Trump’s assets on the line
For all of the frustration over the many delays in Donald Trump’s criminal trials, his civil trials have proven to be an effective way of holding him accountable. He has already fronted $91 million to secure the bond for the E. Jean Carroll judgment. And he has until Monday to post another bond to cover the $464 million judgment against him in his business fraud case. If he does not secure it, New York Attorney General Letitia James may seize his assets. And there’s nothing Trump can do to delay that! NBC News and MSNBC legal analyst Andrew Weissmann, former general counsel at the FBI and a senior member of special counsel Robert Mueller’s team, explains:
Is there any chance that Donald Trump secures the bond before the Monday deadline?
There is a chance the appellate court lowers the amount of the bond required to stay enforcement of the judgment. There is also a chance that Trump either comes up with the money or a third-party who helps him post the money. The main problem is that it seems apparent that his real estate holdings are already pledged — i.e., they’re being used to secure other loans, so he can’t use them to secure more loans or otherwise use them if there is not sufficient remaining equity to secure the bond.
Let’s say James moves to seize assets. What does that actually look like in practice? Set the scene for us…
James can serve liens on any and all assets, which prevents Trump or anyone from depleting those assets — that serves as a form of freezing the assets. Whether she then tries to sell the assets remains to be seen (and can be complicated depending on a variety of factors, such as whether the properties are co-owned, or if there is already a mortgage lien on the property). James also can seize all receivables, meaning all income sources of revenue, such as rent payments, licensing fees and royalties, so that that income comes to the New York attorney general and not Trump.
Which assets do you…
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