In commentary posted this Tuesday on his knock-off social media site Truth Social, former President Donald Trump admitted the possibility of him being effectively forced to sell off assets of his — which would include real estate holdings — to cover for his massive financial obligations.
Those financial demands include a bond of around half a billion dollars required to stave off collections amid appeals of a judgment against him from a fraud case from New York state Attorney General Letitia James.
“Judge Engoron actually wants me to put up Hundreds of Millions of Dollars for the Right to Appeal his ridiculous decision,” Trump wrote online. “In other words, he is trying to take my Appellate Rights away from me when I have already won at the Appellate Division, but he refuses to accept their already made decision. 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!”
Trump is misrepresenting New York Judge Arthur Engoron’s handling in his fraud case of decisions by appeals judges, referring instead, it seems, to just the Trump team’s own interpretations of appeals court decisions. Trump’s camp has run with the idea that the relevant statutes of limitations block large portions of James’ case, and that’s an area where the appeals courts provided their own input, but Engoron upheld — when trial was still ongoing — key claims made by James, distinguishing that area from the evidence used.
In other words, the argument seems to hinge on differing approaches for the implementation of statutes of limitations and appeals court decisions… not Engoron just bucking the decisions of higher-level judges. And the demand for a bond alongside appeals is part of established court practice, not something new here that was specifically crafted to target Trump.
