Trump’s legal wins and losses: 5 takeaways

Former President Trump’s legal troubles came crashing down on him Monday.

Separately, a judge in a hush-money case in New York considered a protest filed by the defense team, as one court considered the amount of bond that must be paid in a civil fraud case.

The outcome was divided, with the bail issue being resolved in favor of the former president, while the judge in the hush money case took a firm stance on the trial date.

The main takeaways are:

Big victory for Trump: Court of Appeals eases bail requirements

The most pressing issues decided on Monday were in line with Mr. Trump’s wishes.

The former president was under tremendous pressure to raise bail for his civil fraud trial following an initial $455 million verdict against him and other defendants last month.

Mr. Trump has appealed the verdict, and such appeals are typically conditional on bail being set at the full amount of the original judgment plus interest. The total amount is approximately $500 million.

Mr. Trump’s lawyers have protested that the bond requirement is too onerous and acknowledged that it would be extremely difficult to find an institution willing to underwrite such a large bond.

The former president himself has complained loudly about the possibility that New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) may seize his assets.

But on Monday, that possibility diminished significantly as the New York Court of Appeals cut the required bond amount by nearly two-thirds and gave the former president an additional 10 days to raise the bond.

The new requirements call for a $175 million bond.

President Trump immediately announced that he would “comply with the decision.” His uncharacteristically supportive tone emphasized what a big victory this was for him.

An asset seizure would have dealt a blow to President Trump’s self-image as a business mogul.

Trump loses: hush money trial set for April 15th

The delay is central to the legal and political strategy in the four criminal cases against Trump.

His bet appears to be that by postponing the trial date to after the November election, he can avoid the possibility of serious damage to voters. If Trump wins the election, he could pardon himself if he is convicted in a federal case or order the Justice Department to stop pursuing him.

But that delay tactic hit a snag on Monday when Judge Juan Marchand was unmoved by the Trump campaign’s argument that the former president’s New York trial should be postponed.

Instead, Marchand reiterated that the trial should begin less than a month from now, on April 15.

President Trump’s request for a delay centered on new documents that were recently revealed. Mr. Trump’s lawyers argued that the delay amounted to prosecutorial misconduct and that the new material needed a significant amount of time to consider.

Mr Marchand rejected both arguments.

Mr. Trump is charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records, but prosecutors say they have committed separate charges against adult actress Stormy Daniels and former model Karen McDougall, both of whom have allegedly had sexual relationships with Mr. Trump. It is claimed that this was done to bury the allegations.

Trump denies any wrongdoing.

It would be reasonable to think that the New York incident is the least serious of the four faces of the Trump presidency.

However, the charge is a felony, and whether the trial itself ends in acquittal or conviction, embarrassing details are sure to make headlines as the campaign heats up.

There’s a glimmer of hope for President Trump’s New York nemesis

Letitia James has been a frequent target of President Trump’s rhetoric during his years-long legal pursuit of the former president.

Mr. James was at pains to point out on Monday that the bail reduction does not change the fundamentals of the verdict against Mr. Trump.

“Donald Trump remains accountable for his extraordinary misconduct,” a spokesperson for James said in a statement to the media.

The statement added: “The $464 million judgment, plus interest, against Donald Trump and the other defendants remains in effect.”

The bond reduction, while perhaps an inconvenience to James, also frees her from the corner of the dilemma.

If Trump had not raised larger bonds, James would face troubling questions about how exactly he would try to recover the money.

Although there is much uncertainty about President Trump’s finances, it is generally accepted that he does not have the required roughly $500 million in liquid assets.

That means James would likely be moving toward seizing some of Trump’s real estate holdings — a messy and complicated process that Trump will no doubt seek to turn to his political advantage. will do.

Legal decision will benefit Trump and Biden campaign funds

Naturally, the day’s legal proceedings were quickly filtered through the lens of the November election.

At a press conference, President Trump claimed, “This is all election interference.” This was all orchestrated by Biden. ”

President Trump also claimed, in reference to the hush-money scandal, that “they’re dying to start this thing. They’re going to start this thing.” Judges can’t decide fast enough. ”

Hours earlier, while sitting in court, Trump posted a message of support on social media that compared him to Jesus Christ.

This in turn became the basis for President Biden’s counterattack.

James Singer, a spokesman for the president’s re-election campaign, described President Trump as “a weak and hopeless person both as a person and as a presidential candidate.”

The statement continued: “He spent the weekend playing golf, spent the morning comparing himself to Jesus, and in the afternoon lied about having money he never had.”

It was a bad day for Trump’s lawyers.

Mr. Trump has had rocky relationships with many lawyers over the years.

It looks like Monday was a bad day for New York defense attorney Todd Blanche.

The judge in that case took a harsh view of Mr. Blanche’s accusations of prosecutorial misconduct, and more generally pressed and confronted his lawyers’ arguments.

Blanche’s reactions sometimes seemed hesitant.

That’s unlikely to satisfy his high-profile clients in court.