{"id":2206451,"date":"2024-03-26T11:38:02","date_gmt":"2024-03-26T15:38:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trumps-reduced-bond-doesnt-make-letitia-james-election-meddling-lawfare-any-less-scandalous\/"},"modified":"2024-03-26T11:43:57","modified_gmt":"2024-03-26T15:43:57","slug":"trumps-reduced-bond-doesnt-make-letitia-james-election-meddling-lawfare-any-less-scandalous","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trumps-reduced-bond-doesnt-make-letitia-james-election-meddling-lawfare-any-less-scandalous\/","title":{"rendered":"Despite Trump&#8217;s lowered bond, Letitia James&#8217; election-meddling lawfare remains scandalous"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ftrumps-reduced-bond-doesnt-make-letitia-james-election-meddling-lawfare-any-less-scandalous%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2206451&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>A New York <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/federal-court-is-fast-tracking-sidney-powells-request-for-a-forensic-exam-of-dominion-voting-machines\/\" title=\"Federal Court Is Fast-Tracking Sidney Powell\u2019s Request For A Forensic Exam Of Dominion Voting Machines\">appeals court<\/a> reduced Donald Trump&#8217;s bond while \u2064he appeals a ruling\u200b on inflating \u2064his net \u200bworth for loans. The decision sparked mixed reactions, with Trump criticizing Judge Engoron and Letitia James. Trump&#8217;s ability to post bond delays James&#8217; asset seizure plans, but the politicized case continues to draw criticism for its excessive nature and potential\u200d impact on constitutional liberties.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"article-content\">\n<p>A New York appeals court on Monday reduced the bond that former President Donald Trump must post while he appeals a decision that found him liable for inflating his net worth to secure loans, despite the fact that the loans were paid back and the banks involved were fully satisfied. The ruling was met with celebration from the Trump team, but it doesn\u2019t make New York Attorney General Letitia James\u2019 relentless lawfare campaign against the former president any less abhorrent. <\/p>\n<p>The Appellate Division in Manhattan on Monday gave Trump 10 days to post a bond in the still-exorbitant amount of $175 million, down $279 million from Judge Arthur Engoron\u2019s initial judgment. The New York Times <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/03\/25\/nyregion\/trump-bond-reduced.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">said<\/a> two sources familiar with the matter confirmed the former president would be able to post bond. <\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2-long d-flex justify-content-center\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; \" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-318695462\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1379703300879-0\" class=\"mb-30\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-1b93699e7c0a2ae556017c0845e656af fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-1b93699e7c0a2ae556017c0845e656af\"><\/div>\n<p>Trump reacted to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/third-degree-murder-charge-against-ex-cop-derek-chauvin-reinstated-by-appeals-court\/\" title=\"Third-Degree Murder Charge Against Ex-Cop Derek Chauvin Reinstated By Appeals Court\">appeals court\u2019<\/a>s decision, arguing it calls into question Engoron and James\u2019 credibility. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cJudge Engoron has refused to obey the decision of the Appellate Division relative to the Statute of Limitations. This is a confrontation between a Judge and those that rule above him \u2013 A very bad situation in which to place New York State and the Rule of Law!\u201d Trump said in a statement. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is the 5th time in this case that he has been overturned, a record. His credibility, and that of Letitia James, has been shattered. We will abide by the decision of the Appellate Division, and post either a bond, equivalent securities, or cash,\u201d the former president continued. \u201cThis also shows how ridiculous and outrageous Engoron\u2019s original decision was at $450 million.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While Trump can momentarily relish the fact that posting bond will put James\u2019 plans to seize his assets on hold, the judgment doesn\u2019t change the fact that James\u2019 case against Trump is an obviously politicized lawfare campaign <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/03\/26\/new-yorks-fraud-judgment-against-trump-is-so-bad-even-his-biggest-critics-arent-defending-it\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">over<\/a> \u201ca fraud case in which there are no fraud victims.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-e829555b11db4cffc74400303df02cb8 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-6\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-e829555b11db4cffc74400303df02cb8\"><\/div>\n<p>The Eighth Amendment stipulates \u201cExcessive bail shall not be required, nor <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/salon-owner-files-lawsuit-over-oregon-governor-threatening-to-have-cps-take-her-kids-for-defying-lockdown\/\" title=\"Salon Owner Files Lawsuit Over Oregon Governor Threatening to Have CPS Take Her Kids for Defying Lockdown\">excessive fines<\/a> imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.