Seems our favorite adjudged rapist and fraudster is having a spot of bother raising half a billion:
TL:DR–no one in the rather small universe of insurance companies that provide such bonds will take on such an enormous sum without cash or cash-equivalent collateral.
What I found particularly interesting was the remark in an insurance broker’s affirmation that most of the handful of companies that do handle transactions on this scale cap their exposure at $100 million.
That suggests to me that even if Judge Engeron were to reduce the bond to, say, the principle amount without interest (high in the $300 millions) or even just to cut the demand in half ($232 million) Trump would still have a big hill to climb. And even at the lower amount, he’d still be on the hook for a 4% premium, or over $5 million in ready money.
[ETA: to repeat, I am not a lawyer, but if I’ve read actual lawyers correctly, the bond has to cover 110% of the judgment, so if Engeron does not drop the amount required Trump needs to raise or get surety for over $500 million. That’s kinda of a lot of money even for a real billionaire.]
Not to mention that Trump and his attorneys did not exactly ingratiate themselves with this judge. That shouldn’t and maybe won’t make a difference to Engeron’s engagement with the merits of their argument, but (recalling that IANAL) it seems likely that the quality of mercy may be just a bit strained in this instance.
In possibly unrelated news, popcorn futures opened significantly higher in the morning markets.
As open as Trump’s books aren’t, this thread is.
Image: Victor Dubreuil, Barrels of Money, c. 1897
Mousebumples
Oh, what’s that? The consequences of Trump’s own actions?
Couldn’t happen to a more deserving individual.
PaulWartenberg
Now that trump has pulled his hostile takeover of the RNC, does THAT get considered an asset that AG James can seize? (evil laugh)
Splitting Image
At least he still has his good looks and charm.
Kosh III
Awwww….poor baby…….Maybe he can sell Melania to Elon.
gratuitous
Why didn’t Mr. Shart of the Deal negotiate a settlement instead of going through a protracted trial (in which his participation was minimal). He rolled the dice and he lost, bigly. It is now time to face the consequences for his own freely chosen actions.
Scout211
Ha ha. Just believe us that all of Trump’s properties are worth effectively 400 beeeeelion dollars! Just ask Trump!
syphonblue
But I thought he was so rich and had all the money!
sdhays
@Scout211: And believe us that they’re not effectively owned by someone else (a bank, for example).
E.
Presumably his Supreme Court will find new love for the 14th Amendment and find a way to extract him from this but who knows.
MattF
I suppose just getting the money from Vlad isn’t an option.
sdhays
@gratuitous: I doubt it mattered in the end since the client is a moron who wouldn’t listen to reason anyway, but you really got the feel that his lawyers hadn’t gamed anything out about this trial and basically had no strategy other than hamfisted intimidation. Their “strategy”, such as it was, seemed to be jury focused, even after they stumbled upon the fact that these kinds of trials in New York aren’t heard by juries.
The only idea they had was intimidating the judge (fail) and jury nullification (hard fail), and they just kept going with that.
Sid
@Kosh III:
Indecent Proposal meets C.H.U.D.
Omnes Omnibus
@sdhays: To be fair to his lawyers (I know, I know!), their client did not give them a lot to work with.
TBone
The art of the steal! All he has to do is open another casino, build that tower in Moscow, beg and steal more from his cult, design some more sneakers and non-fungible tokens, and sell more real estate! It’ll be fine! 🔥😆 Maybe another cancer charity and a university?
sdhays
@E.: The Supremecist Court doesn’t have many options when it comes to this case since it involves NY state law.
SiubhanDuinne
Great thread title, Tom!
This news is likely to have me smiling all day.
Jeffro
maybe he can use Jared’s $2B slush fund from the Saudis as collateral?
TBone
Whar Alina Habbit now?
Sid
I guess this is where Trump finds out who his friends are, i.e. Putin, the Saudi royals, etc.
Scout211
@Omnes Omnibus: What are the chances that the judge will grant the request to delay posting the bond until his appeal of the case is over?
sdhays
@Omnes Omnibus: True. But we also know that at least one of his lawyers just isn’t very bright because she bragged about it on the Tee Vee.
I still haven’t really wrapped my mind around that one.
Omnes Omnibus
What we have to remember is that Trump has already ready posted a bond for around the $100 million mark. That means that he has probably pledged the assets that are least encumbered.
Omnes Omnibus
@Scout211: Let me ask this, why would he?
oldster
The judge should just say:
This man is a convicted serial fraudster. These appeals are another attempt to commit fraud. Hand over the money or go to jail.
Bang!
NotMax
Repeating.
Dolt 45’s new rallying cry?
//
devore
Sounds like the state of NY will be getting an airplane soon. Just need to get ready to do a quick paint job to get you know what removed.
p.a.
Maybe he can monetize his gibberish speeches? Given his audience: vhs tapes of the proceedings. The MAGAts can choose to invest in them, their oxygen tanks, or their cartons of Marlboros.
Percysowner
@gratuitous: that would’ve involved, admitting he was wrong about something. Trump will never admit he’s wrong about anything.
Dangerman
Can we arrange for the not rich fucker (Elon has half a billion in his couch cushions) to pick up trash along the highways and byways of NY to work it off? I recognize that it would be raining dog shit (extra credit for hitting him in the ass) but couldn’t we call it a fertilizing project, too?
frosty
You come up with the perfect art for your posts!
MazeDancer
Fire sale on Fifth Avenue!
Alas, something will happen.He can find the money, he just doesn’t want to, so he’s asking, as usual, for special treatment.
sdhays
Elon is pretty heavily leveraged. That’s why he wants Tesla to shovel billions in cash his way.
It’s hard to conceive how the super rich live lavash lifestyles almost entirely on credit. It’s very different from the rest of us.
Thor Heyerdahl
Tough. Shit. Donny.
JoyceH
Let’s remember that he testified in a deposition to this case that he had at least $400 million in cash reserves. Assuming he put up the &90 million in the Carroll case, that still leaves him &300 million, so he only needs to finance about $165 million. After all, surely he didn’t lie under oath!
Miss Bianca
@sdhays: Seems to me you have summed up the situation accurately.
Almost Retired
I may soon be able to obtain the gold-plated toilet I’ve always coveted on QVC. Happy Anniversary Mrs. Almost Retired!!
Ruckus
@Mousebumples:
THIS.
@gratuitous:
It is now Way Past time to face the consequences for his own freely chosen actions. FIXITFY
trollhattan
Donny’s bloodbath has been there all along, listed under “Liabilities.”
RaflW
He has always claimed that he has tons of wealth locked up in all that real estate. But he obviously has pulled out all the equity to support his lifestyle, and the insurance companies & banks know that, particularly after pledging assets to get that other bond, there’s net nothing left.
He’s functionally broke. At least in terms of being a ‘billionaire’.
NotMax
“We ask the court to grant an extension of the time to post bond pending the upcoming launch of Truthcoin.”
//
fancycwabs
Shouldn’t he be able to find half a billion dollars in the hamberder-fart-filled couch cushions at Mar-a-Lago? It’s either that or mint a special Trump NFT that’s “worth $500M.”
