The Trump Organization Is Suing the Man Killed in the Trump Tower Fire
It seems not even mortality can stop President Donald Trump’s goons from coming to collect.
In a horrifying nexus of “death” and “taxes,” the Trump Organization is reportedly aiding the Residential Board of Trump Tower Condominium in a $90,000 lawsuit against Todd Brassner—the man who died six months ago when his Trump Tower apartment caught fire.
In court documents filed this week, attorneys for the Residential Board of Trump Tower Condominium argue that Brassner’s estate—now managed by his family members Aaron and Heather Brassner—owes $64,640.34 in unpaid condominium fees known as “common charges” and an additional $25,000 in “legal fees and expenses incurred” by the Residential Board. The suit alleges that Brassner defaulted on his common charges in 2015, and filed for bankruptcy later that year, resulting in a lien being placed on his apartment in May, 2018—more than a month after Brassner’s death.
What’s more, the Washington Post reports, the Residential Board of Trump Tower Condominium is working with an attorney from the Trump Organization itself, currently run by Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump—the president’s eldest sons. I have reached out to the Trump Organization for comment, and will update this story if they respond.
To make matters worse, Brassner’s apartment had no fire sprinkler system when he died, something one former safety official claimed was a result of Donald Trump’s direct opposition to the potentially life-saving feature being included in his property.
If going after someone for nearly $100,ooo after they’ve died seems cruel, it comes after years of reported feuding between Trump and Brassner, who allegedly had been trying to sell his Trump Tower apartment at the time of the fire, citing dropping property values after Trump’s election.
Trump reportedly once referred to his onetime resident as “that crazy Jew.” Brassner, for his part, believed that Trump was the “worst thing for our country” and a “terrible, lowlife human being,” a friend told the New York Daily News. Gonna go out on a limb and guess that if he was still alive, his opinion of the president probably wouldn’t change much.