Former U.S. President Donald Trump and former first lady Melania Trump walk together as they prepare to vote at a polling station setup in the Morton and Barbara Mandel Recreation Center, Mar. 19, 2024, in Palm Beach, Fla. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — New York Attorney General Letitia James has taken an initial step toward laying the groundwork for a possible seizure of former President Donald Trump’s assets in New York’s Westchester County as part of the $464 million judgment in Trump’s civil fraud trial.
State officials have entered the judgment from Trump’s civil fraud trial in Manhattan with the county clerk’s office in Westchester, which would allow James to move to take possession of Trump National Golf Course in Briarcliff Manor and Seven Springs, a private estate in Bedford, if Trump fails to secure a bond.
His lawyers this week said Trump is facing “insurmountable difficulties” obtaining a bond to cover the $464 million judgment imposed by Judge Arthur Engoron. They have asked an appeals court for permission to post a smaller bond or none at all.
If Trump does not secure a financial guarantee by Monday’s deadline, James could begin the legal process of seizing Trump’s bank accounts and physical assets in Manhattan and Westchester through liens and foreclosures.
A representative from the Trump Organization did not respond to a request for comment from ABC News.
On Thursday, lawyers for Trump doubled down on their claim that securing the bond is impossible, according to a letter sent to New York’s Appellate Division Thursday.
Trump attorney Clifford Robert described James’ suggestion Wednesday that Trump secure multiple smaller bonds or hand over property to the court as “illogical,” “unconstitutional,” “impractical,” and “unjust.”
“Perhaps worst of all, the Attorney General argues that Defendants should be forced to dispose of iconic, multi-billion-dollar real-estate holdings in a ‘fire sale,'” Robert wrote in the letter.
Pushing back on the suggestion that Trump could hand over properties to the court, Robert said that the proposal was impractical and “functionally equivalent” to the Trump Organization’s court-appointed monitor.
He argued that James’ suggestion that Trump procure a series of smaller bonds would fail to resolve Trump’s current predicament because lenders are still unwilling to offer a bond using both cash and property as collateral.
“As explained in Defendants’ Affirmations, those separate bonds would still require a total collateralization of cash or cash equivalents in excess of $557 million, regardless of how many sureties were involved,” the letter said.
“It would be completely illogical — and the definition of an unconstitutional Excessive Fine and a Taking — to require Defendants to sell properties at all, and especially in a ‘fire sale,’ in order to be able to appeal the lawless Supreme Court judgment, as that would cause harm that cannot be repaired once the Defendants do win, as is overwhelmingly likely, on appeal,” Robert wrote on Thursday.
New York Judge Arthur Engoron in February ordered Trump to pay $464 million in disgorgement and pre-judgment interest after he found the former president and his adult sons liable for using “numerous acts of fraud and misrepresentation” to inflate his net worth in order to get more favorable loan terms. Trump has denied all wrongdoing and has appealed the decision in the case.
Earlier this week, Trump’s lawyers argued that the former president is unable to secure a bond for the judgment, having been rejected by over 30 insurance companies due to its size and his need to post properties as collateral.
Lorenzo Bevilaqua/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — Stormy Daniels is “absolutely ready” to testify at former President Donald Trump’s New York hush money trial, the adult film actress — whose hush money payment sits at the center of Trump’s criminal case — told ABC’s “The View” on Thursday.
“I’m absolutely ready. I’ve been ready. I’m hoping with all of my heart that they call me because … I don’t need someone to speak for me,” Daniels said. “I relish the day that I get to face him and speak my truth.”
Daniels made the appearance on “The View” to promote a new documentary about her life before and after her now-infamous interaction with Trump.
Defense lawyers have attempted to prevent Daniels from serving as a witness at trial by arguing her testimony would be salacious and prejudicial to the jury. The judge overseeing the case, Juan Merchan, denied Trump’s efforts this week in a ruling that cleared the way for testimony from Daniels, Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen, and two others who received hush-money payments ahead of the 2016 election.
Trump last April pleaded not guilty to a 34-count indictment charging him with falsifying business records in connection with a $130,000 hush money payment Cohen made to Daniels just days before the 2016 presidential election.
Jury selection for the trial is currently scheduled to get underway in mid-April in New York City. The former president has denied all wrongdoing.