Dupe1970
@Scout211:
But why would Trump lie about the value of hid assets? It’s not like he has history of distorting his asset value for his own personal gain……
Ruckus
@E.:
That is one obvious possibility.
It is also possible that they may be looking at this as a complete and utter fucking disaster and really, really, letting him suffer is better than them getting involved.
And SFB is doing enough on his own to sink the Titanic several times over, does he really need help?
geg6
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
*deep breath*
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
That is all.
Baud
@Scout211:
If so, why couldn’t he get a bond using the properties as collateral?
Dorothy A. Winsor
@gratuitous: Exactly. If you can’t do the time, Donny, don’t do the crime.
geg6
@Scout211:
Not to mention that could it possibly be that he hasn’t used them as collateral for all his other financial shenanigans? I’m sure he’s in hock for every penny of their real worth and, based on this particular case, more.
Ruckus
@Sid:
They aren’t his friends, the only thing they likely wanted was an insider in the WH and while he looked like one, he’s done his usual fine job of being not worth a shit to anyone and everyone. He’s the guy that AWAYS makes everything worse. He likely used to be good for a laugh from them, but no one is laughing now. IOW they do not want any part of the shit show that is djt, especially now that his true colors have been seen.
Tom Levenson
@Baud: The insurance broker’s affirmation said that bond surety companies generally don’t take real estate as collateral because (in essence) they don’t know what to do with it should they have to seize some property.
Baud
@Tom Levenson:
Thanks.
marcopolo
A little SCOTUS news:
So at least at the state level (for state and local offices) the insurrection clause still works.
Mousebumples
https://bsky.app/profile/nycsouthpaw.bsky.social/post/3kny46gl3wl2f
Seems plausible.
I feel like he pulled something similar in the E Jean Carroll bond case.
“this isn’t fair! I need more time!”
Got a No in response, and still managed to put up a bond.
I’m thinking he has an offer he didn’t like, she he wants an out.
E.
@sdhays: Oh but they do. He challenges the NY bond requirement as unconstitutional and Bob’s your uncle!
Anoniminous
@sdhays:
Trump is a citizen of Florida.
Ruckus
@Dangerman:
Why does one get extra credit for hitting such a large target, you know, one that can clearly be seen from outer space…. Besides, isn’t he all ass?
geg6
@Anoniminous:
IANAL, but wasn’t he a citizen of NY at the time of the violations? Pretty sure he was.
Ruckus
@JoyceH:
After all, surely he didn’t lie under oath!
Heavens to murgatroyd no! He lied? He’s such an honorable pile of shit, why would he lie?
Dangerman
Seems to me, related to 29, that BJ’s contribution to this FO exercise is to find a way to properly launch Great Dane shit (I assume there is some quantity and quality involved there) at a person such that he gets knocked on his sorry ass.
Potato gun? My favorite House MD episode BTW.
NotMax
Next: claiming it’s cruel and unusual punishment.
trollhattan
@JoyceH: Channeling George Costanza: it’s not a lie if you believe it’s true.
Ruckus
@Omnes Omnibus:
I believe that one has to have been dead for at least 3 weeks not to see that.
Ruckus
@Sid:
They are not his friends, they just assumed that they could get something from him. But all he’s got to give them they flush away daily and don’t really need more.
Another Scott
@devore:
That plane is worth a fortune. It has a gen-u-ine Renoir on it, you see…
[groucho-roll-eyes.gif]
Cheers,
Scott.
Doug R
@gratuitous: Yeah, E Jean probably would have settled for $100 million or less, problem dodged.
Now it’s going to be the E Jean Carroll Tower.
Dorothy A. Winsor
Presumably there are people and countries who could give Trump this money. But they didn’t. Does that mean they think he won’t be reelected? (I’m looking for hopeful signs)
scav
Why aren’t his devoted followers out en masse flogging their grandchildren’s teeth to support him? (The bank of the tooth fairy is always open.)
TBone
@NotMax: his raison d’etre
Omnes Omnibus
@Anoniminous: If Trump was a citizen of FL when the case was filed, he could have sought removal to federal court. He didn’t (or wasn’t eligible because he lived in NY at the time). He waived the right or never had it.
Greg
I thought that in a sworn deposition, that Trump said he had $400M in cash. Seems like a good starting point for a response. If he wants to admit to perjury, that is on him.
RaflW
@Mousebumples: Was gonna post this skeet.
But, yeah it fits Trump’s M.O. It looks like in addition to having to cough up 120% of the bond as collateral, Donnie would have to pay 2%, or about $18.5M, in fees. And if the bond has to be extended for a second year, that premium to Chubb has to be paid again.
He’s such a fucking cheapskate that he is running to the court of appeals to save what should be chump change to a billionaire.
Anoniminous
@geg6:
Trump became a resident of Florida on September 2019. The NY trial stated October 2023. So one can argue they have jurisdiction.
I’m not saying they will take the case. I’m saying they could take an appeal. Remember the Robert’s Court decided Democracy is Boring, actually counting votes is not only tedious but unnecessary, and gave the 2000 election to Shrub.
Doug R
@JoyceH: I think the Russians gave him about $700 million about a decade ago-I doubt he’s got much more than $100 million left.
Right now, Jared’s going “New phone, who dis?”
Mousebumples
@RaflW: yup. Point being, as much as I’d love to see assets seized, I’m not counting on it happening this month, until the date passes without a bond being presented.
karen marie
@sdhays: SCOTUS nullified a 100-year-old NY State law regarding guns. I would not put it past them nullifying the state laws Trump violated.
marcopolo
One more piece of OT good news: the UAW has recruited enough workers (they say ~70%) at the Chattanooga VW plant to file to hold an election to join the union there.
I have been totally impressed with Shawn Fain. Getting workers in southern states organized has always seemed like a pipe dream. I’m sure there’s a good story there in regards to how he became UAW’s president (after so many years of less than exciting and often dysfunctional leadership). Guess I should go find out if it’s been written already! Everyone have a nice day!
TBone
Will no one think of his Brand? It’s so very valuable! Value added! Every time he signs a document 🤣
Jackie
Makes the contents stored in those mysterious banker’s boxes at his Bedminster property more meaningful. What Top Secret documents are valuable to foreign dictators – such Hungary, for example?
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Doug R: Also, say what? Can’t raise the bond? That sounds like a you problem, Donny.
Ruckus
@sdhays:
A dollar and a half per hour does not purchase
a lot ofmuchany decent lawyering. And all things considered I’d bet that he really doesn’t have a dollar and a half per hour to cough up.geg6
@Anoniminous:
That was the trial. It was not the start of the case.
ETA: From Wikipedia:
NotMax
@Another Scott
“Of course it’s an original. Look closely at the signature — Floyd Renoir. Wait until you see my Pancho Picasso in the next cabin.”
Omnes Omnibus
According to some of our commenters, Trump is apparently an unstoppable force that can never be defeated.
Mousebumples
@marcopolo: agreed! Good news!
