Dem
47
GOP
53
While he was asking for his various state cases to go away, Donald Trump also requested NY AG Letitia James to drop her case in the name of national unity. You know, the one in which Judge Engoron ordered him to pay a penalty that is now up to $486 million for defrauding New York banks. Trump said that with the case pending, he wouldn't be able to be a good president and deport enough immigrants—or something.
Guess what? James said: "Nope." Well, the official response from her office was a bit longer: "There is no merit to your claim that the pendency of defendants' own appeal will impede Mr. Trump's official duties as President. The trial is over, final judgment has been rendered, and defendants' appeal to the First Department has been fully submitted and argued. Mr. Trump's official duties will not be impeded while awaiting the First Department's decision."
The First Department referred to is the appeals court that now has the case. This is a civil case and further it predates Trump's first term in office, so there is no case whatsoever that it even needs to be paused during Trump v2.0. The judge's decision was made in February. He fined Trump $354 million, but due to interest, the judgment now stands at $486 million. Trump appealed the decision. Eventually, the appeals court will make a decision. If it upholds the lower court decision, then Trump could file an appeal to the top state court, the New York Court of Appeals. However, that court is not obligated to take the case. Trump could also attempt to appeal to the federal courts, but since the case is about a violation of New York commercial law, it doesn't raise a lot of federal issues.
Suppose the First Dept. sustains Engoron's ruling and the Court of Appeals doesn't want to take the case. Then Trump will be ordered to pay up. What happens then? The judge can't very well send the local cops to the White House to arrest Trump. What the judge could potentially do is order the New York County recorder to transfer some of Trump's real estate holdings to the State of New York and then order them auctioned off. Needless to say, Trump wouldn't like that and what would happen next is rather unprecedented. (V)