On Friday, a court in New York state fined Donald Trump $355 million for fraud. Not long beforehand, a different court fined him $83.3 for defaming the author E. Jean Carroll.
Given all these legal fees, former President Trump has stirred questions about his ability to pay.
And New York Attorney General Letitia James has floated the possibility of confiscating his assets, including the iconic building at 40 Wall Street.
James made the remarks in a Monday interview with ABC News.
“If he does not have funds to pay off the judgement, then we will seek judgment-enforcement mechanisms in court, and we will ask the judge to seize his assets,” James said Monday.
“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 may be making a moot threat. Trump’s team has confirmed his ability to play, and he’s planning on posting a bond of almost $400 million in order to appeal the ruling.
“Within 30 days, even if we choose to appeal this, which we will, we have to post the bond, which is the full amount and some, and we will be prepared to do that,” Trump’s attorney Alina Habba said Monday on Fox News.
Trump also questioned the ruling’s impact on New York’s future as a finance hub.
“We’ll appeal. We’ll be successful, I think, frankly, because, if we’re not successful, New York state is gone.”
James dismissed Trump’s predictions. “Last I checked tourism is up. Wall Street is doing just fine,” she told ABC News.
Trump was found to have secured low-interest loans by exaggerating his wealth. He denies wrongdoing, and he’s described the ruling as election interference. He said that he secured favorable loans by building relationships with the banks, and he maintains that he paid the loans, anyway.
In response, James said that her office exists to ensure fairness on Wall Street.
“If average New Yorkers went into a bank and submitted false documents, the government would throw the book at them, and the same should be true for former presidents,” James said. “Financial frauds are not victimless crimes… and the extent of the fraud was staggering.”
Take a look at James’ threats —
Trump will likely appeal not only the fine, but also the order to comply with a state-appointed monitor.
James explained in a press conference Friday —
Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump are banned from serving as an officer or director of any New York company for two years, and Donald Trump and his companies are banned from applying for loans from any New York bank or financial institution for three years. A new independent director of compliance will be created at the Trump Organization to ensure the company establishes internal protocols and meets financial reporting obligations, and a current independent external monitor will continue to oversee the company’s financial dealings and ensure this fraud cannot continue.
On Truth Social, Trump blasted the ruling as “an illegal, unAmerican judgment against me, my family, and my tremendous business.”
James hit back at the press conference.
“Donald Trump engaged in deceptive business practices and tremendous fraud,” James concluded. “Donald Trump may have authored The Art of the Deal, but he perfected the art of the steal.”
The Horn editorial team