More on topic…
rumpole
Credibility of the client (and counsel) really could hurt him here. All the judge cares about at this point is not getting reversed. That’s it. And the stay’s going to be a pretty forgiving standard. That standard (plus the fact that the defendant engages in fraud in a manner the court found to be nigh-on “pathological” gives him an awful lot of room to say no.
Memory Pallas
IANAL, but I am a NYer. I think the case in NY is against Trump, his sons, several employees and the Trump Organization collectively, so that may complicate his “citizen living in another state” status. He tried to move some of the ownership of properties to Florida sort of surreptitiously recently and the judge (and I think the financial monitor) called that out.
PaulWartenberg
@gratuitous:
Because unlike the previous civil trials where trump bullied and delayed his way into negotiations they were against relatively poor plaintiffs who didn’t care how trump was running his business as long as he paid up what was owed. THIS time it was against a state attorney’s office look to ferret out corrupt practices that trump refused to give up.
Any negotiation would have involved allowing a guardianship to control the company financials to ensure, which happened anyway when the judge ruled against trump and co. There was no way trump could get out of this one without any form of accountability attached.
trollhattan
@Another Scott: Also, all that gold-colored shit? Real gold. You could look it up.
trollhattan
@NotMax: Pancho Picasso was never called an asshole.
Omnes Omnibus
@trollhattan: Not in New York.
TBone
Jeff Tiedrich
@jefftiedrich
A fun fact: actual billionaires can raise half a billion dollars in a heartbeat. deadbeat fraudsters can’T.
trollhattan
@Doug R: Hope she budgets $20mil, minimum, just for extermination services.
Are there bulk deals on exorcists?
Anoniminous
@Omnes Omnibus:
Rights are whatever five USSC justices say they are. If four justices vote to hear an appeal the USSC will hear the appeal.
I’m not saying they will hear an appeal. I’m saying they could, under strict interpretation, hear an appeal.
NotMax
Tour guide on a Fifth Avenue bus.
“And to your right is the infamous Liening Tower of Sieza.”
BR
As I wrote yesterday, I think we need to double down on “he’s a loser” and “he’s a whiner” messaging. In a cult of “strength” and “dominance” there’s nothing worse than constantly hearing that your guy lost the last election and that hurt his feelings and now all he’s got is whining that if he loses again he’s going to be sad and go whine online again. And now he’s a loser in court and is broke.
Chris Johnson
@Dorothy A. Winsor: So go with me on this one, we’ll go on a little journey.
Let’s suppose Trump has always been totally fake, and all of his wealth is either fake or Russian. He’s a Potemkin man used to entrap others. Somewhere along the line he got compromised: he thought he could do real estate deals in Russia and not pay them, and that was it really. Let’s suppose that.
This implies that Russia (i.e. Putin, who runs it) either could, or could not, bail him out. Since their failure of a war they’re kind of up against it, especially now that NATO has expanded to face them, so maybe they literally can’t spare the rubles. Or nobody is willing to work with them in getting the money to him plausibly, which might be another obstacle. He might have to call on real, non-criminal people.
But maybe they can: they sure have enough friends in Congress, even now. In that case it suggests that they don’t want to, even though he was their guy. That implies he is of no further use to them, which is a big statement considering how hard he tried to be useful to them in the past. (Being a Russian spy has a really, really shitty retirement plan).
But that doesn’t mean the end of the story, because there are plenty of other countries! Plenty of other oligarchs, right-wing maniacs. There’s the guy in Argentina. There’s Orban in Hungary. There are any number of people and countries who would be able to spare that amount of money just to more securely have an ex-President in their pocket, to secure the allegiance (not loyalty, but they’d be able to extort him) of the man who will run, if not the United States, then the terrorist cell intended to spur civil war inside it. There’s plenty of people out there for whom that would be valuable.
Crickets.
And that means that not only does nobody consider him worth helping, but on top of that nobody thinks currying favor with Russia is worthwhile enough to pitch in and help their guy in his plight. They may know he’s a total sham, or they may take him at face value (sorta), but they’re like ‘nah, we’re good’.
And THAT to me seems revealing. It’s not just that Putin won’t put his thumb on the scale for a useless servant. It’s that nobody is willing to curry favor with Putin by doing it. The lot of them can just fuck all the hell off. I will toast marshmallows on their pyre.
scav
Thought of a name for his legions of patriotic and devoted can-rattling minions in search of donations. March of Dims.
TBone
@NotMax:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=k_ihxd0bZlU
Anonymous At Work
None of the 30 companies want the whole enchilada or trust TFG enough to handle a piece of it. If 10 companies each handled $50 million each, they’d have to trust that TFG didn’t use the same $50 million in non-liquid assets or that TFG wouldn’t default on all of them and then play them off each other.
Oh, and the appeal of “even publicly-traded companies” is rich. They can and do put up bonds and stock holdings, i.e. actual ownership stakes. Public companies cannot disappear into the night (or Qatar, Bahrain, Moscow, etc.) quite as easily as a private company with one owner.
lafcolleen
@marcopolo:
What happened was direct elections of UAW leadership.
The US AG Office investigation into corruption eventually led to a civil case against the UAW. The case was settled and a monitor appointed.
one of the terms of the settlement was for the monitor to adminster a referendum on whether to switch to direct elections of UAW leadership. Up to the point, union leadership was elected at its regular convention.
The referendum was held in 2021 and it passed.
Direct elections were held (mail ballots) and Shawn Fain was the head of the outsider/reform ticket. A run off needed to be held between Fain snd the prior president and it was absolutely a nailbiter!
the uaw monitor site lays a lot of it out. https://www.uawmonitor.com/
TBone
@scav: 👍
Jackie
@marcopolo: Wasn’t another BIG DIFFERENCE he had ALREADY been tried and convinced? If TIFG had already been tried and convicted for his J6 role, the Supremes might have ruled differently – and TIFG may have been unqualified to run for federal election on ALL FIFTY states.
yellowdog
@Dorothy A. Winsor: I think it means the financial monitor wouldn’t allow it.
Omnes Omnibus
@Anoniminous: Under a strict interpretation, no, they couldn’t. Should they choose to be completely lawless, they could. They won’t though.
JPL
Former Lt. Gov. of GA passes on a no labels runs. phew Because Kemp is a popular governor, GA is going to be difficult for Biden without Duncan peeling away votes.
TBone
@Chris Johnson: I like your style.
Harrison Wesley
@Ruckus: “Trump? Can’t say I know him – maybe he brought me coffee once…”
Betty
@TBone: Does Jared have any loose change he could toss in?
NotMax
@TBone
:·)
Chris Johnson
@TBone: The one part of that speculation I’m most certain about is that Trump is a giant fake.
I mean, who knows, it could have been Saudi oil barons, or British royals, who got his number. I don’t think so, I think it was Russia and Putin, as everyone knows ‘cos I’ve been griping about waaaaay before it was fashionable.
But the part I’m completely sure about is that Trump is completely fake. He’s NEVER had money. He’s some kind of puppet and it’s all gilt and tinsel and bullshit, and it all follows from that. There’s a puppetmaster.
