Far-left New York Judge Arthur Engoron on Thursday ruled Trump must inform a court-appointed monitor *in advance* about his effort to secure appeal bonds in Letitia James’ Soviet-style fraud case with no victim.
The independent court monitor, Barbara Jones, is a former federal judge appointed by Bill Clinton.
In October Engoron barred Trump and Trump’s family members from transferring assets or creating new entities without notifying Barbara Jones.
According to Trump’s lawyers, Barbara Jones has been paid a staggering “$2.6 million to “uncover” seven (7) immaterial disclosure items, three (3) irrelevant inconsistencies and five (5) clerical errors” since she was appointed as an ‘independent monitor’ in the NYC civil fraud case.
Nothing to see here, move along.
CNBC reported:
A judge ordered Donald Trump’s company Thursday to inform a court-appointed financial watchdog about any future efforts to obtain an appeal bond.
Judge Arthur Engoron’s order came three days after Trump’s lawyers said in a court filing it has been “impossible” for the former president to get such a bond for a civil fraud case he lost.
Trump was seeking the bond to prevent New York’s attorney general from collecting on a $454 million civil fraud judgment against him while he appeals the verdict in Manhattan Supreme Court.
His attorneys said more than 30 surety companies rejected Trump’s request for a bond.
Attorney General Letitia James can begin seizing Trump’s properties next Monday to collect the judgment unless the appeals court grants him a waiver, or unless he manages to secure a bond or puts up real estate as collateral for the court.
In his order Thursday, Engoron told the Trump Organization it must tell its financial overseer, Barbara Jones, “in advance, of any efforts to secure surety bonds.”
New York Attorney General Letitia James on Thursday took the initial step to seize Trump’s assets. She filed judgments in Westchester County where Trump’s private estate and golf course is located.
President Trump has four days to either pay the judgment or convince the appellate court to allow him to defer the payment pending appeal.
Trump’s legal team has filed an appeal and requested a stay on the massive $464 million judgment.
On Thursday Trump’s attorneys sent a letter to the Appellate Division of New York’s Supreme Court and asserted Letitia James’ actions are “unconstitutional.”
“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,” Trump’s attorney Cliff Robert wrote.
Trump’s attorney also said Letitia James’ demand that Trump pay the judgment in full in order to appeal is “unreasonable, unjust, and unconstitutional (under both the Federal and New York State Constitutions) bond condition, which would cause irreparable harm and foreclose any review of Supreme Court’s deeply flawed decision in this case.”
