Trump asks MAGA supporters for generous donations to show he can pay the massive $464 million bond in New York
The former president has until Monday to convince the court that he can fulfill his obligations in order to appeal the harsh sentence.
Former President Donald Trump sent a campaign message to his supporters asking for massive cash donations to meet a court payment commitment and appeal the $464 million judgment for civil fraud in New York.
“KEEP YOUR FILTHY HANDS OFF OF TRUMP TOWER!” reads a message in all caps sent by Trump to his supporters from a joint fundraising committee that allocates money to his campaign and a separate political committee that pays part of his legal bonds.
“Insane radical Democrat AG Letitia James wants to SEIZE my properties in New York. This includes the iconic Trump Tower,” the campaign message continued. “Democrats think that this will intimidate me. They think that if they take my cash to stifle my campaign, that I’ll GIVE UP!”
“But worst of all? They think that YOU will abandon me, and that you will GIVE UP on our country. Here’s one thing they don’t know: WE WILL NEVER SURRENDER!” continued the text, which later ended with a request for cash: “So before the day is over, I’m calling on ONE MILLION Pro-Trump patriots to chip in and say: STOP THE WITCH HUNT AGAINST PRESIDENT TRUMP!”
The message, sent via mail and text messages, urged the former president’s MAGA supporters to donate amounts ranging from $20.24 to $3,300 or any other amount.
The message from former President Trump’s campaign comes at a time when his legal team and the Republican candidate himself are publicly ensuring that “It will not be possible” to obtain the bond amount of $464 million before Monday’s deadline, when the attorney general, Letitia James, will be able to begin confiscating his assets in New York.
Trump, convicted of civil fraud, is trying to appeal the multimillion-dollar sentence against him, but to do so, he must guarantee that he will be able to pay the fine through a bond. In this case, the former president must obtain a payment commitment through a company that will allow the legal battle to continue without the fine being collected or having one’s assets seized.
However, despite meeting with more than 30 bail bond companies, the former president apparently lacks the resources necessary to obtain a guarantor willing to put up such a large amount and guarantee this appeal bond.
According to Trump’s legal team, an appeal bond for the total amount of such a high sentence is a practical impossibility requiring cash reserves close to $1 billion, representing an “unprecedented request for a private company.”
This Thursday, Clifford S. Robert, the former president’s lawyer, sent a letter to the Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court criticizing prosecutor James for her “unconstitutional” efforts to seize Trump’s assets by being unable to pay bond for Trump’s appeal.
“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 in the letter.