And where are they now?
marcopolo
@Jackie: Well, the issue comes down to who has the mojo to try and convict in a case involving a presidential run (though if I’m not mistaken enough MAGA justices signed on to extend their ruling to all federal elections). I think SCOTUS said that only Congress, through the act of impeachment (or some other mechanism), could do that for someone running as president across all 50 states. A state court wouldn’t cut the mustard. And if it were a federal court, it’s just going to be appealed up to SCOTUS in the long run anyway.
TBone
Beat sweetener
https://payuptrump.com/
TBone
@Chris Johnson: *chef’s kiss and TBone seal of approval 💋
marcopolo
Bad day for asbestos (good day for our lungs):
Hard to believe it hadn’t been totally banned until today, but then I remember how many lead water pipes there still are out there.
West of the Rockies
Ugly toad really doesn’t want to sell real estate assets. Can the judge force that? You get a golf course, you get a golf course, you get a golf course!
Harrison Wesley
All anybody needed to know about Trump’s business acumen is that he owned a casino that went broke. In Atlantic City.
NotMax
@Chris Johnson
Oh, he had money when daddy dearest kicked the bucket. And could have comfortably coasted through life.
Greed and hubris (grubris?) is a lethal cocktail.
TeezySkeezy
@PaulWartenberg: Nah, when it comes to doing real immediate damage, SCOTUS will IMMEDIATELY intervene on Trump’s behalf with a stay and then schedule the hearings for 3 months later.
We only have the narrow path of winning the election *clearly* and then fighting off the inevitable unrest from his base when he gives them the signal. What will decide the outcome of *that* branch of things is how many in law enforcement will do their fucking jobs instead of joining them.
Ruckus
@Omnes Omnibus:
That means that he has probably pledged the assets that are least encumbered.
Or are all that he actually has.
RaflW
@marcopolo: Trump reversed some of the asbestos restrictions to benefit Russian producers.
He really is and has been in hock to Putin & his oligarchs (2018 WaPo link headline – not kidding ~ ‘Approved by Donald Trump’: Asbestos sold by Russian company is branded with the president’s face)
TBone
@Harrison Wesley: I saw Robert Cray at that very casino, years before this anthem to ball gargling thunder twat was written. He prolly never got paid for that gig either 🎶
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=k03dsRUVbcQ
TBone
@RaflW: JFC
Scout211
No underwriters
are that gulliblewill accept his properties as collateral.CNN:
Villago Delenda Est
Too motherfucking bad, orange asshole. Suffer.
TBone
He already had my undying love 😉 but this fabulous story solidified my admiration for all time!
https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/15/politics/rolling-stones-keith-richards-donald-trump/index.html
Miss Bianca
@Mousebumples: heh heh heh
NotMax
@Harrison Wesley
Not just a casino.
Ruckus
@devore:
Naw. He bought it after it was taken out of service at the limit of it’s commercial flight hours. It likely does not have a lot of service life left. The state might want it to just scrap it. But even then it’s not worth much. Less with it’s current paint job. There are acres of such planes sitting around just waiting for the scrap yard.
JPL
This needs to be front paged
Biden/Harris
Ruckus
@devore:
Paint won’t remove the stench….
TBone
President Joe Biden: going up!
Orange thunder twat: down escalator!
Joe knows what to do! 🎶
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qEuV82GqQnE
Ruckus
@Dangerman:
Let’s think about this.
Would you want to be driving to work (or worse going out to dinner) and come across this along side the road?
TBone
@Ruckus: I would. So much opportunity for good trouble!
Ruckus
@JoyceH:
Shirley you jest!
That n’t is doing a hell of a lot of work….
But you knew that.
dmsilev
Let’s pause for a moment to giggle at the amount of pain that the RNC fundraisers must be feeling right now. They’re about to be tapped for half a billion dollars worth of paying-Trump’s-fines, and there’s nothing they can do about it.
Ruckus
@RaflW:
He’s so very likely in hock right up to the padlocks on the doors.
hueyplong
Trump’s unwillingness to negotiate a deal to procure a bond isn’t really a reason to excuse him from having to get one. If failure to post a bond meant that one was not required, no one would ever have to post a bond.
It’s entirely reasonable for bonding outfits to decline to accept real estate collateral to secure an appeal bond for a case expressly finding that he has committed fraud in valuing the very properties at issue. Anything else reeks of a cash contribution to Trump’s campaign, right, Chubb?
Trump’s latest filing is nothing more than asserting for the Nth time that longstanding rules simply don’t apply to him. We can expect the judge to mention that in the presumably curt order summarily denying relief.
Frankensteinbeck
@dmsilev:
Pretty sure the RNC has in the range of 10 million, and spends in the range of 150 million on an entire election. They can’t save him, or come anywhere close. Still, this does mean that every penny the RNC has is likely to be drained for Trump’s financial woes or personal lifestyle expenses.
p.a.
… as the frog successfully reaches the shore of the river the scorpion crawls off its back and scuttles off with a cheery “thanks for the lift!” The frog travels on its way, stopping at a nearby taco truck. When the frog goes to pay, he finds his money, watch, and keys are gone…
Harrison Wesley
@NotMax: Only the best bankruptcies! Bigly!
Omnes Omnibus
@Frankensteinbeck: “Fuck you, pay me.” Couldn’t have happened to a
nicer bunch of guysbigger group of assholes.patrick II
It seems the jury believed Trump when he claimed to be a multi-billionaire.
JPL
@TBone: I already posted this earlier, but I think this is how Biden wins.
Bloodbath in context
prostratedragon
@Harrison Wesley: I think that meant that even back then he was someone’s puppet and they used him for a bustout.
ETA NotMax @126 applies, and is further support.
Eolirin
@patrick II: There wasn’t a jury in this case.
prostratedragon
@dmsilev: They have stepped into a mudhole.
Jackie
@Frankensteinbeck:Every down ballot GQP candidate have to be privately FURIOUS at TIFG. They’re belatedly realizing they’re going the wrong way on the one way street — and TIFG doesn’t give a damn if they get elected or not. He only cares about avoiding prison – which means paying his attorneys to get those delays past Nov 5.
Wapiti
@Jeffro: I think Kushner’s $2 billion is an investment; while the Saudi’s expect that he’ll pull out a couple % each year in management fees, losing a quarter of the principle in a bad bet on Trump might see Kushner losing a hand or something.
hueyplong
@Frankensteinbeck: These gigantic civil judgments are doing significant damage to Trump and his campaign beyond the cash-starving aspect, in that they are pinning some serious loser stink on him.
“He’s not really rich (successful)” is a theme that grows in intensity daily. And it will more easily call to mind his other failures (i.e., his clownish “responses” to COVID). It’s as important as his public mental acuity short-circuits, and the two things ought to have a synergistic effect that we’ll enjoy as we proceed down the long, long road to November. Not sure the FTFNYT is capable of distracting attention away from it forever, and by the time “normies” start to focus, things might be happily beyond recovery for team Trump.
