‘Shark Tank’ Star Warns Trump’s NYC Fraud Penalty ‘An Attack On America’
Former president and presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump has announced that he is unable to secure $464 million to pay an exorbitant amount for bond in order to appeal his civil fraud case — and successful businessman Kevin O’Leary is warning that the unprecedented fine and the shocking ruling behind it are “an attack on America.”
O’Leary, the chairman of O’Leary Ventures and star of “Shark Tank,” made the comments during an appearance on Fox News Channel’s “Outnumbered” on Tuesday.
His warning came after Trump lost the civil fraud case against him in New York with a clearly corrupt ruling, as he was found to have committed fraud without being given the ability to defend himself, then was subsequently taken to court to determine damages in the case — despite there being no actual victims of the supposed crime.
O’Leary is especially concerned with the implications of this case, as the practice that New York Attorney General Letitia James and the court determined to be fraud — Trump supposedly “inflating” the cost of his properties to obtain favorable loan terms — is a common practice for real estate developers, as these individuals come up with their own estimates of the value of their properties and then negotiate with the bank, which comes up with its own estimate. He is also concerned about New York’s threats to seize Trump’s assets to cover the fine.
“I don’t think this a case about Trump at all anymore,” O’Leary told the Fox News panel. “I think people should be thinking about the policy being put in place here, the competitiveness of New York state versus other U.S. states, but more importantly, the message about the American brand… The reason this is the number one economy on Earth is that we have laws, and we have due process, and we have property rights. It attracts foreign capital from all around the world.”
“All of that is being shaken to the core here,” he added. “The concept of seizing assets in 30 days on a bond number that’s never been issued — no insurance bond company has ever issued anything near this.”
O’Leary confirmed that there was “no chance” that Trump would be able to secure the bond in just 30 days, noting that it is “a really bad message.”
He then pointed out that New Yorkers should think of the implications of this ruling beyond Trump, adding: “This is case-setting against the American brand. The most stable country on Earth, anywhere, to put capital to work over a long period of time, particularly in real estate, is the United States of America. This is an assault on what we believe to be core and I find it extraordinary. I think it’s very troubling. It has absolutely nothing to do with Donald Trump at this point, in my view. And it is completely bipartisan.”
“This is an attack on America and I don’t know how you can look at it any other way,” O’Leary continued. “And as an investor, and I know plenty of investors who are completely disturbed by this… but no one is going to put any money to work in New York in these amounts until this thing settles down. The whole world is watching and everybody’s waiting for one thing we haven’t got yet: adult supervision. Where is it? Where are the adults in this crazy narrative? Certainly there’s got to be adult supervision at some point. And I understand, you know, the war going on here and all the political yada-yada, woof-woof-woof. But we need an adult in the room now. This is the United States of America under siege.”