“Locating and purchasing the information from Daniels not only completes the narrative of events that precipitated the falsification of business records but is also probative of the Defendant’s intent,” Judge Merchan wrote.
Trump and his lawyers have criticized Cohen’s reliability as a witness and have argued that Daniels might try to “monetize her status as a witness” by creating publicity to promote her recent documentary.
In her appearance Thursday, Daniels defended her recollection of her encounter with Trump.
“What do you call it when you come out of a bathroom as a lady, and you’re not expecting someone to be there, and in front of you is a man in his underwear between you and the door. And you go to go around, and he stands there. What is that called?” Daniels said, partially recounting her 2006 sexual encounter with Trump.
While Daniels said she now remembers more information about the discussion she had with Trump that day, she said the main details of the story are unchanged.
“Why is it the same story? Because I’m telling the truth, and I haven’t changed my story,” Daniels said. “Those details are burned into my soul forever.”
After her interaction with Trump became public, Daniels said her life fundamentally changed. She received more opportunities to perform across the county and author a book, but she also began receiving threats and feared for the safety of her daughter and loved ones.
While those threats began to slow in the years following Trump’s presidency, she told “The View” that Trump’s New York indictment reignited those issues.
“Suddenly the indictment happens … it was like 2018 all over again, except now they’re more vicious because they’ve been encouraged,” Daniels said. “They’re more like suicide bombers this time around, where they honestly truly believe that they are being patriotic and that I am like the devil,” she said.
Though she says she is eager to testify at trial, Daniels said that she looks forward to the day when the attention fades and she can return to a life that doesn’t impact her loved ones.
“I want to not be a danger to everybody that I care about and everybody that I love,” Daniels said. “I want to be able to live a life where my friends aren’t collateral damage, and I don’t know if that is ever going to happen.”
(NEW YORK) — Effective Thursday, former President Donald Trump’s namesake family real estate company has a babysitter.
New York Judge Arthur Engoron, who oversaw Trump’s civil fraud trial, imposed a monitor over the Trump Organization as part of a judgment that also required Trump to pay a nearly-half billion dollar penalty.
Barbara Jones, a retired federal judge, has been overseeing the Trump Organization’s finances since November 2022 as part of a preliminary injunction. She is now installed for the next three years.
As part of the arrangement, the Trump Organization must open its books to Jones, who has also been given the ability to suggest court-ordered changes in how the Trump Organization operates.
She must be notified about any large cash transfers, the creation or dissolution of assets, the restructuring of debt and “any efforts to secure surety bonds,” according to Engoron’s order issued Thursday.
Engoron in February ordered Trump to pay $464 million in disgorgement and pre-judgment interest after he found the former president and his adult sons liable for using “numerous acts of fraud and misrepresentation” to inflate his net worth in order to get more favorable loan terms. Trump has denied all wrongdoing and has appealed the decision in the case.
Trump is facing a Monday deadline to secure a bond to guarantee payment of the $464 million judgment should he lose his appeal. His lawyers have said it is “a practical impossibility,” but New York Attorney General Letitia James suggested Trump had not explored all of his options.
The imposition of a monitor could limit Trump’s ability to maneuver his money and his physical assets, as he attempts to secure the bond and pay his debts.
“Defendants shall not evade the terms of this Monitorship Order by transferring assets, reincorporating existing business entities in other forms or jurisdictions, modifying entity ownership, or any other form of restructuring or change in corporate form,” Engoron said in his order.
(NEW YORK) — Former Rankin County sheriff’s deputy Brett McAlpin was sentenced to about 27 years in prison during a hearing in federal court in Jackson, Mississippi, on Thursday for his role in the torture of two Black men, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
McAlpin is the fifth of six former law enforcement officers to be sentenced this week after pleading guilty to a total of 16 felonies related to the racially motivated torture and sexual assault of Michael Jenkins and Eddie Parker, as well as a subsequent plan to cover up their crimes. The sixth officer, former Richland police officer Joshua Hartfield, is set to be sentenced during a hearing on Thursday afternoon.
Former Rankin County sheriff’s deputy Christian Dedmon was sentenced to 40 years in prison during a hearing in federal court in Jackson, Mississippi, on Wednesday for his role in the torture of Jenkins and Parker, as well as the assault of another man during an incident in December 2022 during a traffic stop.
According to federal prosecutors, Dedmon was the organizer of both attacks has received the harshest sentence so far.
