The eye-opening verdict against former President Trump in a fraud case in New York revealed his precarious financial situation, an issue that threw the notoriously furious real estate mogul off track.
In a Truth social post, President Trump laid out a mini-rant slamming the judge and attorney general in the case, saying they were trying to swindle him out of exactly $500 million worth of cash. insisted.
Trump, who is known for frequently provoking his supporters with online abuse and raucous rallies, must post $454 million bail or face having his assets seized. The former president seems to have crossed the line when it comes to sex.
BestReviews is reader-supported and may earn us an affiliate commission.
best holiday sales
“They don’t care about the law or the facts and are tying up my money and interfering in the election!!” Trump wrote. real social posts Wednesday. “This case should be over, but instead the Attorney General is abusing his power and trying to steal my money!!”
Mr. Trump appears particularly furious about the New York fraud trial because the stakes are so personal, former aides said.
The allegations at the heart of the case threatened several areas of particular pride for Mr. Trump. The allegations strike at the core of Trump’s reputation as a shrewd dealmaker and wealthy businessman, which propelled him to a successful run for the White House in 2016.
“It’s about his business, his family and his brand,” said one former senior Trump official.
The trial and its aftermath have also affected his adult children, particularly Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., executive vice president of the Trump Organization. The brothers were each ordered to pay more than $4.6 million and were banned from holding top executive roles at New York companies for two years.
Trump’s daughter Ivanka was once a party to the case, but a state appellate court dismissed her from the case due to a statute of limitations before the trial began. She still testified at her trial and gave her modest explanation of her role in the business.
The trial also pitted Trump against his longtime fixer, Michael Cohen, who has established himself as an outspoken critic of the former president in recent years. Cohen testified that Trump ordered him and another executive to “reverse engineer” his assets into numbers to his liking. Trump’s lawyers called Cohen a “proven liar.”
And the case took place in New York City, where Mr. Trump grew up and built his brand in real estate, but also a place where Mr. Trump has struggled to gain respect.
“New York — that’s where he’s making a name for himself,” said Bennett Gershman, a law professor at Pace University. “He’s tried so hard to be part of the New York establishment, but maybe he feels he never made it big in New York.”
He added: “There are a lot of factors that come together to make this claim, and everything about New York and Trump is tied together in a very dramatic way.”
During Trump’s two-month trial in his home state, about 40 witnesses from the former president’s business operations took the stand, testifying that his businesses engaged in deceptive business practices for more than a decade. We evaluated whether the results were accurate or not.
Although it was not required, Trump attended the trial in person multiple times, sometimes for several days in a row.
From the beginning, the trial was marked by President Trump’s anger. That was his anger at New York Attorney General Letitia James (D), who filed the lawsuit, and Judge Arthur Engoron, who allowed it to proceed.
The tensions have boiled down to intense stares and heated debates between the two parties and Engoron that sometimes take a political turn, with President Trump calling for “criminal charges” against judges involved in perpetuating “election interference.” suggested that it should.
Engoron found Trump, the Trump Organization and executives responsible for the fraud before the trial began, and determined by the end of the trial that they conspired to alter the former president’s net worth for tax and insurance benefits. did.
A judge ordered them to pay $464 million in penalties and interest, more than 95% of which is owed by Trump alone. Trump, like his sons, was barred from holding top executive positions at New York companies for three years.
His anger has already spilled over into an appeal against the verdict, including suggestions that the judgment was deliberately set to reflect the amount of cash he claims he has on hand. .
“I currently have almost $500 million in cash…The politically hacked judges who are often overturned in fraudulent and corrupt AG cases know that I have done nothing wrong. and wanted to take that away from me. And that’s where and why they arrested him. Combined with his unusual interest demands, he collected a shocking amount of approximately $454 million. The numbers have been derived.” written by trump Friday morning – in all caps – at Truth Social.
Earlier this month, Trump was nominated as the Republican presidential nominee, setting the stage for a rematch with President Biden.
His campaign also became an outlet for his frustration with the incident. The company has frequently sent out fundraising emails attempting to capitalize on the incident, including one Thursday with the subject line, “Keep your dirty hands away from Trump Tower.”
At a recent rally in Michigan, President Trump called the initial verdict, which would award hundreds of millions of dollars, “a lawless, unconstitutional atrocity that inflames our laws like no one has ever seen in this country.” He vehemently criticized it as an act.
And during a rally in Ohio on Saturday, Trump suggested his legal troubles could be bad for New York.
“A lot of people want to quit because of the legal issues that are going on.” [on]” President Trump told his supporters. “Many companies are leaving because they don’t want to get caught up in the kind of crap I got into where they come after you for no reason, no victims, this, that, that. It’s from.”
His campaign funds helped fund his legal defense in the fraud case as well as the four criminal cases he faces. Trump’s fundraising committee contributed about $50 million in legal fees in 2023. Trump’s fraud lawyers Chris Kise, Alina Haba and Clifford Robert were among the highest paid.
But campaign contributions alone won’t cover the cost of the multimillion-dollar judgment he currently faces.
If Trump does not post bail by Monday, James could begin seizing assets, including iconic New York properties such as 40 Wall Street and Trump Tower.
Last week, the state took the first step toward seizing President Trump’s Seven Springs golf resort and private property, filing a judgment with the county where it is located. A verdict has already been handed down in Manhattan, where the trial was held.
Trump’s lawyers told the appeals court that the former president does not have enough cash on hand to secure the full appeal bond. He asked the court to instead accept bail at $100 million, less than a quarter of the amount owed.
But on Friday, President Trump posted on Truth Social that he has nearly $500 million in cash on hand due to “hard work, talent, and luck,” a statement that could preclude his request for cheaper bonds. was.
“He doesn’t want to pay and wants protection from the courts,” Gershman said. “He says he has no money. He said no one would give him a bond.”
“That may be true. People won’t want to give him bond because they don’t trust him,” he continued. “Why should they trust him?”
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
