Dem
51
GOP
49
Donald Trump thought he had bought himself some breathing room in terms of his troubles with AG Letitia James. Maybe not so much, as it turns out, as there are now as many as three new problems he has to be worried about.
First up, James has learned that there were some documents that would have been very germane to the trial of former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg, but that were not turned over, despite a subpoena. That is potentially fraud, and the AG sent a letter yesterday asking Judge Arthur Engoron to investigate the matter. We shall see what comes of this; maybe the Trump family couldn't find the documents because they were misplaced in a bathroom at Mar-a-Lago.
The second headache involves the bond that Trump DID NOT submit in order to protect his properties—you know, the one for $464 million? His attorneys told the Court that there was simply no option available for securing a bond of that size, and that persuaded the Court to drop the necessary amount to $175 million. Thereafter, both Trump and financier Don Hankey (who backed the $175 million bond—or maybe not; keep reading) publicly remarked (actually, more like bragged) that Hankey had offered to back the full $464 million. If that is true, and Trump's attorneys did not reveal that to the court, then they and/or their client could be in big trouble.
The third, and very possibly biggest, headache involves the bond that Trump DID submit, the one for $175 million. That instrument has been put under the microscope, and it's not looking good. To start, Hankey's company, Knight Specialty Insurance Co., is not registered to do business in New York, and also neglected to submit certain required paperwork to the court. Further, it does not appear that Knight has either the liquid assets needed to pay off the bond, nor does it overall have the level of assets needed to take on this kind of risk (a company that appears to be worth a total of $400 million or so, and that has cash reserves of $140 million or so, is not in a position to back a $175 million bond). Finally, experts who have looked at the paperwork say the bond agreement is written in a strange way, such that Trump's real backer appears to be Donald Trump, and not Knight Insurance.
We already noted that both the court and AG Letitia James were leery of the bond, and were demanding more information, but it's only been in the last 24 hours or so that the extent of the problems has become clear. There will be a hearing on April 22, and at least one outlet is reporting that James might not wait that long, and may begin seizing money or property in short order, on the basis that Knight Insurance is not able to do business in New York. You'll know if James actually moves forward; just watch Truth for a bunch of angry, racist postings from @realDonaldTrump. (Z)