As Donald Trump faces a Monday deadline to provide the $454 million bond for appealing the New York civil fraud case, Department of Justice veteran Andrew Weissmann stated on Sunday that the former president is unlikely to file for bankruptcy.
What Happened: Discussing Trump’s options, Weissmann, a former FBI General Counsel, emphasized the abnormality of the situation. “We have the major candidate for the Republican Party…having to pony up basically half a billion dollars, where they’re going to start taking his assets or he’s going to court to have a judge decide the trial date for his first criminal trial,” he said in an MSNBC interview
The criminal case, brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, accuses Trump of falsifying business records to disguise hush money payments to adult movie star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election.
Weissmann also noted the contradictory statements from Trump and his attorneys regarding the former president’s financial situation in the New York civil fraud case. “In the last week, we have seen his lawyers telling an appellate court, please give him relief because he is broke. He cannot pay this money, essentially,” he said.
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“Simultaneously, you have Donald Trump saying, oh, no worries. I’ve got the money.” Trump stated on Truth Social that he has about half a billion dollars in cash but would prefer spending it on his election campaign rather than paying the fine.
The DOJ veteran said bankruptcy is the one thing Trump will not do due to a “whole variety of reasons.” Politically it might be bad, he said, adding, “If you go to bankruptcy, a trustee is appointed and that means there is a complete open kimono about everything that he has done and seen and all of his finances. He loses complete control.”
“There is a waiver of attorney-client privilege. I mean, that is sort of the biggest disaster, sort of both legally and politically. So I just can’t see that as an option.”
Weissmann sees a lot of scrambling around to shore up the finances. “So I think that we should expect some sort of ‘deus ex machina’ from potentially some third party coming in…I actually think he will really have to come up with some way of cobbling together, whether it’s sort of stitching it together with little pieces, but paying everything.”
Potential Ramifications: MSNBC political commentator Tim O’Brien stated that initially, New York Attorney General Letitia James may freeze Trump’s assets. “I think she’s going to issue a sweeping attachment of all of his assets. There’s been a lot of speculation that she might pick off certain properties,” O’Brien said.
“I think her office — because they’ve been prosecuting him on this issue — has a fairly good sense of what kind of debts he has against each property, which properties offer the most liquidity to settle their judgment.”
O’Brien said he does not expect the New York property to be included as a German family owns the land under 40 Wall Street, aka the Trump Building. “He has gorged historically on debt, so the amount of actual equity that can be liquidated to settle this judgment might be really incremental on each property,” he said.
“Nonetheless, you know, for somebody who prizes his independence and prizes the idea that no one gets in his way, this is one, the financial equivalent of a proctology examination. And secondly, it just really ties in. It ties him up and embarrasses him publicly, regardless of how he funds his escape. It is an existential moment for someone who has tripped through, time and again, financial embarrassments.”
Weissmann pointed out that James’ office could take all of the income streams coming in, including the rent royalties, interest and all that he is owed. O’Brien agreed with him and said. “So they’re going to be putting their hands in every single pocket he has.”
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