FILE – Former President Donald Trump greets supporters and sign autographs during the final round of the Bedminster Invitational LIV Golf tournament at his golf course in Bedminster, N.J., Aug. 13, 2023. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)
The office of the New Jersey Attorney General (NJAG) office decided not to renew liquor licenses at Donald Trump’s golf clubs in the garden state following the former president’s felony conviction. Two Trump golf clubs had licenses that expired on June 30, and unless the former president successfully appeals the NJAG’s decision, the clubs are likely to be without permission to serve alcohol in the near future.
In early June, the NJAG’s office was reportedly taking a closer look at the Trump liquor licenses. In response, the Trump Organization boasted that the golf courses’ liquor licenses were not in danger, because Trump himself was not an officer or director of any entity that holds a liquor license in the Garden State or anywhere else in the United States.
It now seems that the Trump Organization may have been premature in declaring its lack of concern. A NJAG spokesperson said, “A review by ABC indicates that Mr. Trump maintains a direct beneficial interest in the three liquor licenses through the receipt of revenues and profits from them, as the sole beneficiary of the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust.”
Under New Jersey state law, a person who has been “[c]onvicted of a crime involving moral turpitude” may not have any interest in or work a business that has a liquor license without applying for a “rehabilitation permit” to allow them to get the license back. Although the law does not specifically list which crimes fall into the “moral turpitude” category, the phrase typically refers to a wide range of laws that “shock the public conscience,” ranging from crimes of theft or violence to those involving intentional dishonesty. “Crimes of moral turpitude” can be either misdemeanors or felonies as the distinction does not center on the severity, but rather, the nature of the underlying misdeed.
A spokesperson for the New Jersey Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) said that the division, “has an obligation to maintain integrity in the alcoholic beverage industry in the state.”
For the present time, both Trump National Golf Club Colts Neck LLC and Lamington Farm Club LLC in Bedminster, are operating with interim permits, which allow the facilities to continue serving alcohol until a hearing on the renewals is held.
Trump’s 34-count conviction for falsifying business records to conceal a $130,000 hush-money payment to adult content creator Stormy Daniels could very well meet the definition of “a crime involving moral turpitude” for purposes of license renewal requirement.
Trump can still contest the denial of renewal for the liquor licenses at a hearing scheduled for July 19. At the hearing, the former president would have the burden to demonstrate by a preponderance of the evidence that his golf clubs remain qualified to maintain licensure.
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