Citizen Alan
@Anoniminous: Uh, no. By operating a business in NY, Trump availed himself of New York law and made himself amenable to NY courts. Also, I assume the NY Trump organization is a party and that destroys complete diversity of the parties (i.e. it’s not federal jurisdiction if there’s a party on both sides from the forum state). The only way the federal courts can intervene is if there’s some sort of equal protections or due process problem. The size of the punitive award gives me pause because of Gore v. BMW, but that’s it.
TBone
@Omnes Omnibus: ❤️😆
TBone
@JPL: I meant to react earlier but my accountant showed up for a meeting. He’s gone now. That video smashes it! 💜🔥💙
hueyplong
@Eolirin: A jury was, however, involved in the Carroll judgments, and they kind of have to have assumed Trump was rich in order for the huge judgment to be required in order to deter him, which is how you’re supposed to go about assessing punitive damages.
Of course, they might have had no opinion on the magnitude of his actual wealth and just decided to make Trump pay based on his bragging about his wealth, figuring that he had it coming whether he was rich or not.
Citizen Alan
@Anoniminous: That was not the Roberts Court. Indeed, the Roberts court only exists because the Rehnquist Court gave the election to Shrub.
Omnes Omnibus
@Citizen Alan: Good point about lack of complete diversity. Also, did the kids change their residency?
Mr. Bemused Senior
“Enjoy” is perhaps not the word I would choose. 😁 It’s going to be a long 8 months.
TBone
@Eolirin: Habbit forgot to check the little box on the mandatory court cover page asking for a jury. Or not a jury. 😆. I used to have to type up those cover pages for every filing we did. Never fucked up like that!
Mousebumples
Omnes Omnibus
@Mousebumples:
Why strand him in our state? Ew.
Citizen Alan
@Omnes Omnibus: I don’t think Trump is an unstoppable force that can never be defeated. But I do think he’s the public face of a literal death cult 75m strong that’s going to be very hard to permanently put down any time soon. I have accepted the fact that for the rest of my life, every federal election is going to be Russian Roulette. Is this the one where we finally get the GOP president who starts having us rounded up.
TBone
@Betty: it’s rolling around in his lizard brain!
Mr. Bemused Senior
@Mousebumples:
Can New York afford to seize the plane? Planes are very costly to maintain and as noted above, what is the resale value? /s
Mousebumples
@Omnes Omnibus: Because he’s unlikely to be campaigning in Alaska?
As the proverbial tipping point state, I’m guessing he’ll be here a lot. 😒
hueyplong
@Mr. Bemused Senior: Haha, I originally italicized “enjoy” but decided against it just before submitting.
If Trump is suffering I will in fact enjoy these 8 upcoming months.
There will be plenty of time to be miserable if things don’t work out.
Barbara
@Anoniminous: You have 30 days to remove a case to federal court after being served with a complaint. ALL plaintiffs have to be diverse from ALL defendants. Lots of plaintiffs try to defeat diversity by including a non-diverse defendant. The time to remove is set by statute and cannot be “waived.” The time period for removal has passed.
Matt McIrvin
What I don’t get is: the conventional wisdom is that Trump is going to win. Most “neutral” observers and Davos billionaires think he’s going to be President again, and probably something much more like a dictator than he was last time. He can use his powers to bust out the US government–simply loot the treasury. He will be as close to infinitely rich as a person can be, much like Putin’s situation in Russia.
If people don’t want to bet on that being the case… does it mean they don’t believe it? Is the conventional wisdom cracking? Or do they just find the prospect distasteful all of a sudden?
trollhattan
@Mr. Bemused Senior: Can be converted to a freighter, just strip out the interior and bam, FedEx plane.
Citizen Alan
@Anoniminous: Well, yeah, of course. The dirty little secret of our system of government is that a President who has the absolute support of 37 Senators and 5 Justices is already a dictator in every way that matters. But if we’re to the point that there are five votes to redefine diversity jurisdiction as a concept (which has been around since 1790 give or take), we already have bigger problems than Trump winning on appeal.
Scout211
But does he even own it? Or is it like all the other “Trump properties” that the finance companies actually own?
Omnes Omnibus
@Barbara: That commenter is basically arguing that the USSC will do whatever it wants and that that law as written doesn’t matter. Not a position that is reversible by any logical or factual argument.
Dangerman
@Ruckus: Sure. I work at a nuclear waste repository* and some of that stuff can be handy (as is Donald with women). Dinner? I can share a few tomatoes for a good cause.
*I don’t; if I did, i surely wouldn’t share.
BTW, the Diablo Canyon tour is pretty cool (if still offered and you can get an invite; it’s not exactly public). Same with Vandyland, i.e. VAFB (Idon’t give a shit what new name Trump gave it)
Jackie
Some off topic good news:
This is great for Sen. Brown!
And…
Let’s get Andy Kim elected as NJ’s newest senator!
Hoodie
@Mousebumples: Would make a great episode of Airplane Repo. They come on board and find it littered with Big Mac wrappers and empty KFC buckets and the bathrooms sprayed with diarrhea.
Citizen Alan
@West of the Rockies: What Shitgibbon wants is irrelevant once somebody gets a perfected lien on the property. At that point, bankruptcy can only slow it down because all the judgments will be for nondischargeable torts and crimes.
Mike S. (Now with a Democratic Congressperson!)
Trump is trying to hold on until the SPAC (Special Acquisition Company) that is going to by Truth Social has its deal go through. He owns 73 million Shares in the deal and is hoping for a 4 Billion payout IF he can get the SPAC shareholders to agree to waive the 6 month holding period on him selling his shares. Although the last I heard the value of the SPAC shares was already dropping from its high of close to $50 a share.
Matt McIrvin
@Mr. Bemused Senior: Non-sarcastic answer: If I recall correctly it’s a Boeing 757, a discontinued but still beloved model that there’s still a surprising amount of demand for. Not the most fuel efficient plane but versatile.
ascap_scab
Time to issue the Trumpbucks. Everyone takes them, just ask Trump.
lowtechcyclist
@Omnes Omnibus:
So y’all can bury him bigly under a gigantic mound of the perfect Wisconsin cheese, only the best cheese. ;-)
Matt McIrvin
@ascap_scab: They’re good for Dole Whips at Mar-a-Lago
Omnes Omnibus
@lowtechcyclist: Why do you hate cheese? Lactose intolerant?
TBone
@Mousebumples: just like he left those rally goers freezing without transit shuttles to their cars one very cold evening. The busses were only paid for a one-way trip for ingress, but not for egress, if I recall correctly.
...now I try to be amused
@Matt McIrvin: Yep, it’s a 757. The type is high-powered and has a high-lift wing, so it can take off like a rocket ship and land on shorter runways than other jets of its size. I’ll bet it could be sold in the Third World if nowhere else.
lowtechcyclist
@Omnes Omnibus:
I’m sure that even after burying Trump under a huge mound of Wisconsin cheese, there’d still be plenty left over for the rest of us to eat. Y’all produce plenty of cheese up there. Blessed are the cheesemakers!
Omnes Omnibus
@lowtechcyclist: We also have cows that produce the milk used to make the cheese. Couldn’t we use cow manure rather than delicious cheese?
