Before a Monday deadline to post a mammoth appeals bond to prevent the state from enforcing a nearly half a billion dollar judgment, the former president declared in an all-caps post on his Truth Social that he obtained “almost” $500m “through hard work, talent and luck.”
That “substantial amount” was intended for his presidential campaign, he said on Friday.
New York Attorney General Letitia James is preparing to seize Mr Trump’s assets if he is unable to come up with the $464m bond in his Manhattan fraud trial by this Monday’s deadline.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump’s Truth Social platform, launched in the volatile aftermath of the January 6 attack, is headed for Wall Street as shareholders of his social media platform have voted to take the company public.
Watch: Fani Willis says she doesn’t feel like Fulton County case has been slowed down
Here’s the latest on the sprawling Fulton Country racketeering case against Donald Trump and his co-defendants, courtesy of Joe Sommerlad, following attempts to oust DA Fani Willis from prosecuting the case.
As Donald Trump looks increasingly unlikely to secure a bond to satisfy his $464m civil fraud judgment, New York Attorney General Letitia James has not been shy about the idea of seizing assets. His New York City namesake, Trump Tower, is one piece of his property empire in the crosshairs. The former president has made it clear that he does not want his building seized, and a fundraising message to his supporters read: “KEEP YOUR FILTHY HANDS OFF TRUMP TOWER!” But how do New Yorkers feel about the suggestion that the attorney general could seize his property? The Independent finds out.
Trump and Giuliani face ‘prison and jumpsuits’ according to ex-ally Lev Parnas
“Prison and jumpsuits,” he said. “They will be cellmates for the rest of their lives.”
During the House Oversight Committee’s 20 March hearing, Mr Parnas did not mince his words.
But, instead, he claimed that Mr Trump, Mr Giuliani and their associates “lied to” the American people when they pushed falsehoods “knowing it would undermine the strength of our nation”.
Survey finds Republicans who don’t watch Fox News less likely to back Trump
A new poll by The New York Times and Siena College has found that Republicans who get their news from non-conservative mainstream media outlets are less likely to support Donald Trump.
Further, a sizable number believe the former president acted criminally.
Of those surveyed who get their news from conservative outlets such as Fox News, 100 per cent said they intended to vote for Mr Trump, whereas of those who consumed other mainstream media 79 per cent said they would vote for him. Of that second group, 13 per cent said they would vote for Joe Biden.
The poll underlines the potential difficulty the former president may face in the general election in November. While he stormed home in the primaries which are dominated by the party’s base, he might struggle to win over the general electorate.
What happens if Trump can’t secure $464m bond in civil fraud case?
In a revealing court filing on 18 March, lawyers for Donald Trump said that he has tried to get help from at least 30 companies who can post a bond in excess of $454m after he lost a civil fraud trial in New York earlier this year.
But none of them could, and now he faces the “practical impossibility” of coming up with the money before the state’s imminent deadline to enforce the judgment against him, according to his attorneys.
The extraordinary circumstances also raise the prospect of the GOP’s presidential nominee being a convicted felon on the hook for tens of millions of dollars he doesn’t have when voters cast their ballots in November.
Mr Trump also cannot get rid of debts obtained by fraud by filing for bankruptcy.
Trump and Rubio’s history of spats as VP rumours ramp up
The Florida Senator suggested on Thursday that he and the former president had buried the hatchet, appearing open to the opportunity to serve as Mr Trump’s number two, should he be elected.
Kelly Rissman looks into the history of their relationship:
