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Donald Trump’s New York criminal conviction could potentially prevent two of his New Jersey golf clubs from participating in the lucrative business of serving alcoholic drinks.
The state’s Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control has told the Trump Organization that it will not renew liquor licenses for the Trump National Golf Clubs in Bedminster and Colts Neck, both of which expire on Sunday. The company must make the case for a renewal in a July 19 hearing, though both properties can continue serving alcohol until then under a temporary permit.
New Jersey law bars liquor licenses for “any person who has been convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude.” Kirstin Krueger, the interim director of the agency, said in a letter to the Trump Organization that the former president’s hush money conviction “raises concerns as to whether this licensee remains qualified to hold said license.”
A third Trump golf club in New Jersey, the Trump National Philadelphia, renewed its license on June 3, days after a New York jury found Trump guilty on 34 felony counts.
The presumptive GOP nominee is potentially facing far more severe consequences for his conviction, to be sure. Trump’s July 11 sentencing could result in time behind bars, probation or a conditional discharge. But his criminal conviction has the potential to affect aspects of his sprawling business empire too.
New Jersey’s attorney general, whose office oversees the regulatory agency, had said earlier this month that his office is investigating whether Trump’s conviction affects his businesses’ eligibility for a state-issued liquor license. The Trump Organization previously pushed back on the attorney general’s review, saying that Trump (himself a teetotaler) does not hold a liquor license in the state. Both properties’ licenses are held under his son Donald Trump Jr.’s name, Business Insider reported. But the regulatory agency said it found that Trump Sr. has a “direct beneficial interest” in the licenses.
The Trump Organization called the July 19 hearing “unwarranted and unjustified” in a statement, adding: “We sincerely hope that this investigation is not political in nature.”