Trump wracked with 'frustration and concern' as time to pay bond ticks down: NBC
Former President Donald Trump feels the heat as the deadline to pay the bond in his $464 million civil fraud case ticks nearer.
In that case, Judge Arthur Engoron found the former president, his two adult sons, and his former chief accountant Allen Weisselberg liable for systematically lying about property valuations to manipulate tax liabilities and interest rates on loans.
According to NBC News, "Trump, the billionaire developer who is seeking a return to the White House, finds himself in the unenviable position of hitting up high-dollar donors not just for campaign cash — for which he has an urgent political need — but also to see whether they might guarantee his bond, according to a Trump ally who received such a call from a member of the presumptive GOP nominee's team."
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Trump is already facing long odds in getting anyone to pay, because apart from the sheer size of the monetary ask, he has a long track record of stiffing people in business relationships.
The bottom line, NBC's Garrett Haake wrote, is that "[At] Mar-a-Lago, there’s frustration and concern over Monday’s bond deadline — but not panic — as Trump faces a cash crunch."
"A source close to the Trump family said Trump’s defense team is gaming out its options, including ways Trump could appeal Engoron's ruling without having to put the bond up and what would happen if they can’t secure the required sum. There’s also the belief that seizing Trump’s assets or liquidating them at 'fire sale' prices, as Trump has warned, could prove to be rocket fuel for his campaign," said the report. "'They’re looking to appeal the actual requirements to have to put up this amount of money to appeal and then, obviously, the appeal itself on grounds it’s a violation of the Eighth Amendment,' the source said. 'They have to figure all those machinations out.'"
Some other sources have suggested Trump is resigned to the probability New York Attorney General Letitia James will start seizing his property — but that he could try enlist the Supreme Court to claw it back for him.