In a recent discussion on MSNBC with the network’s Katie Phang, lawyer Renee Zaytsev said that, generally speaking, New York state Attorney General Letitia James can pursue assets tied to Trump that are situated across both the United States and world to cover his hundreds of millions of dollars in penalties in a business fraud case.
The top prosecutor was set to become able to start seeking a seizure of Trump’s assets on Monday unless he came up with a bond covering the nearly half a billion dollars in penalties stemming from successful allegations of a pattern of misrepresenting the value of various assets, which set up financial benefits like favorable loan terms for those involved. (Court intervention was also possible.) The bond was required specifically to stave off collections during an appeals process. Trump is complaining intensely about the requirement, characterizing it as fundamentally unfair and something procedurally unique… though the possibility is part of established practice.
James “can very, very easily go ahead and freeze his bank accounts,” Zaytsev argued of what was coming soon in the case.
“And speaking of turnover proceedings, she can actually do that for any asset that Trump owns, no matter where it is located — across the country, across the world,” she added. “That includes things like stock that he owns, LLC member interests, intellectual property, cars, planes, jewelry, furniture, personal property. She can seek an order directing that Trump turn over those assets to her, and then those assets can be auctioned.”
POLITICO provided a similar explanation, saying James can target “even assets located in other states or other countries, depending on the nature of a country’s treaty with the United States.”
Once James were to get to Trump’s properties, some indications suggest she’d target the Seven Springs property held by Trump and situated just north of New York City in the state’s Westchester County. She filed the judgment against Trump with the county’s authorities, which is a procedural step necessary for potentially future attempts at seizure.
