Polls show that most Americans believe the cases against Donald Trump are politically motivated. Every time a new investigation against him has emerged, support for the former president has increased in the polls. In the wake of the case brought by New York Democratic Attorney General Letitia James, it appears that the strategy of some leftists is to bankrupt Trump.
Perhaps, realizing that the attempt to damage the former president's reputation only increased his popularity and facing the reality that proving all the accusations made against him in multiple cases is very difficult and takes a long time, even taking part in fights that would involve the Supreme Court, the multi-pronged strategy to prevent him from becoming president now includes breaking him financially.
The case is absolutely scandalous. There are no victims. Trump was accused of inflating the value of his real estate assets to get better loan terms. Judge Arthur Engoron found him guilty in a non-jury trial brought to the court by a Democratic attorney general who campaigned promising to sue former President Donald Trump. The banks involved said they were happy with the deals made and that the former president was a good customer. Trump paid all the money he owed them, and no one was harmed.
However, not content with developing such an obviously politicized case, the judge decided that Trump must pay $454 million, an unprecedented figure. Even if Trump wanted to appeal, he would have to pay the total amount. Who has that kind of money? The former president's legal team said it consulted more than 30 companies that could give him the money and got no positive response. No company has ever dealt with such a gigantic bond request before, and that should make it clear to everyone just how vicious they are attacking Trump.
Trump asked an appeals court to remove the requirement that he post a bond of such magnitude in order to appeal. His team argued that it was an abuse of power and that he was being cornered into liquidating his properties at below-market prices to try to get the money in time, which would cause him irreparable harm. This Monday, the New York appeals court lowered his bail to $175 million. The decision comes on the day of the deadline given by Judge Engoron for Trump to pay the $454 million before the Attorney General tried to seize the former president's properties.
This decision to reduce the gigantic sum comes after a difficult week in which the former president's team even launched a campaign to ask for donations from his supporters to help raise the money. Messages sent by the Republican's team read phrases like, "Hands off Trump Tower!" "Keep your dirty hands off Trump Tower" and "Trump Tower is mine!" All this because Attorney General Letitia James assured that if Trump did not pay the exorbitant figure, she would start seizing his properties. James recorded the judgment in Westchester County - where Trump's Seven Springs property is located - which is the procedural step before asset forfeiture.
While the appeals court decision is a big win for Trump, proving that the bail imposed by Judge Engoron was abusive, Trump still has a long way to go. This decision does not exempt him from paying the $454 million if he ultimately loses the case, and he still has the entire appeals process ahead of him.
It should be noted that the issue is problematic not only because of Trump and the threat of jeopardizing the right of Americans to choose whoever they want as president but also because of what it means in legal matters and in terms of respect for private property and business.
This case sets a terrible precedent for investment in New York. It involves an Attorney General prosecuting an entrepreneur, in a case without a single victim, for doing something that big business tycoons commonly do consciously or unconsciously-inflate the value of their assets- and is precisely why business valuations always have a "due diligence" clause that tells lenders to make their determinations without relying solely on what is stated by the borrower. In the aftermath, for many entrepreneurs, New York has become a place with few legal safeguards for doing business.
Although the bail has been greatly reduced, it is still a gigantic and shocking sum, especially since it is a case that, for many jurists, has no basis whatsoever. Trump has said that he already has the money to pay the new amount imposed by the appeals court, but what is evident so far, with the actions of the judge and the attorney general, is that they want to impact Trump financially to the point of bankrupting him.
For the sake of the country and democracy, there is hope that Trump will achieve due process in all of his open cases, that he will be allowed the right to appeal, and that judges and prosecutors will stop using the justice system to persecute the Republican candidate for political reasons.
