- Trump tore into Judge Arthur Engoron and AG Letitia James
- James has threatened to seize assets and mentioned 40 Wall Street
- Former president’s attorneys told appeals court they couldn’t come up with cash
By GEOFF EARLE, DEPUTY U.S. POLITICAL EDITOR
PUBLISHED: 09:10 EDT, 19 March 2024 | UPDATED: 15:36 EDT, 19 March 2024
Former President Donald Trump unloaded on Judge Arthur Engoron Tuesday morning as he seethed about his order to pay a $454 million judgement after 30 lenders turned him away.
Trump vented he would have to liquidate parts of his prized real estate empire at ‘fire sale prizes’ in order to raise the money, which his lawyers say approaches half a billion dollars once financing and fees are taken into account.
It all comes as state AG Letitia James could begin seizing Trump assets as soon as Monday according to her prior threats in the event Trump did not pay the fine the judge imposed after his New York fraud trial.
‘The Corrupt Political Hacks in New York, Judge and AG, are asking me to put up massive amounts of money before I am allowed to appeal the ridiculous decision. Never done before. No jury, no victim, full disclaimer clause, happy banks. ELECTION INTERFERENCE! WITCH HUNT!’ Trump vented in just one of his Truth Social posts.
‘I shouldn’t have to put up any money, being forced by the Corrupt Judge and AG, until the end of the appeal. That’s the way system works!’ Trump wrote, after his lawyers put such a request in writing after providing affidavits from Trump associates who said efforts to get top firms to underwrite Trump had fallen short.
Former President Donald Trump tore into Judge Arthur Engoron and New York AG Letitia James while facing a massive judicial order. Even after approaching 30 underwriters, former President Trump couldn’t get a firm to underwrite the staggering $454 million judgement against him
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‘Engoron wants me to put up the ridiculous fine (I DID NOTHING WRONG!) before I get a chance to Appeal his crazed ruling – A first!’ Trump wrote, as post after post piled up.
‘Judge Engoron actually wants me to put up Hundreds of Millions of Dollars for the Right to Appeal his ridiculous decision,’ Trump wrote.
‘Nobody has ever heard of anything like this before. I would be forced to mortgage or sell Great Assets, perhaps at Fire Sale prices, and if and when I win the Appeal, they would be gone. Does that make sense? WITCH HUNT. ELECTION INTERFERENCE!’
James said last month she was ‘very confident’ in her case and mentioned one of Trump’s trophy properties, 40 Wall St.
‘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,’ she said, noting the skyscraper is near her downtown office.
Trump said any business thinking about moving into the state is ‘CRAZY!’ after prosecutors called him out for changing the addresses of several Trump business entities to Florida last week while facing the judgement.
He called James ‘Racist and Politically Corrupt’ and said Engoron is a ‘Crazed, Trump Hating Rogue Judge’ who ‘has ZERO respect for the Appellate Judges.’
Trum also inveighed against the judge and the case in a statement from his presidential campaign, which has relied on a series of criminal and civil prosecutions to goose his poll numbers.
He blasted ‘Ironclad Disclaimer Clauses’ and said the conduct the judge found occurred resulted in ‘No Damages, No Victims – A Disgraceful “Case!” This Sham is forcing companies and people to flee New York, and stopping companies from entering.’
A March 25 deadline for Trump to pay a staggering $454 million judgement against him is putting some of his prized real estate assets in jeopardy after his lawyers said he is unable to secure a bond.
‘Judge Engoron actually wants me to put up Hundreds of Millions of Dollars for the Right to Appeal his ridiculous decision,’ Trump wrote Tuesday
Trump’s latest filing sets up another high-pressure face-off with New York AG Letitia James, after his lawyers said insurance firms weren’t willing to take chunks of his real estate empire as collateral, and that the fees of obtaining a bond even if he could obtain one would be ‘crippling and punitive.’
That left Trump in the position of urging an appeals court to impose a stay while he appeals the case. If he doesn’t get one, it will test whether James will follow through on her threat to seize assets of his prized real estate empire. That could happen as soon as Monday.
After approaching 30 underwriters, Trump couldn’t find a single firm willing to post bond, according to an attestation filed with the court by longtime Trump Organization counsel Alan Garten.
‘Defendants have devoted a substantial amount of time, money, and effort toward obtaining a bond for the Judgment. Despite the foregoing, Defendants have faced what have proven to be insurmountable difficulties in obtaining an appeal bond for the full $464 million,’ he wrote.
