OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Before former President Donald Trump’s Monday deadline to pay his hefty $454 million civil fraud penalty—an amount that was more than halved on appeal—civil rights attorney Leo Terrell criticized New York Attorney General Letitia James.
Terrell, during an appearance on Fox News with host Mark Levin, noted that James’ prosecution of Trump was entirely politically motivated because she admitted as much in 2018 campaign videos in which she promised to go after the then-president in court.
“Bankrupt him under the phony law and phony prosecutor. I don’t know, when I was a young attorney if you were running for office to be the attorney general of the state and you said you’re going to target Donald Trump, ‘I’m going to get Donald Trump,’ … it would be brought to the bar,” the host began. The bar would’ve brought it up itself, they would have condemned it, and they would have sanctioned that attorney.
“You are not allowed to run for office, much less a prosecutorial office, and to make claims like that under any rules of ethical conduct in any state that I am aware of. It is so corrupt. Is the bar filled with Democrats who have not said or done anything? What about the legal profession now? What you make of that?” Levin asked.
“Look, let me be clear, there is no legal profession in New York. What you just articulated, I will be as clear as possible. Letitia James is a racist. She targeted Trump. I submit to the following evidence — the videotape of her claiming that if she gets into office, she will go after Trump,” Terrell said.
“And then she colludes with a left-wing progressive judge who doesn’t know anything about real estate, and again, they are trying to prevent Trump from running for office. They are trying to destroy his livelihood. They are trying to take everything he built up and take it away,” Terrell continued.
“To try to discourage him from running for office, I find the conduct of the New York bar offensive. It is disgusting. What should happen is that the case should be appealed, and it will be appealed, and it should be reversed because that was not justice. It is political warfare,” he said.
WATCH:
An appeals court ruled on Monday to reduce the amount that former President Donald Trump had to pay for his bond, ordering him to pay $175 million within the next ten days.
Previously, Trump was facing a Monday deadline to pay a $454 million bond due to civil fraud charges brought forth by New York Attorney General Letitia James, Fox News reported.
Last week, Jonathan Turley, a law professor at George Washington University, stated that Democratic Attorney General Letitia James of New York was “not likely” to seize any of the properties former President Donald Trump owned.
In Westchester County, New York, where Trump owns the Trump National Golf Club Westchester and a private estate in Seven Springs, James filed judgments against Trump and others on Friday.
Turley stated that James might have a much harder time taking possession of the properties than she had anticipated.
“These properties are partnerships, they have leveraged debt. All of that has to be unraveled,” Turley told Fox Business host Larry Kudlow.
“So these aren’t just this, you know, one to one Trump versus James type of equation. So in order to seize that property, she’s going to be pulled into court, there’s going to be challenges. It’s not going to happen overnight. Everyone is celebrating this idea that she’s going to padlock Trump Tower. It’s not likely to happen, and it’s certainly not likely to remain very long,” Turley explained.
