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Now that New York State has won the civil fraud case against Donald Trump, Attorney General Letitia James insists she will try to seize Trump’s buildings if the 45th President is unable to pay the $354 million judgement against him. James has even specifically mentioned 40 Wall Street, one of Trump’s most prized assets, as a likely target for seizure in that event. That proclamation has many legal pundits wondering if James has the ability to do so, and speculating as to what Trump’s options are in the wake of the verdict. Law and Crime Network anchor Jesse Weber is among the experts pondering what comes next; he appeared on 710 WOR’s Len Berman and Michael Riedel in the Morning program to say that the legal maneuvering is far from over.
“Trump is gonna have 30 days to appeal this decision, and the first thing that he’s going to try to do is set up a bond,” Weber told Berman and Riedel. “Then what he’s gonna try to do is get the court to stay this decision… as he works through the appeal. An appeal could take months, it could take a year- and that’s just one court… So, I think we’re not at the point right now where he has to fork over $455 million, because I’m adding the $100 million in interest, or he has to sell off his properties.”
But while Trump may have several legal avenues to choose from, Weber feels James may have now limited herself to just one. “Doesn’t she have to go after everybody else in the New York real estate industry? If this is rampant, if everybody’s doing what Trump is doing… and she doesn’t go after anybody else, that looks political. Now, the problem for her is, if she starts to do that, they’re just going to flee New York. These businesses are just going to leave New York, and so now, she’s put herself in a very, very tough position and I am of the opinion that’s the way we have to look at this decision. We have to look at what she does next.”
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