On Monday, an appeals court panel granted former President Donald Trump a crucial lifeline, permitting him to secure a reduced bond of $175 million—significantly less than the absurd $454 million bond set by the leftist Judge Arthur Engoron. This move serves as a temporary shield against the looming threat of New York Attorney General Letitia James seizing Trump’s assets.
The decision is a major victory for Trump, and he now has a ten-day grace period to pay the required $175 million bond, which gives him valuable time in this absurd legal battle against him.
Letitia James sued Trump for allegedly inflating his assets to get a loan, and Judge Engoron, another Democrat partisan, agreed.
“Every single real estate developer everywhere on earth does this. They always talk about their asset[s] being worth a lot and the bank says ‘no’ and that’s just the way it is,” famed investor and “Shark Tank” star Kevin O’Leary told CNN in January. “If you’re going to sue this case and win, you got to sue every real estate developer everywhere.”
But that didn’t matter to AG James, a Democrat who campaigned on getting Trump. Nor did it matter that the loan was paid off and there was no victim. It also didn’t matter that the bank James claimed was defrauded testified in Trump’s defense.
“That fact that he was found guilty, you might as well find guilty every real estate developer on Earth,” O’Leary said in February. “I don’t understand where someone got hurt… What developer doesn’t ask for the highest price valued for any building they built?”
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O’Leary added, “If this judgment sticks. Every developer must be jailed. They must be found guilty. They must be put out of business. You can’t do this to one another. It’s not about Trump.”
On Friday, pollster Frank Luntz appeared as a panelist on CNN and warned Democrats that if James seizes Trump’s assets, it could significantly boost Trump’s chances in the 2024 presidential election.
“I want you to remember this moment,” he said. “And don’t forget it. If the New York attorney general starts to take his homes away, starts to seize his assets, it’s all going to be on camera. Pundits are going to sit there and scream about this. ‘This man cannot be elected.’ You’re going to create the greatest victimhood of 2024, and you’re going to elect Donald Trump.”
“If they take his stuff, he’s going to say that this is proof that the federal government — and the establishment and the swamp in Washington and all the politicians across the country and the attorneys general and all of this — that this is a conspiracy to deny him the presidency. He’s going to go up in the polls just like he went up every single time they indicted him.”
Trump responded to the news in a post on Truth Social.
Judge Engoron has refused to obey the decision of the Appellate Division relative to the Statute of Limitations. This is a confrontation between a Judge and those that rule above him – A very bad situation in which to place New York State and the Rule of Law! Engoron has disrespected the Appellate Division and its very clear and precise ruling. He should be made to do so, and at the same time, release the GAG ORDER. This is the 5th time in this case that he has been overturned, a record. His credibility, and that of Letitia James, has been shattered. We will abide by the decision of the Appellate Division, and post either a bond, equivalent securities, or cash. This also shows how ridiculous and outrageous Engoron’s original decision was at $450 Million. I DID NOTHING WRONG, AND NEW YORK SHOULD NEVER BE PUT IN A POSITION LIKE THIS AGAIN. BUSINESSES ARE FLEEING, VIOLENT CRIME IS FLOURISHING, AND IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT THIS BE RESOLVED IN ITS TOTALITY AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. THANK YOU!
Trump added in a follow-up post:
Judge Engoron and Letitia James should be forced to explain why he ruled that Mar-a-Lago was worth $18,000,000 when, in fact, it is worth from 50 to 100 times that amount. How did the Attorney General of the State of New York force this Corrupt Judge to do that in order to help her narrative – AND WHY?
This story is developing. Check back for updates.