BREAKING: New York Attorney General Letitia James Prepares To Seize Trump's Assets

On Thursday, the New York attorney general's office filed judgments in Westchester County in a sign that AG Letitia James (D-NY) has begun to prepare to seize presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump's assets if he is unable to secure the funding needed to post a bond for the $454 million fine levied against him by the state following a civil fraud case. Trump's attorneys indicated last week that it was a "practical impossibility" to find an insurance company willing to put up the money on Trump's behalf.

Lawyers for the state filed the judgment a week after Trump was ordered to pay the fine, and the judgment in Westchester would cover a Trump-owned golf course and a private estate that is just north of Manhattan. A judgment has also been entered in Manhattan where Trump could have 40 Wall Street, Trump Tower, and multiple hotels seized, as reported by CNN. Trump has until Monday to either find a underwriter to back a bond or James will begin seizing his assets which could include not only his real estate but his bank accounts as well.

Trump's lawyers explained last week that they have visited with dozens of surety companies to underwrite the bond but that they have been unable to find any help in securing funding. "The amount of the judgment, with interest, exceeds $464 million, and very few bonding companies will consider a bond of anything approaching that magnitude," Trump's lawyers, who attempted unsuccessfully to post only a $100 million bond last month, wrote. The attorneys have approached 30 surety companies in an attempt to find a company that is willing to underwrite the bond. The 45th president's "ongoing diligent efforts have proven that a bond in the judgment's full amount is a 'practical impossibility,'" the lawyers explained in a court filing. "These diligent efforts have included approaching about 30 surety companies through 4 separate brokers." Trump has until next week to post the bond, and if he fails to do so, James will be able to begin collecting the fine by seizing Trump's assets.

As previously reported by the DC Enquirer, Judge Engoron ruled last month that Trump defrauded various banks to receive more beneficial loan terms. Engoron ordered Trump to pay a massive $354 million fine in addition to barring him "from serving as an officer or director of any New York corporation or other legal entity in New York for a period of three years." Trump is also responsible for paying around $100 million in pre-judgment interest.

Trump has vowed to appeal the ruling. However, he must first pay the fine in the form of a bond to the state. James, who ran her campaign around bringing charges against Trump in 2018, explained that if Trump is unable to come up with the funds, then she would seize his assets. "If he does not have funds to pay off the judgment, then we will seek judgment enforcement mechanisms in court, and we will ask the judge to seize his assets," James told ABC News. 

The New York AG explained that she is confident that she would win her case on appeal and that she is actively looking at seizing 40 Wall Street, a skyscraper owned by Trump in Manhattan's financial district. "We are prepared to make sure that the judgment is paid to New Yorkers, and yes, I look at 40 Wall Street each and every day," she said.

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