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Former President Donald Trump provided supporters with a major update on his progress to secure enough funds to pay his excessive $454 million civil fraud bond ahead of the Monday deadline.
Trump on Friday said he had raised nearly half-a-billion dollars and appeared to be in a good position to pay the bond as New York Attorney General Letitia James moved to begin confiscating some of his properties in the state.
On February 16, Manhattan Judge Arthur Engoron ordered Trump to pay $454 million in penalties. The judge found Trump guilty of fraudulently inflating his assets to boost his net worth in September, though Trump has frequently disputed the ruling and, during the hearing phase, argued that none of the financial institutions he worked with lost money. Officials from those banks confirmed as much during testimony.
The fee, which was determined without a jury, included about $355 million in disgorgement and over $98 million in prejudgment interest at a 9% annual rate.
Additionally, Engoron banned Trump from engaging in business in New York City for three years as an officer or director and from applying for loans from any New York-chartered or registered financial institution.
James, who campaigned on “getting Trump,” has threatened to seize Trump’s prized New York properties, including his Westchester golf course and Seven Springs estate.
In a Friday Truth Social post, Trump revealed he had secured the cash to pay the bond:
THROUGH HARD WORK, TALENT, AND LUCK, I CURRENTLY HAVE ALMOST FIVE HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS IN CASH, A SUBSTANTIAL AMOUNT OF WHICH I INTENDED TO USE IN MY CAMPAIGN FOR PRESIDENT. THE OFTEN OVERTURNED POLITICAL HACK JUDGE ON THE RIGGED AND CORRUPT A.G. CASE, WHERE I HAVE DONE NOTHING WRONG, KNEW THIS, WANTED TO TAKE IT AWAY FROM ME, AND THAT’S WHERE AND WHY HE CAME UP WITH THE SHOCKING NUMBER WHICH, COUPLED WITH HIS CRAZY INTEREST DEMAND, IS APPROXIMATELY $454,000,000. I DID NOTHING WRONG EXCEPT WIN AN ELECTION IN 2016 THAT I WASN’T EXPECTED TO WIN, DID EVEN BETTER IN 2020, AND NOW LEAD, BY A LOT, IN 2024.THIS IS COMMUNISM IN AMERICA!
He added:
NO TRIAL, NO JURY, NO CRIME, NO VICTIM, ONLY A CROOKED JUDGE AND A CORRUPT, TRUMP HATING ATTORNEY GENERAL, WHO TAKES HER ORDERS DIRECTLY FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. ELECTION INTERFERENCE AT A LEVEL NEVER SEEN BEFORE!!!
Meanwhile, the shareholders of the shell company that controls Truth Social, the social media platform founded by Trump, have voted to take the company public. The move is expected to provide Trump with a windfall of over $4 billion during a crucial time in his ongoing criminal and civil cases.
A vote by the owners of Trump Media & Technology Group to merge with Digital World Acquisition Corp, a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), would result in Truth Social being listed on the NASDAQ Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “DJT.”
If valuations for the new entity hold, President Trump could end up with between $3.5 and $4 billion in new net assets. However, converting the on-paper value into cash could be challenging, CBS News reported.
Trump would need to sign a waiver allowing for the liquidation of his stock before a six-month lockup period. Doing so would allow him to post the $454 million bond needed for his New York real estate judgment, the report noted.
Last week, Engoron “ordered the Republican presumptive presidential nominee to inform the court of any attempt to secure a bond ahead of Monday’s deadline,” Newsmax reported.
Engoron, in his order, “said the Trump Organization needs to provide details on any attempt to secure a bond to the court-appointed monitor, former federal Judge Barbara Jones,” the outlet’s report noted.
“The Trump Organization shall inform the Monitor, in advance, of any efforts to secure surety bonds,” Engoron said in his order, as well as “any personal guarantees made by any of the Defendants,” per NBC News.