“I want to tell them I’m sorry for what they went through, what they are going through,” Dedmon said during the sentencing hearing, per WAPT. “If I [could] take every bit of it back, I promise I would.”
Malik Shabazz, the lead attorney representing victims Michael Jenkins and Eddie Parker, told ABC News in a statement following Dedmon’s sentencing that “history was made today in Mississippi.”
“The 40-year prison sentence given to ‘Goon Squad’ member Christian Dedman by Judge Thomas Lee for the sick and serious crimes committed against our clients Michael Jenkins and Eddie Parker made history today,” Shabazz said, referencing the label that the group of officers gave themselves for their willingness to use excessive force. “All of these ‘Goon Squad’ sentences are sending a serious message to all rogue police and other ‘Goon Squads’ all over America, that justice is coming to you.”
Earlier on Wednesday, former Rankin County sheriff’s deputy Daniel Opdyke was sentenced to 17 1/2 years in prison for his role in the incident.
Opdyke cried during the sentencing, according to WAPT, and said that his time in prison so far has helped him reflect on “how I transformed into the monster I became that night.”
“The weight of my actions and the harm I’ve caused will haunt me every day,” Opdyke told the victims. “I wish I could take away your suffering.”
Former Rankin County, Mississippi, sheriff’s deputy Christian Dedmon is also set to be sentenced on Wednesday, are the third and fourth defendants to be sentenced in the case.
Former Rankin County sheriff’s deputies Hunter Elward was sentenced on Tuesday to 241 months, or about 20 years, while Jeffrey Middleton received a 17 1/2-year sentence for his role in the incident, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.,”These defendants will spend 20 years and 17.5 years in prison for their heinous attack on citizens they had sworn an oath to protect,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement on Tuesday following the first round of sentencing.
“The Justice Department will hold accountable officers who violate constitutional rights, and in so doing, betray the public trust,” his statement concluded.
In their guilty pleas, the six former law enforcement officers admitted to breaking into a home where Jenkins and Parker were residing without a warrant after a white neighbor reported that the men were staying with a white woman and alleged “suspicious” activity. They then proceeded to arrest the two men “without probable cause” that they committed any crimes, according to the DOJ.
Some of the defendants were part of a group of shift officers who called themselves “The Goon Squad” because of their “willingness to use excessive force and not report it,” according to charging documents. The group was summoned by Dedmon to the home where Jenkins and Parker were residing, according to the DOJ, after McAlpin asked him to investigate.
During the incident, the officers beat Jenkins and Parker, mocked them with racial slurs, sexually assaulted them with a sex toy, forced them to strip naked and shower together and shocked them with Tasers for roughly 90 minutes while handcuffed, according to court documents obtained by ABC News. Jenkins was also shot in the mouth by Elward, per the DOJ.
Following the incident, the two victims faced false charges for months, according to the DOJ, stemming from the officers’ plan to cover up their actions by tampering with and planting evidence, including drugs and a gun.
ABC News has reached out to the officers but requests for comment were not returned.
Jenkins and Parker, along with their attorney Malik Shabazz, told reporters on Monday that they have been struggling with the enduring trauma of the brutal attack. Following Elward’s sentencing on Tuesday, the two men told Jackson ABC affiliate WAPT that justice has been done.
Elward, who pleaded guilty to the most serious charge in the indictment — discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence — stood up in the courtroom and apologized to the victims, according to WAPT, saying, “I hate myself for it. I accept my responsibility.”
Parker stood up and told Elward that he forgives him, and later that afternoon told WAPT that while he forgives “what is done,” Elward “still did what he did and he has to be punished.”
Asked if he also forgives Elward, Jenkins told WAPT, “I don’t know. No, no, because if he wouldn’t have got caught, he’d still be doing the same thing.”
The charges the officers pleaded guilty to include civil rights conspiracy, deprivation of rights under color of law, discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence, conspiracy to obstruct justice and obstruction of justice. They also pleaded guilty to similar state charges and are awaiting sentencing in the state case. State sentences will be served concurrently.
Dedmon, Elward and Opdyke also pleaded guilty to three additional federal felony offenses related to a separate incident that took place on Dec. 4, 2022, per the DOJ.
