George Conway, the outspoken lawyer and legal analyst who has been critical of President Trump, made an interesting observation on Monday. He suggested that New York Attorney General Letitia James might have found some satisfaction in Donald Trump’s recent appellate court ruling, which reduced his bond.
In February, Trump faced a substantial penalty as a result of being found accountable in a civil fraud lawsuit filed against him and The Trump Organization by James and her office. The lawsuit accused him of engaging in a long-term scheme to artificially inflate his net worth and the value of his assets in order to obtain more advantageous business loans. The penalty, which now exceeds $450 million including interest, required Trump to obtain a bond slightly exceeding this amount by Monday to proceed with his appeal.
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. Last week, Trump’s legal team sought permission from a New York appeals court to pay a significantly 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, one of the co-founders of the Lincoln Project anti-Trump political action committee, expressed her belief that James might find a victory in the appellate court’s decision. Despite the fact that this ruling grants Trump the ability to postpone or potentially overturn the penalty against him, Conway remains optimistic about James’ chances.
Conway expressed his satisfaction with the Appellate Division’s decision to reduce Trump’s bond to $175 million. As the NYAG’s office, Conway believed that this ruling would benefit the State of New York. By requiring Trump to post such a substantial bond, the state ensures that it will have a guaranteed means of collecting at least that amount if it ultimately prevails in the appeal. This eliminates the need for the state to go through the arduous and expensive process of tracking down Trump’s assets across the country.
In a follow-up post, he mentioned, “It is important to note that this assumption is based on Trump’s ability to provide the $175 million. However, even if he is unable to do so, the State would not suffer any additional losses. It would simply have to pursue Trump for the entire amount owed.”
In response to Conway’s second post, Trump has expressed his intention to promptly pay the appeal bond.
According to recent reports, the large bond of nearly half a billion dollars seemed to be a source of concern for Trump. However, he has recently stated that he has $500 million in cash-on-hand. It is worth noting that he mentioned these funds would be used exclusively for his ongoing presidential campaign.