‘Critical among these challenges is not just the inability and reluctance of the vast majority of sureties to underwrite a bond for this unprecedented sum, but, even more significantly, the unwillingness of every surety bond provider approached by Defendants to accept real estate as collateral.
He said the companies offered collateral including undisclosed sums of cash or cash equivalents and ‘unencumbered real estate holdings.’ Firms he said turned down the deal included insurers giants Allianz, Berkshire Hathaway, CAP Speciality, and Chubb – which underwrote Trump for the $91 bond for the $83 million judgement against him in the E. Jean Carroll defamation case.
That suggests a liquidity problem for Trump, who testified in the New York fraud case that he had $400 million in cash.
Chubb was ‘the only surety willing to even consider accepting real estate as collateral,’ Garten wrote. There is ‘simply no way for Defendants to tap into the substantial equity’ in properties to secure a bond, he wrote in a letter signed Sunday.
Trump’s lawyers’ statement about ‘crippling’ fees came in the context of up front premiums totaling $19 million that could be due again in two years under a long appeal for Trump, whose net worth Forbes estimated at $2.6 billion.
James’ office didn’t respond to a request by DailyMail.com for comment.
Trump’s lawyers told a New York appellate court Monday that it’s impossible for him to post a bond covering the full amount of his $454 million civil fraud judgment while he appeals.
The former president’s lawyers wrote in a court filing that ‘obtaining an appeal bond in the full amount’ of the judgment ‘is not possible under the circumstances presented.’
New York AG Letitia James has already threatened to seize assets if Trump didn’t post bond
They revealed they had spoken to 30 underwriters to back the bond, which is due next week. Their efforts included ‘countless hours of negotiating with one of the biggest insurance companies in the world’.
With interest, Trump owes $456.8 million. In all, he and co-defendants including his company and top executives owe $467.3 million. To obtain a bond, they would be required to post collateral worth $557 million, Trump’s lawyers said.
‘Defendants’ ongoing diligent efforts have proven that a bond in the judgment’s full amount is ‘a practical impossibility,” the filing said. ‘These diligent efforts have included approaching about 30 surety companies through 4 separate brokers.’
New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat, has said that she will seek to seize some of Trump’s assets if he´s unable to pay the judgment.
The development comes days after Trump was able to post a $91.6 million bond in the E. Jean Carroll defamation following a jury award he is also appealing.
The filing suggests that Trump’s empire of real estate and golf properties leaves him insufficiently liquid to meet the massive judgements against him.
Multiple bond companies decline to ‘accept hard assets such as real estate as collateral,’ they noted, and will ‘will only accept cash or cash equivalents (such as marketable securities).’
The firms would likely charge 18 per cent up front, another staggering sum and one Trump would not be able to get back even if he prevailed on appeal.
Trump testified during the fraud case that he had $400 million in cash.
A state appeals court judge ruled last month that Trump must post a bond covering the full amount to pause enforcement of the judgment, which is to begin on March 25.
Last week, James office wrote in a filing that Trump tried to move the addresses of multiple assets from Trump Tower to Florida.
Letitia James all smiles as she leaves court after Trump fraud trial
Chubb was ‘the only surety willing to even consider accepting real estate as collateral,’ according to Trump Organization general counsel Alan Garten
The former president’s lawyers wrote in a court filing that ‘obtaining an appeal bond in the full amount’ of the judgment ‘is not possible under the circumstances presented. Trump is pictured during the fraud trial in January
The lawyers added that other bond companies are not accepting assets such as real estate as collateral and would likely charge up to 18 percent of the full amount upfront
Her office complained that Trump’s lawyers ‘announced for the first time that various entity defendants operating in New York are allegedly now located on a golf club in Florida.’
That included DJT Holdings LLC, 401 North Wabash Venture LLC and other entities.
‘Defendants attempted that relocation even as they claim to this Court that those assets ‘cannot be summarily disposed of or secreted out of the jurisdiction,’ according to the filing.
Judge Engoron ruled in February that Trump, his company and top executives, including his sons Eric and Donald Trump Jr., schemed for years to deceive banks and insurers by inflating his wealth on financial statements used to secure loans and make deals.
Among other penalties, the judge put strict limitations on the ability of Trump’s company, the Trump Organization, to do business.
Trump is asking a full panel of the state’s intermediate appellate court to stay the judgment while he appeals.