The U.S. The Department of Justice launched an investigation into the incident in Feb. 2023, along with the FBI, amid outrage from the community and as attorneys for Jenkins and Parker filed a notice of claim for a $400 million federal lawsuit.
“It’s in court, and we’re fighting,” Shabazz told ABC News on Monday when asked about the status of the lawsuit.
In an October 2023 response to the complaint obtained by ABC News, the officers denied the allegations alleged in the lawsuit.
ABC News’ Alexander Mallin contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — Former President Donald Trump’s request for a lengthy adjournment of his criminal hush money trial in New York based on recently disclosed potential evidence is “a red herring” and part of a “strategic delay,” prosecutors said Thursday in a court filing.
Tens of thousands of pages recently turned over by federal prosecutors contain a “limited amount of new information” and do not warrant the months-long delay Trump is seeking, the filing said.
Trump last April pleaded not guilty to a 34-count indictment charging him with falsifying business records in connection with a hush money payment his then-attorney Michael Cohen made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels just days before the 2016 presidential election.
The U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York recently produced several batches of materials related to its prosecution of Cohen.
Trump’s attorneys accused the Manhattan district attorney’s office of withholding evidence and demanded the delay, the dismissal of the indictment and limits on testimony Cohen and others can give. The district attorney’s office said the defense was pushing “wild and untrue allegations of misconduct and malfeasance” and urged the judge to reject Trump’s requests.
“Defendant’s accusations are wholly unfounded, and the circumstances here do not come close to warranting the extreme sanctions he has sought,” assistant district attorney Matthew Colangelo wrote.
New York Judge Juan Merchan last week delayed the start of the trial until at least mid-April, and prosecutors said that adjournment “is a more than reasonable amount of time for defendant to review the information.”
Prosecutors said most of what the U.S. attorney’s office turned over was “entirely immaterial, duplicative or substantially duplicative of previously disclosed materials.”
“[T]he People now have good reason to believe that this production contains only limited materials relevant to the subject matter of this case and that have not previously been disclosed to defendant: fewer than an estimated 270 documents, most of which are inculpatory and corroborative of existing evidence,” Colangelo wrote.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump and former first lady Melania Trump walk together as they prepare to vote at a polling station setup in the Morton and Barbara Mandel Recreation Center, Mar. 19, 2024, in Palm Beach, Fla. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Lawyers for former President Donald Trump are doubling down on their claim that securing a bond for his $464 million civil fraud judgment is impossible, according to a letter sent to New York’s Appellate Division Thursday.
Trump attorney Clifford Robert described New York Attorney General Letitia James’ suggestion Wednesday that Trump secure multiple smaller bonds or hand over property to the court as “illogical,” “unconstitutional,” “impractical,” and “unjust.”
“Perhaps worst of all, the Attorney General argues that Defendants should be forced to dispose of iconic, multi-billion-dollar real-estate holdings in a ‘fire sale,'” Robert wrote in the letter.
Pushing back on the suggestion that Trump could hand over properties to the court, Robert said that the proposal was impractical and “functionally equivalent” to the Trump Organization’s court-appointed monitor.
He argued that James’ suggestion that Trump procure a series of smaller bonds would fail to resolve Trump’s current predicament because lenders are still unwilling to offer a bond using both cash and property as collateral.
“As explained in Defendants’ Affirmations, those separate bonds would still require a total collateralization of cash or cash equivalents in excess of $557 million, regardless of how many sureties were involved,” the letter said.
Trump faces a Monday deadline to secure a bond or pay the full amount of his $464 million civil fraud judgment; if he fails to meet the deadline, James told ABC News last month that she would ask the court to seize Trump’s properties.
“It would be completely illogical — and the definition of an unconstitutional Excessive Fine and a Taking — to require Defendants to sell properties at all, and especially in a ‘fire sale,’ in order to be able to appeal the lawless Supreme Court judgment, as that would cause harm that cannot be repaired once the Defendants do win, as is overwhelmingly likely, on appeal,” Robert wrote on Thursday.
New York Judge Arthur Engoron in February ordered Trump to pay $464 million in disgorgement and pre-judgment interest after he found the former president and his adult sons liable for using “numerous acts of fraud and misrepresentation” to inflate his net worth in order to get more favorable loan terms. Trump has denied all wrongdoing and has appealed the decision in the case.
