During a discussion on CNN, Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) deemed the latest financial developments ensnaring former President Donald Trump to be a “real national security risk.”
Swalwell and host Jim Acosta were contemplating the possible outcomes as Trump faces financial penalties of nearly half a billion dollars for which he’s compelled to produce a bond to stave off collections by the state amid appeals in the civil fraud case. Trump has become publicly outspoken about the supposed problems he’s facing, and in court, his team already said that some 30 bond companies rejected him. Trump himself now publicly acknowledges at least the possibility of being forced to sell off assets… which could financially entangle him and/or his business with who-knows-who.
“This is a real national security risk,” Swalwell said. “I mean, one, it turns out he doesn’t have the money he’s told us that he has. But, two, he has a prior history of wanting to do business deals with sketchy foreign nationals.”
“His son-in-law was working on a $2 billion deal with the Saudi government right as he exited the White House,” the Congressman added on air. “And, of course, the president owned and operated a hotel just across the street from the White House, where he took millions of dollars from foreign nationals who stayed at that hotel while he was president. And so he has priors. He’s in acute financial state right now, and so it just makes me worried that a potential president could be so tied to a country that may not have our interests in mind.”
Trump and his team are pushing for the relevant authorities to lift the requirements that he post a bond at all, arguing that his real estate holdings sufficiently secure the future possibilities of him paying up. Trump has also pointed to claimed costs inherent in setting up a bond arrangement, including fees associated with the process and the potential financial burden of using cash or cash equivalents as collateral. Collection efforts by the state could start next week, potentially targeting properties in New York City or the state’s Westchester County per filings made so far.
