AG James Could Encounter Roadblocks To Trump Asset Seizure

Monday represented the deadline by which former President Donald Trump was ordered to shell out nearly a half-billion dollars as bond as part of a civil fraud case concocted by New York Attorney General Letitia James.

While James has indicated that a failure to provide the required $464 million could result in the seizure of various assets, experts advise that such a threat is easier made than kept.

According to Adam Leitman Bailey, a real estate attorney familiar with New York law, outlined some of the many hurdles the attorney general would likely need to clear if she went forward with a plan to confiscate the former president’s property — beginning with the bond process itself.

“Bonds people do not like to use the property as collateral because it’s hard to liquify the asset if there’s a default,” he explained. “And for the attorney general, this isn’t so easy either. It’s going to be very difficult to seize his properties. It takes a lot of work.”

Furthermore, he clarified that in many cases, “Trump doesn’t own the property” on which the potentially seized real estate sits.

“They could sell the ground lease but the real estate market in commercial property is so down now it’s hard to know what it would go for, especially for assets that are inflated like Trump’s are,” Bailey said.

Another potential roadblock would involve any assets Trump has placed in a trust for his children.

“The attorney cannot touch anything in an irrevocable trust,” Bailey explained. “Letitia James will be able to get the cash and the furniture but that won’t come anywhere near the judgment. James probably knows that she used an arcane statute not meant for this type of case, and knows the decision will get cut down on appeal. If she gets $100 million that would be good news for her.”

Pollster Frank Luntz noted that the attorney general faces another likely wrinkle in her scheme as the presidential election approaches. 

“If they take his stuff, he’s going to say that this is proof that the federal government and the establishment and the swamp in Washington and all the politicians across the country and the attorneys general and all of this, that this is a conspiracy to deny him the presidency,” Luntz predicted. “He’s going to go up in the polls, just like he went up every single time they indicted him.”