Earlier this week, Trump’s lawyers argued that the former president is unable to secure a bond for the judgment, having been rejected by over 30 insurance companies due to its size and his need to post properties as collateral.
(NEW YORK) — The first weekend of spring will be ushered in with snow in the Midwest and New England, and heavy rain and possible flooding in major Northeast cities.
The storm will first move through the Dakotas, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan from Thursday into Friday morning, bringing up to 7 inches of snow.
Friday night into Saturday, the storm is expected to reach the Northeast, dumping heavy snow from western New York to New England.
A winter storm watch has been issued from New York to Maine this weekend. More than 7 inches of snow is in the forecast, with more than 1 foot possible in the higher elevations of New England.
On Saturday, heavy rain will hit the major cities along the Interstate 95 corridor, from Washington, D.C., to Philadelphia to New York City to Boston.
Flash flooding is possible; drivers should be extremely cautious.
(NEW YORK) — Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signed a sweeping bill that prohibits the use of state funds for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs and offices at state agencies, higher education institutions and other public entities.
“My administration has and will continue to value Alabama’s rich diversity, however, I refuse to allow a few bad actors on college campuses – or wherever else for that matter – to go under the acronym of DEI, using taxpayer funds, to push their liberal political movement counter to what the majority of Alabamians believe,” Ivey said in a March 20 statement to news outlets.
The legislation was quickly criticized by civil rights and advocacy groups, arguing that similar policies impede on the freedom of speech.
“Today, the Alabama government has failed our children,” said NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson. “The ongoing assault on diversity, equity, and inclusion is part of an anti-Black agenda that seeks to revert our nation back to a time where Black students and teachers were denied adequate access to the classroom. We refuse to go back.”
DEI, as defined by professionals in that field, is aimed at correcting inequities within an organization — this could include implementing accessibility measures for people with disabilities, correcting discriminatory hiring practices, addressing gender and racial pay inequities, anti-bias training and more.
The bill, SB129, would also “authorize certain public entities to discipline or terminate employees or contractors who violate this act.”
The bill also prohibits certain public entities “from promoting, endorsing, or requiring affirmation of or certain divisive concepts relating to race, sex, or religion,” “conditioning enrollment or attendance in certain classes or training on the basis of race or color” and will require higher education institutions to ensure that “multiple occupancy restrooms are designated for use based on biological sex.”
The legislation is the most recent effort in an ongoing conservative-backed movement to restrict programs, curriculum and activities that tackle race, gender, sex, and more.
Similar bills, including Florida’s Stop WOKE Act which restricts race-related teachings and training in schools, have faced legal challenges that have limited the impact of these policies.
The Alabama law goes into effect on Oct. 1, 2024.
The governor’s office did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump and former first lady Melania Trump walk together as they prepare to vote at a polling station setup in the Morton and Barbara Mandel Recreation Center, Mar. 19, 2024, in Palm Beach, Fla. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Donald Trump has boasted that his assets include the “Mona Lisas” of real estate, but the former president risks losing some of those properties and unraveling his personal finances if he can’t satisfy the judgment in his $464 million civil fraud case by next week.
New York Attorney General Letitia James could ask the court to freeze Trump’s bank accounts, begin collecting rent from the tenants of his buildings, subpoena the former president for his personal financial information including tax returns, and request that the New York City Sheriff auction his trophy properties within months, according to multiple experts in the judgment collection industry who spoke with ABC News.
In a filing this week, Trump’s lawyers told the court that securing a bond for the full judgment was a “practical impossibility” after over 30 insurance companies declined to accept Trump’s cash and properties as collateral.
“If he does not have funds to pay off the judgment, then we will seek judgment enforcement mechanisms in court, and we will ask the judge to seize his assets,” James said in an exclusive interview with ABC News last month.
However, the process of enforcing the massive judgment would likely require navigating a maze of limited liability companies, constant roadblocks by defense attorneys and technical challenges — slowing the process of collecting from a former president one of the largest judgments in New York history.
“You can’t just say, ‘It’s Trump Tower, so I’m going to take it,'” said Steven Yudin, a New York judgment enforcement attorney. “I’m sure Donald Trump does not own Trump Tower in his own name; you would have to unravel that.”
