Letitia James could go through Stormy Daniels to get money toward Trump's fraud judgment
New York Attorney General Letitia James could seize some of the $464 million Trump owes the state from an unlikely place: adult film star Stormy Daniels.
According to Newsweek, "James would be authorized to seize Trump's bank accounts and properties, but she could also go after money that's owed to the presumptive Republican nominee for president. That could include over $600,000 that Daniels owes Trump for her failed defamation suit. The total surpassed $600,000 after the adult film actress was ordered to pay Trump an additional $121,972 in legal fees last year."
Daniels, whose purported affair with Trump formed the basis of a hush payment scheme now separately being prosecuted against Trump by the Manhattan district attorney, has subsequently claimed that her former attorney Michael Avenatti filed that suit on her behalf without her knowledge and didn't give her a full accounting of how her crowdfunded legal fees were spent.
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Avenatti, who subsequently went to prison for tax evasion, embezzling from his legal clients, and attempting to extort the Nike Corporation, has denied these claims.
The $464 million civil judgment against Trump came after state Justice Arthur Engoron found that Trump, his two adult sons, and his former chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg fraudulently manipulated the valuation of Trump Organization assets to reduce tax liabilities and loan interest. Trump is appealing the decision, but still needs to post bond while he does so, and his lawyers have said he can't find any company or benefactor willing to put up that money on his behalf.
If the bond isn't posted by Monday, James can begin to seize Trump's assets to make up the difference. She has already taken some steps that would allow her to seize Trump's properties in Westchester County, including a golf club and his Seven Springs estate.