legal theories, it’s good to assess the factual basis for the potential arguments.

But if he were to claim now that his long-term residence was really in Florida … well, he might want to check with his accountants to make sure his old tax filings were in agreement with that. Handy impeachment (rimshot) evidence there.