TBone
@Mike S. (Now with a Democratic Congressperson!):
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2024/03/01/trump-media-co-founders-sue-their-company-in-delawares-chancery-court/72792404007/
Shocking! His troof social business partners are suing him for cheating!
patrick II
CNN:
Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort is in discussions to help with reelection effort
Baud
@Jackie:
Andy Kim would be a huge upgrade for NJ.
Baud
@Matt McIrvin:
Most people, both rich and non-rich normies, think they’ll be able to control the situation if it goes too far.
Ironcity
@p.a.: Marlboros and oxygen tanks at the same time. What could go wrong.
geg6
@Mike S. (Now with a Democratic Congressperson!):
I believe that sale is on hold due to two of the founders suing Trump. The legal nightmares never end with this fucking guy.
Mr. Bemused Senior
@patrick II: it’s déjà vu all over again. What next, a visit to Ukraine for Rudy? Nah, probably not.
marcopolo
@Jackie: I live in MO and am finding Andy Kim’s senate race energizing as hell (sorry Lucas Kunce). Looking forward to him winning in November, fuck chickens, counting, eggs, and hatching.
One of the more fascinating particulars of the race has been learning about the “county line” feature on NJ primary ballots. Basically, the county party organization can endorse candidates who then all get listed in the first column on the ballot (here’s an article talking about the practice with an image of a county line ballot). Other candidates for offices are then spread out over additional columns. Honestly, take a look, these ballots wind up looking strange af.
Anyway, Kim is suing to get rid of this practice since a fair number of NJ county D parties select their endorsed candidates in less than lower case “d” ways: the county party chair picks them or a small committee of party members). That gives insiders tremendous clout which is even more noticeable this year with the NJ governor’s wife being Kim’s main rival for the Senate seat. Said wife has limited credentials both as a politician and as a member of the Democratic party.
Now, with the lawsuit coming to trial, the NJ AG has said their office will not defend the practice. Break out the popcorn!
TBone
@patrick II: Direct line to Pooty. Goddamnit.
Ruckus
@Chris Johnson:
SFB has outlived his usefulness to the actual wealthy people he thought he was hanging out with. I believe that they were playing with the guy trying desperately to be one of them and proving on a regular basis that he’s really not all that and a box of cookies.
TBone
@geg6: I refer you to comment #184 that has the deets.
NotMax
@…now I try to be amused
Ms Carroll could kickstart financing to convert it into a traveling women’s health clinic.
Paul in KY
@MazeDancer: He can sell all his shit to come up with the money. Or it will be sold for him. Buwahahahahaha!!!!!
TBone
@NotMax: stylish and with panache, I admire your thought process. 😊. They could airdrop Plan B into red states 🤣
Paul in KY
@JoyceH: Of course he didn’t lie! Probably has $700 million cash…just has to get to Iraq to dig it up…
WV Blondie
A little additional schadenfreude as the cherry on top of the piled-up turd cake that is TFG:
Commercial real estate is really suffering, without a lot of prospects for turning around. Why? In large part because the pandemic – you know, TFG’s failed exercise in leadership that led to more than a million excess deaths – forced employers to allow all their employees to work remotely!
So the Orange Stain’s alleged net worth is also not nearly as valuable as it used to be. I’m sure the creditors holding his second/third/fourth mortgages on those properties are already panicking at how underwater he is. Why would a bonding firm (Chubb or any other) want to get at the back of that long, long line?
BethanyAnne
@NotMax: “Arrogance and stupidity in one package. How efficient.” —Londo Molari, Babylon 5
Barbara
@Omnes Omnibus: He needs to be told about the pause button that the Supreme Court often hits when it comes to an interpretation that would end up deluging federal courts with additional workload.
wjca
As long as we ignore the detail that the proximate cause of his needing all this money is a conviction for doing exactly that….
TBone
@WV Blondie: seize them and convert them into abortion clinics and homeless shelters and migrant way stations! NotMax has me on a roll.
brendancalling
Take him down to the studs, and then take away the studs. Let him live in a cardboard box.
Paul in KY
@Tom Levenson: Then he sells it to get the moolah.
Tony G
Donald Trump is a badly raised little boy in the body of an unhealthy old man. He never had to grow up because there has always been somebody (starting with his daddy) who has been there to bail him out. His luck may be coming to an end now. Maybe the stress of this situation will kill him. Thoughts and prayers.
StringOnAStick
@marcopolo: Ah, asbestos. My dad the mining engineer managed an asbestos mine in CA when I was a kid; I played in piles of that stuff, fortunately not too many times. The mine is now a Superfund site and he has COPD, no surprise. I’m amazed he made it to 92 given his temper and that he smokes when he managed that mine. Hard core R who voted twice for tRump and now hates him with a white hot passion over the classified documents case and January 6.
PAM Dirac
@TBone: The merger seems to be back on At least the guys suing him have said that a preliminary deal has been worked out.
LiminalOwl
So a possibly stupid question: if the value of his holdings is less than the amount of the bond, why isn’t that prima facie proof of his guilt in the fraud trial?
TBone
Every day gets worse and worse for him. Here’s to that thought, big guy! 🎶😆
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=aDQdjpWi5qA
Even better
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=aDQdjpWi5qA
Enhanced Voting Techniques
There is a good chance most of Trump’s wealth is tied up in commercial real-estate, which is in the process of crashing from a bubble that Trump helped create during his presidency by talking the Fed into lowering the prime to zero.
Barbara
@LiminalOwl: Because values change over time.
Paul in KY
@NotMax: He also has a Leonardo DiCaprio…
Paul in KY
@Chris Johnson: Good points. $400 million is a bunch of money to about any government (this side of PRC maybe) and even a despot has to be careful about shitting it away (as it will be if given to TFG).
Seanly
Well, if he uses the combined moneys of the RNC & his campaign to pay his debts/judgements/personal spending, then all Republican candidates will suffer.
rikyrah
Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) posted at 11:58 AM on Mon, Mar 18, 2024:
JUST IN: Conservative influencer (and former Zeldin intern) Isabella DeLuca has been charged for breaching the Capitol on Jan. 6 and helping steal a table that was later used to attack police.
https://t.co/PswBQO0IMN https://t.co/Ioq6zocVYP
(https://x.com/kyledcheney/status/1769770343890055224?t=ocIXAeI_vqxV8qsZHXaKcg&s=03)
Omnes Omnibus
Millions have been imagining this moment as a cinematic one, but reality isn’t cinematic it’s slow and bureaucratic. Trump’s financial death won’t be televised the way we all desired, but it is most definitely still happening.
West of the Rockies
@TBone:
Everyday, things are gettin’ worser, rollin’ faster than a burnt hamburder…
trollhattan
@WV Blondie: We have inner burbs with office vacancy rates in the mid-30s, admittedly none of them office “towers” but still, just sitting. Guessing unused retail is not far behind.