Last month, Judge Arthur Engoron determined that Trump, his sons, and their co-defendants engaged in a decade of fraudulent business by inflating the former president’s net worth. Engoron temporarily barred Trump and his sons from doing business in New York and imposed a judgment of $464 million for disgorgement and pre-judgment interest. Last month, A New York appellate judge denied Trump’s request for a delay of the enforcement of the judgment but temporarily lifted the court’s ban on Trump and his sons running New York companies.
On Thursday, Trump defended the financial strength of his company and said his decision about posting a bond would be “guided by the courts.”
“Billions of dollars of value, billions of dollars in properties, but they’d like to take the cash away, so I can’t use it on the campaign,” Trump said, though his campaign has largely used funds from donors.
In a statement to ABC News, Trump’s attorney Chris Kise described James’ most recent filing in the case — where she suggested Trump secure multiple smaller bonds or put up his properties with the court — as a “brazen abuse of power.”
“The Attorney General’s latest filing demonstrates her continued willingness to misrepresent the facts and misconstrue applicable law in her political crusade against President Trump,” Kise said.
What happens if Trump can’t get a bond?
If Trump and his co-defendants are unable to pay the full balance of the judgment in an account with the court, secure a bond, or consent to have his buildings held by the court by Monday, the New York Attorney General could ask the court to enforce the $464 million judgment.
The process will likely be lengthy given the defendants and immense size of the bond, according to trial attorney Kevin O’Brien, especially if James opts to seize the former president’s properties.
“That’s going to be a long process, and it’s not going to happen overnight,” O’Brien said. “These properties are huge, they have debt … and they have tenants.”
James’ investigation of Trump revealed wide-reaching misrepresentations in the former president’s financial statements between 2011 and 2021. According to judgment enforcement attorney Peter Agulnick, James could attempt to get a fuller picture of the former president’s finances, including involving the Trump Organization’s independent monitor Barbara Jones.
“You could subpoena the judgment debtor and require him to give his tax returns and all sorts of documents concerning his financial condition and assets,” he said.
If Trump has money in savings or brokerage accounts, James could attempt to freeze those assets to satisfy a portion of the judgment, according to Steven Cohen, a New York attorney whose work includes enforcing judgments. James could also ask to impose restraining notices on the Trump Organization’s tenants so they pay rent to New York’s Sheriff’s office — and contribute to the judgment — rather than to the former president’s companies.
One challenge to the collection efforts could be the Trump Organization’s complex corporate structure, which creates a barrier between the defendants in the case — Trump, his sons, the Trump Organization, and the holding companies for some buildings — and the mechanisms that exist to collect judgments.
“People like him have a lot of layers of ownership, so it’s going to take some effort to unravel that and get his assets,” attorney Yudin said.
Could Trump Tower or Mar-a-Lago be seized?
James could ask the New York Supreme Court to force Trump to auction off his shares in his New York properties — such as Trump Tower or 40 Wall Street among others — through either a receiver or the New York City Sheriff.
“The more unique the asset, the more you probably want a receiver,” judgment collection attorney Kenneth Katz said. “A sheriff is not going to go out and try and find buyers; they’re just going to say, ‘Six weeks from now, we’re going to sell this building, anyone who is interested will show up.'”
While James could attempt to enforce the judgment through the sale of out-of-state properties, seizing a property like Mar-a-Lago would require additional steps like registering the judgment in Florida, and states often include restrictions on seizing a defendant’s personal residence.
“I’m going to assume they’re going to go to the New York properties first because that’s the easiest thing to do,” Cohen said.
In an interview with ABC News, James suggested Trump’s 40 Wall Street skyscraper — which neighbors the New York Attorney General’s Manhattan office — was a potential asset she could seize.
“We are prepared to make sure that the judgment is paid to New Yorkers, and yes, I look at 40 Wall Street each and every day,” James said.
The judgment collection process normally takes years or months, but the Trump case could also be expedited due to the high-profile defendants, according to Cohen. Trump’s lawyers are likely to attempt to stop the process along the way, potentially slowing the pace of the sales until after New York courts finish hearing Trump’s appeal.
“There are things to do to slow the process down. You’re always going to be met with roadblocks and resistance,” Yudin said.
Does Trump have enough money to pay the bond?
While the former president claims to be worth over $10 billion — largely due to his “brand value” — the exact amount of cash held by the president is unknown.
