George Conway, the lawyer and legal analyst who has been vocal in his opposition to Trump, recently hinted that New York Attorney General Letitia James might find some satisfaction in Donald Trump’s bond being lowered by a recent appellate court ruling.
In February, Trump faced a substantial penalty as a result of a civil fraud suit filed by James and her office against him and The Trump Organization. The suit alleged that Trump had engaged in a long-term scheme to artificially inflate his net worth and the value of his assets in order to obtain more favorable business loans. The penalty, now totaling over $450 million with interest, was imposed on Trump. He was given until Monday to obtain a bond slightly exceeding this amount to proceed with his appeal of the ruling.
According to reports and court filings, Trump faced challenges in securing the required amount due to the hefty penalty imposed on him. Over 30 surety entities turned down his request for bond coverage. In response, Trump’s legal team recently sought permission from a New York appeals court to pay a reduced bond. The court granted his request on Monday morning, enabling him to proceed with an appeal by posting a $175 million bond within the next 10 days.
In a series of posts on X, Conway, the co-founder of the Lincoln Project anti-Trump political action committee, expressed the possibility of James achieving a victory in the appellate court’s decision. Despite the ruling allowing Trump to delay enforcement or potentially overturn the penalty against him, Conway highlighted the potential for a positive outcome for James.
Conway expressed his satisfaction with the Appellate Division’s decision to reduce Trump’s bond to $175 million, stating that if Trump can secure that amount, the State of New York will have a guaranteed means of collecting at least that much if it succeeds in the appeal. This will eliminate the need for the state to spend time, money, and resources on pursuing Trump’s assets across the country.
In a subsequent post, he further commented, “Of course, this assumes that Trump is able to provide the $175 million. However, if he is unable to do so, the State will not be at a disadvantage as it would still have to pursue Trump for the entire sum.”
In response to Conway’s second post, Trump has made it clear that he plans to pay the appeal bond promptly.
Even though the bond worth almost half a billion dollars seemed like a challenge for Trump, he recently stated that he had $500 million in cash available. However, he made it clear that these funds would be used exclusively for his current presidential campaign.
On Monday afternoon, Trump’s office was contacted by Newsweek via email for comment.
