Democrats on Capitol Hill don’t have much sympathy for former President Trump as he struggles to come up with a $464 million appeal bond due in less than a week.
“He’s broke, and he’s willing to sell the country for a dollar in order to make whatever he needs for himself,” New York Democrat Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez told Fox News Wednesday.
A New York Appeals Court judge late last month denied the 2024 GOP front-runner’s request to delay payment of the $464 million owed as a result of Attorney General Letitia James’ civil fraud lawsuit.
Trump has until Monday to secure an appeal bond. If he doesn’t, James previously warned that she would move to seize his assets. Those could include prominent New York City properties like Trump Tower and 40 Wall Street.
“A jury of his peers has decided on this case,” said Rep. Jahana Hayes, although there was no jury involved in the trial.
“It’s not in the hands of Congress,” Hayes, a Connecticut Democrat, added. “So I think that people should obey the law.”
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“If he didn’t want to get his property seized, if he didn’t want to be fined, he shouldn’t have committed crimes,” Rep. Sean Casten, a Democrat from Illinois, said of the civil case.
Trump’s attorneys said in a court filing this week that obtaining a bond “of this enormous magnitude” is “unprecedented for a private company” and a “practical impossibility.”
“It seems very punitive, directed in a political way, and it’s something that seems overwhelming,” Rep. John Moolenaar said.
“I don’t know anyone that could put up that kind of money,” the Michigan Republican added.
Rep. Michael Cloud said that although he had not read all the details of the former president’s case, the potential seizures rang alarm bells.
“We are seeing a [Department of Justice] that is weaponized, in many ways, against the American people, President Trump being a key target of that,” the Texas Republican said.
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