Former President Donald Trump is trying to blame the nearly half a billion dollars (when including interest) in penalties that he’s facing after a fraud case from New York state Attorney General Letitia James on a completely imaginary conspiracy against him.
“NO TRIAL, NO JURY, NO CRIME, NO VICTIM, ONLY A CROOKED JUDGE AND A CORRUPT, TRUMP HATING ATTORNEY GENERAL, WHO TAKES HER ORDERS DIRECTLY FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. ELECTION INTERFERENCE AT A LEVEL NEVER SEEN BEFORE!!!” Trump wrote on Truth Social, his knock-off social media site, early Friday. He was referring to the civil case successfully alleging business fraud brought by that top prosecutor in New York.
There’s no real-world evidence that James takes “orders” from the White House, although Trump has used a version of this exact claim time and time again.
As for the prospect of official channels, the president of the United States is not directly responsible for the actions in office of the top prosecutor leading New York’s associated arm of state government or the same in any other state. And though Trump has been making the claim of secret involvement in the court proceedings against him by President Joe Biden ad nauseum, he’s yet to produce any specific evidence showing a directive from the president or his political team for any of his cases, whether civil or criminal and whether state or federal. The confirmation just isn’t there.
Trump is currently struggling against a demand for a bond staving off collections on the financial penalties from James’ case while he pursues appeals. Asset seizure is a possibility here, and James already indicated her readiness to pursue such a remedy. State authorities already filed the judgment against Trump with local officials in Westchester County, which sets up the possibility of the state pursuing Trump’s Seven Springs property that’s situated there.