Rental housing, however, quite in demand. It’s a mystery how that all occurred.
gvg
@Chris Johnson: I think he started with money when his dad died. He did inherit real money, I am pretty sure. Dad was a better businessman. But my youth was full of stories about multiple bankruptcies that were kind of laughable in how bad at business decisions he was. Also, his dad bailed him out a few times before he died. so sometime in the 70’s I think he lost it and learned to coast on self advertising. I stopped watching TV mostly years ago, which is why I really did not understand that that show, the Apprentice, got some traction from people who should have known better.
I am probably also prejudiced because I always thought the idiot had terrible taste with all the overdone baroque furniture and gold paint. Tacky, you know? Like the fake evangelical TV preachers’ congregations which Trump always seemed similar to, to me.
Ironcity
@…now I try to be amused: Get amused by this:
B-757-200 N757AF is mfg s/n 25155 original airworthiness certificate 8/25/2010. Registered owner is DJT Enterprises, an LLC, 251 Little Falls Rd Wilmington DE
Last airworthiness certificate 1/29/2000. Airworthiness Certificates are good for 7 years after the last day of the month in which it was issued, so 1/31/2007 (?) (14CFR 47.4) Must be some inaccurate information in the database (shocker). And regardless of whether you have a current airworthiness certificate if the aircraft isn’t actually airworthy it is illegal and stupid, to fly it.
trollhattan
@rikyrah: WTF is with Republicans and their disdain for correct English punctuation?
Bupalos
@Omnes Omnibus: Trump still owns and has the possibility to monetize one of the most valuable assets in the U.S. – The eyeballs of gullible, motivated right wing ideologues.
FoxNews became such a valuable property because a FoxNews viewer on average is willing to buy 8 dimes for a dollar, just to stick it to the dusky lesbian hoards that are hiding in their outbuildings, waiting to murder them. The Donald isn’t going to bleed out financially until that special bond is broken.
karen marie
@Matt McIrvin:
I wouldn’t bet on that pony.
Frankensteinbeck
@Mike S. (Now with a Democratic Congressperson!):
I’ve heard this, and it’s weird. Something is missing, because Truth Social isn’t worth that much. A few million, tops. It’s not a huge, successful enterprise.
...now I try to be amused
@Ironcity: Heh. Certification is for suckers and losers!
Barry
@Matt McIrvin: if he wins, and is the closest that the USA has had to a dictator, why would he pay?
Omnes Omnibus
@Bupalos: We’ll see, I guess. Do you think that he is going to get enough cash from his dupes in the next week to post the bond? If he doesn’t, the State of NY start collecting. That probably pushes him into bankruptcy. Practically speaking, how does he avoid this in the next week?
rikyrah
Sarah Zhang (@sarahzhang) posted at 1:37 PM on Mon, Mar 18, 2024:
DNA tests have uncovered the surprising prevalence of incest.
A geneticist has found that 1 of 7000 people in the UK Biobank have parents who are themselves brother/sister or parent/child. The genetic genealogist @CeCeMoore told me she’s seen well over 1000 cases.
(https://x.com/sarahzhang/status/1769795251193946597?t=ClI-ySwZmPU6ae21Rrnj-A&s=03)
Chris Johnson
@gvg: Oh, he inherited real money, yes. Nothing you’ve said is wrong or in any way inaccurate. You talk about him losing it sometime in the 70s, which is consistent with my sense that he went to Russia sometime in the 80s and tried to rip off the Russian mob.
That’s when it really turned to the overdone baroque furniture and gilt everywhere: because that’s when it became totally, entirely fake, because that’s when he became a complete puppet of the Kremlin and started being entirely paid for by them, so he could be among the movers and shakers representing THEIR interests.
Simple as that. He was always fake, from the 80s. There’s a reason he was seen so often with Epstein, there’s a reason why he ended up so effectively taking over the Republican party, there’s a reason Hillary hated him so hardcore and called him out quite literally. I mean she said it out loud, not that people were ready to see it at the time.
NotMax
Wondering how many shares of Pravda Social have been contractually pledged to Devin Nunes. AFAIK he’s still ostensibly “managing” the thing.
Bupalos
@Frankensteinbeck: A stock is worth what people are willing to pay for it. And the value of any given advertising mark is proportional to their manipulability multiplied by their disposable wealth. Truth Social is definitely a memestock but it also has some real world value.
rikyrah
Lisa Rubin (@lawofruby) posted at 11:13 AM on Mon, Mar 18, 2024:
NEW: In his reply brief to a NY appeals court today, Trump argues that he is unable to procure a bond covering the $454-plus million judgment, which is still accruing interest. So he wants a stay of enforcement without a bond. But don’t sleep on what else he wants. 1/
Lisa Rubin (@lawofruby) posted at 11:17 AM on Mon, Mar 18, 2024:
You might remember that when he first sought a stay, he got some interim relief from a sole judge who decided that the provision barring Trump from borrowing money from any NY registered or chartered financial institution should be stayed. 2/
Lisa Rubin (@lawofruby) posted at 11:17 AM on Mon, Mar 18, 2024:
Trump asked for that provision so he could secure a bond, or so his lawyers said. 3/
Lisa Rubin (@lawofruby) posted at 11:26 AM on Mon, Mar 18, 2024:
But now, they are asking a full panel of the Appellate Division to stay enforcement of the money portion of the judgment without a bond while “maintain[ing] all other aspects of he interim stay.” 4/
Lisa Rubin (@lawofruby) posted at 11:28 AM on Mon, Mar 18, 2024:
In other words, Trump is saying to the First Department: “Give me a stay for free but let me keep borrowing money in the meantime.” John Sauer is a good lawyer—but I’m interested in how he squares this circle if and when an oral argument happens. FIN.
(https://x.com/lawofruby/status/1769762701041869072?t=g4QThHxwBnL2iGAbkXjSbw&s=03)
Jay Vegas (@j_nvegas) posted at 11:30 AM on Mon, Mar 18, 2024:
What Trump wants is a stay without a bond. He doesn’t want to put up collateral or part with anything else he deems is his. I hope the appeals court will uphold the judgement and force Trump to come up with the funds. Trump needs to feel the financial pain or he won’t learn.
topclimber
@Mr. Bemused Senior: Maybe Romney can help with the forced liquidation, being a vulture capitalist and all.
rikyrah
Go Coco!
NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) posted at 10:38 AM on Mon, Mar 18, 2024:![]()
https://t.co/jj0B962k41
The highest-ranked American woman in singles tennis is going to the #ParisOlympics.
(https://x.com/NBCOlympics/status/1769750235666845911?t=SpErlPziwMVKDYqTZhzINw&s=03)
lowtechcyclist
@Omnes Omnibus:
Definitely a better choice. What was I thinking? ;-)
rikyrah
Norman Ornstein (@NormOrnstein) posted at 8:14 AM on Mon, Mar 18, 2024:
We are sleepwalking toward autocracy, thanks to our major media. Former president and Republican nominee says immigrants are not people and says if he loses, there will be a bloodbath. Not even mentioned in the front section of the NYT, relegated to page 6 in the WaPo. Shameful.
(https://x.com/NormOrnstein/status/1769713898574217460?t=N8kzn_4KclzX1S7zasC3Tw&s=03)
Wapiti
@Frankensteinbeck: I’m guessing they’re counting on foreign (oligarch) money to buy up the IPO and make Trump whole.