\u201d The late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg summed up the importance of the Eighth Amendment\u2019s protections, writing in a 2019 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.supremecourt.gov\/opinions\/18pdf\/17-1091_5536.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">decision<\/a> that \u201cexorbitant tolls undermine other constitutional liberties.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor good reason, the protection against excessive fines has been a constant shield throughout Anglo-American history,\u201d Ginsberg wrote. \u201cExcessive fines can be used, for example, to retaliate against or chill the speech of political enemies.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>James actively <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/trump-fraud-new-york-letitia-james-lawsuit-a3a2c2569440c24bd5c5262103cb8390#\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">campaigned<\/a> on using lawfare to go after Trump, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2022\/09\/21\/james-lawsuit-trump-longstanding-battle-00058128\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">calling<\/a> him an \u201cillegitimate president.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Trump\u2019s team argued Engoron\u2019s \u201cgrossly disproportionate and unconstitutional\u201d  initial judgment was likely to be overturned, and asked the appeals court to lower the bond amount or pause it altogether.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-70fddf4df85309d489d897e43db9f08a fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-10\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-70fddf4df85309d489d897e43db9f08a\"><\/div>\n<p>Like the other legally suspect cases brought against Trump by Democrat prosecutors and the Biden administration\u2019s Department of Justice, James\u2019 lawfare is kneecapping the Trump campaign by costing the candidate time and money in an election year. Forcing him to liquidate assets to post bond would cause even further damage.<\/p>\n<p>What exactly is Trump \u201cguilty\u201d of, anyway? As my colleague Mark Hemingway <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/03\/26\/new-yorks-fraud-judgment-against-trump-is-so-bad-even-his-biggest-critics-arent-defending-it\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">noted<\/a>, \u201cthe banks did their own due diligence about Trump\u2019s finances and ability to pay back the loans and decided to give them to him. Trump paid back the loans, and everyone made money.\u201d One of the values the former president is accused of inflating, for example, is his sprawling Mar-a-Lago estate at between $427 million and $612 million, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/brianbushard\/2023\/10\/03\/trump-claims-mar-a-lago-worth-15-billion-in-latest-plea-to-drop-fraud-case-but-judge-ruled-its-wildly-inflated\/?sh=c833d9d5a67d\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">according<\/a> to Forbes.<\/p>\n<p>Engoron cited a one-off local Palm Beach County appraiser that valued the property at as low as $18 million. During the trial, Trump\u2019s legal team provided an expert\u2019s current appraisal of the property at $1.5 billion, which Engoron dismissed as \u201cunexplained and unsubstantiated,\u201d according to the <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2023\/10\/02\/judge-implores-media-to-stop-saying-he-valued-mar-a-lago-at-18m\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">New York Post<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>Several experts valued the property in the hundreds of millions, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/ny1.com\/nyc\/all-boroughs\/news\/2023\/10\/09\/is-mar-a-lago-worth--1-billion--trump-s-winter-home-valuations-are-at-the-core-of-his-fraud-trial\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reports<\/a>. Ironically, should James seize the waterfront property, she\u2019d quickly realize it would fetch far more than Engoron\u2019s $18 million assessment.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-988b063266ce26530d8dab06eb9a0978 fdrlst__b89e9-after-post-content\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-988b063266ce26530d8dab06eb9a0978\"><\/div>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">    \t\t\t\t\t   \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On Monday, a New York appeals court decreased the bond for former President Donald Trump as he appeals a verdict of inflating his net worth for loans. Despite loan repayment and bank satisfaction, the ruling sparked mixed reactions<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":74,"featured_media":2206452,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/53299405556_cb2de114a0_k-e1711401074364.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2206451","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/53299405556_cb2de114a0_k-e1711401074364.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2206451","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/74"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2206451"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2206451\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2206452"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2206451"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2206451"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2206451"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}