In a deposition last year, Trump claimed he has over $400 million in cash, and his statement of financial condition in 2021 listed that he had $294 million in cash and cash equivalents. Since that financial statement was issued, Trump profited $126 million from the sale of a Washington, D.C. hotel and $60 million from the sale of a New York golf course.
Trump could potentially make billions from his stake in the company behind his Truth Social social media platform, Trump Media & Technology Group — which is set to merge with Digital World Acquisition Corporation later this month — but Trump would not be able to sell those shares for at least six months.
Trump also faced similar issues securing a bond for his $83.3 million judgment in his defamation case.
In that case, the former president ended up using a brokerage account to collateralize a bond through the massive insurance company Chubb, but the company declined to issue a bond for the fraud case using Trump’s properties as collateral.
Why does Trump’s team believe a delay is necessary?
Trump’s lawyers have insisted that despite the issues securing a bond, the company is strong financially and will not attempt to avoid enforcement of the penalty, which James has suggested.
“While it is my understanding that the Trump Organization is in a strong liquidity position, it does not have $1 billion in cash or cash equivalents,” Trump’s broker said in a recent filing.
Defense lawyers have instead argued that the decision in the case was fundamentally flawed and is bound to be overturned on appeal. Selling the properties to post a bond would cause irrevocable harm to the company, according to Trump’s lawyers.
“Once you scramble the egg, you can’t unscramble. If he’s forced to put these properties on the block now, what if he wins the appeal?” O’Brien said.
Lawyers for the New York Attorney General pushed back on the request — noting he could instead secure multiple bonds or hand over control of his buildings to the court — and argued Trump can’t secure a bond because his “holdings are not nearly as valuable as defendants claim.”
“There’s an irony about a situation where he had been puffing up his net worth, and now when it serves the opposite purpose, his incentive is to basically beat them down to say, ‘I have very few assets under my control,'” said Columbia law professor Eric Talley.
(NEW YORK) — Over 10 days into the search for missing college student Riley Strain, his family said they’re starting to have difficult conversations.
“Put yourself in our shoes,” Strain’s stepfather, Chris Whiteid, told ABC News on Wednesday. “Your family, your brother, your sister — they’ve been missing for almost two weeks.”
“Everybody knows it, everybody’s thinking it — those conversations are starting to happen,” he said. “It’s not what we want. And I understand that people want to know what we’re feeling — we’re feeling frustrated, we’re feeling hurt, we’re feeling depressed.”
“Nobody knows what happened to Riley,” he said.
Strain, a 22-year-old senior at the University of Missouri, went missing on March 8 after a night out in Nashville, Tennessee.
Strain and his Delta Chi fraternity brothers were in Nashville for their fraternity formal and went out in the city’s Broadway area.
Whiteid said Strain spoke to his mom multiple times a day. On the night of March 8, Whiteid said Strain FaceTimed his mom from a bar and didn’t sound intoxicated.
Strain and his mom exchanged more texts after the FaceTime call, Whiteid said. The last text Strain sent to his mom that night was, “I love you.”
Surveillance cameras and police body cameras captured Strain’s last known movements from about 9:30 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Police released body camera video of Strain speaking to a police officer around 9:50 p.m. The officer asked how he was doing, and Strain, walking alone, responded, “I’m good, how are you?”
Whiteid said Strain sounded like his usual polite self in that interaction with the officer.
“Why he didn’t ask for help, I can’t answer,” Whiteid said. “It makes no sense.”
Police said there is no evidence of foul play.
On Sunday, Strain’s bank card was found on the embankment between Gay Street and the Cumberland River, near Riverfront Park, police said.
Authorities have been searching by foot, by drone and by boat, including using boats with sonar equipment, according to police.
The United Cajun Navy has also arrived in Nashville to help and is organizing volunteers. David Flagg of the United Cajun Navy said they’re searching the river and are putting together a “structured and organized ground search.”
And the search is now stretching beyond Nashville, with authorities on Wednesday shutting down a dam to look through debris about 30 miles downstream from the riverbanks where Strain was last seen, according to Nashville ABC affiliate WKRN-TV.
“We feel very confident with everything that’s moving forward,” Whiteid said of the police investigation, city support and volunteer searches. “There’s not a playbook we can go by when, you know, something like this happens, so the more experienced people you can have in your corner, the better.”
Whiteid said that he believes “somebody’s seen something, somebody knows something.”
“They just have to realize they need to share that information with us,” he said.
