Enforcing the Judgment
Letitia gets the upper hand
After Donald’s despicable comments at his Ohio rally over the weekend — in which he threatened a “bloodbath” if he’s not elected and claimed asylum-seekers aren’t human—we all needed some good news.
And we got some as it turns out Donald is facing what could be a worst-case legal scenario. His lawyers have announced that he is unable to secure the $464 million bond needed to file the appeal in his fraud judgment—which also suggests he does not have the cash to cover it himself.
Why it matters
Pursuant to Justice Engoron’s order, Donald had until March 25, 2024, to front the cash he owes in order to begin the appeals process. Now, Donald is signaling he will miss the deadline.
In a court filing, Donald’s attorneys called the bond “a practical impossibility” and argued that securing enough cash “was impossible” and would require a greater cash reserve than Donald has access to.
In New York, an appeal bond (also known as a supersedeas bond) is required when a party wishes to stop collection of a judgment while pursuing an appeal. The bond serves as a guarantee that the defendant can cover the verdict if he loses the appeal.
That’s a guarantee, it appears, that Donald cannot make.
We learned from the court filing that Donald’s attorneys revealed to the judge that not only is their client unable to secure the cash, but over “30 surety companies through 4 separate brokers” rejected his application. Let’s review that a little more closely.
Why would 30 insurance companies refuse to front Donald the cash?
Per The New York Times: “Mr. Trump does not have enough liquidity to obtain the bond. To offer a bond of this size, the companies would require Mr. Trump to pledge more than $550 million in cash, stocks and bonds as collateral — a sum he simply does not have.”
Donald has always presented himself as a man who is, in his words, “really rich”; a multi-billionaire who as of last year had $400 million in the bank. Today those claims are revealed to be the fiction they always were.
And while Donald might be trying to exploit any loophole he can find while simultaneously playing victim, Letitia James isn’t having any of it.
AG James strikes back
AG James has asked the court to hold Donald to his full bond because he can’t, and shouldn’t, be trusted.
She finds him so untrustworthy, in fact, that she wants to see proof that the surety companies he approached refused to accept real estate interests or “his private jets or helicopters” as collateral.
James also says that if Donald cannot pay his judgment, she “will ask the judge to seize his assets.”
“We are prepared to make sure that the judgment is paid to New Yorkers, and yes, I look at 40 Wall Street each and every day,” James said, referring to the Trump Building in Manhattan.
The consequences if Donald can’t pay
According to an attorney friend, if Donald loses his appeal and is unable to come up with the full judgment, Letitia James will file a motion to enforce the judgment.
At that point, the court would likely issue an order for asset seizure specifying which assets are subject to seizure while providing the legal authority for law enforcement to act.
If, for example, 40 Wall Street is seized, the sheriff’s office would post a notice of seizure on the building’s entrance. The seized assets would then be sold, and the proceeds would go toward satisfying the judgment.
The fact that Donald owes such a vast sum of money — and does not seem to be able to cover his debt — should prompt the media to take a much closer look at what is really going on with Donald’s finances.
Rep. Sean Casten (D-IL) pointed out that being so desperate for cash as the presumptive GOP presidential nominee renders Donald an even greater national security risk than he already is.
“Any foreign adversary seeking to buy a President knows the price,” Casten warns.
That price is half a billion dollars — plus interest.
Casten also called attention to questions that have surrounded the bond Donald secured from Chubb, the multinational insurance conglomerate, in the E. Jean Carroll case:
“We already lack clarity on what security was provided for the $91M bond,” Casten noted. “A guy who wants your trust and wants to be President should disclose his liabilities … The fact that we don’t know this about someone running for the highest office in the land shifts the liability onto our democracy itself.”
Donald won’t lose the Trump Building at 40 Wall Street without a fight, and that means his behavior could become even more volatile. There is no limit to what he’s capable of — or who he’ll turn to for funds if he grows desperate enough— and that is what spells real trouble with independent voters.
One of the biggest takeaways from the Republican primaries is that swing-state independents value democracy. Those are the voters we need to focus on. As Donald becomes less able to control himself, It will be harder for the corporate media to pretend this is just another horse-race election. It will be even easier to reach the 30% of Republicans who are tired of Donald’s antics.
What I hope is that this very good news from New York helps you see how these developments could become an important electoral opportunity for us.
There are cracks in Donald’s armor — let’s exploit them. Let’s use these opportunities to inspire our base to do the work that needs to be done.
The American justice system has repeatedly broken my spirit over the last few weeks. This news is a welcome tonic. Age and race have nothing to do with it -- I know -- but as a 69-year-old Black woman, I'm experiencing a deep exhilarating joy watching a 70-something judge and a Black woman stay the course and succeed.
Curious that his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who is flush with Saudi cash, has not offered to help. Or is it?