Bupalos
@Omnes Omnibus: Unless he’s been seriously cooking books in all his businesses and losing money places we don’t know, I highly suspect that he really does have the cash to back the bond. He just doesn’t want to do it and/or hopes to lower the amount to reduce the fee.
I mean, I hope that’s wrong and that we really are seeing the tip of an iceberg up close, but I don’t think it’s very likely.
Chris Johnson
@rikyrah: I mean, he won’t learn. That’s a given. He CAN’T learn. He is a complete fraud that owns nothing he claims he does, a puppet of Russia, and his entire life has been a fake. What’s to learn?
Whatever happens has to happen with the understanding that Trump will act as if his whole existence depends on doubling down and never being found out or held accountable in any way ever, for anything.
Because if the house of cards wobbles, it’s all so interdependent that it all collapses. If the truth about him comes out, he is more fucked than anyone can possibly imagine (barring the occasional jackal with a spectacularly excessive view of just how bad the man is and always has been, ahem)
I mean, he might surprise even me. Doubtful, but it’s possible. He might be worse than _I_ think he is.
NotMax
@rikyrah
“That’s it? The entire ruling? One word? Anyone know what FAFO means?”
//
Omnes Omnibus
My name is Bond. Cantaforda Bond.
Barbara
@rikyrah: I am surprised Iga Swiatek hadn’t “mathematically” clinched a berth for Poland first, but yes, Go Coco!!!
RaflW
@trollhattan: “It costs about $5.2 million to remodel a 757 for cargo” and I suspect that Trump’s maintenance routines are probably at the absolute lowest tolerated by the FAA.
Conversion buyers likely have better sources for 757s, which are being retired from passenger service because they’re kind of gas-guzzly (which matters less for freight, since the stronger engines lift more cargo!)
NotMax
@Omnes Omnibus
Letitia James Bond.
Omnes Omnibus
@Bupalos:
Most very wealthy people do not keep money in cash or cash adjacent items. There is no profit in holding cash. His problem is he is illiquid and bond firms don’t like real estate as collateral (especially high leveraged real estate).
ETA: This whole lawsuit is about him cooking the books.
wjca
Fraudulently pumping the value of a stock is definitely within TIFG’s skill set.
NotMax
@Omnes Omnibus
“As greens fees at his golf courses suddenly skyrocket, Trump blames Biden.”
Kathleen
@rikyrah: NYT described his speech as “caustic” and “discursive”
ETA Posted in earlier thread.
Baud
@Kathleen:
I found it quite peripatetic.
Bupalos
@Omnes Omnibus: I don’t mean literal cash, just more liquid investments. I don’t think he’s made any big splashy real estate deals since the Post Office thing, but has been reporting big time income. Even if a good portion of his income came in less liquid forms than free cash flow, I think it’s doubtful that practically all of it did or that he managed to squander a billion or two without anyone much noticing. I think he’s been getting cash from his dupes (meaning barrels of Saudi money laundered as golf resort earnings) for years.
I am rooting for his dump empire to be a complete house of cards that just started caving in, I just kinda doubt it.
Aziz, light!
I don’t know how any this works, but if Trump inflated the value of his properties, then used them as collateral to obtain loans for more than said properties are worth, then their value is not enough to cover what he owes, and their sale is encumbered by all the financial complications. If he can’t make the bond, what does NY do?
trollhattan
@Chris Johnson:
We should not forget back in the day, Trump was an acolyte of Roy Cohn and Roger Stone.
Suzanne
Does anyone know why Barack Obama turned up at 10 Downing Street today?
West of the Rockies
@gvg:
I’ve never seen The Apprentice either. It just seemed like… meanness porn. I don’t like any yelling shows (Gordon Ramsey, etc).
catclub
Compare him to Jeff Bezos’ ex-wife. She gives away $400M any day of the week.
rikyrah
Biden-Harris HQ (@BidenHQ) posted at 10:28 AM on Sun, Mar 17, 2024:
Trump: We did a lot of things by killing Roe
Fox reporter: Your justices to the Supreme Court made that possible
Trump: They did. They did something that is extremely good https://t.co/fe187QY0eb
(https://x.com/BidenHQ/status/1769385225128116331?t=EwMCqCj-IszZFl51uoWzkQ&s=03)
Kay
@Suzanne:
No, but I think it’s hysterical you’re sleuthing this :)
UncleEbeneezer
@rikyrah: If only he had called them “Deplorable”…
trollhattan
BBC reporting avoiding the tempting “but, isn’t he just the silliest fun?” side comments, so far.
I have rope in the garage, which could be of some use here.
trollhattan
@Suzanne: Getting to the bottom of the Kate photos thing?
Omnes Omnibus
@Bupalos: Okay. You believe what you believe.
...now I try to be amused
@West of the Rockies:
I watched the first few seasons of The Apprentice. It wasn’t ritual humiliation, unlike some other reality shows. Trump was perhaps on his best behavior in the few minutes per episode he appeared on camera. He showed respect for graduates of the service academies, and Olympic gold medalist Angela Ruggiero.
I suspect Trump seized the opportunity to launder his reputation with both hands and wasn’t about to screw it up by abusing contestants.
geg6
@Omnes Omnibus:
Can you give a summary? Bluesky won’t let me read.
Omnes Omnibus
@geg6: That was the full text.
geg6
@Ironcity:
Hmmmm, a plane crash? I like it.
geg6
@rikyrah:
As good an explanation for Brexit as I’ve ever seen. Could also explain MAGAts.
geg6
@Omnes Omnibus:
As for me, I believe that any guy that bankrupts at least 3 casinos is probably not the guy who you want to believe when he tells you about all the money he’s making.
geg6
@Omnes Omnibus:
Okay. Not much there to chew on.
...now I try to be amused
@geg6: The end of the road for Trump was always going to be someone who had power over him and wasn’t buying his bullshit.
trollhattan
@geg6:
“Virtually a license to legally print money, you can’t lose!”
“Sounds great, I’m in.”
Later that same week
“We’re closin’ you down, pal, for failure to make payments.”
Princess
@rikyrah: These numbers of incest victims are completely unsurprising to me. Talk to any therapist – abuse is everywhere, and children are one result. A more common one in the US in coming years, thanks to Dodd.
Suzanne
@Kay: No, I’m serious. There’s lots of memes about him looking for Kate, but I’m genuinely interested why he’s meeting with Sunak. I haven’t seen a reason reported.
rumpole
@Anoniminous: if you’re suggesting that this gives scotus jurisdiction that is just… wrong.
This gives federal courts diversity jurisdiction over suits between folks from different states. It does not -require- them to take it. Thus a state case that starts in state court on a state law issue generally stays there. The NY Court of Appeals is the final word on state law, and without a constitutional claim Trump has no recourse.
Whatever issues Habba may have preserved on appeal (likely some kind of due process argument) this provision of the constitution is irrelevant to that fight.
TBone
Michael Steele just said the c word by accident while trying to say “continued” (referring to Rump) and then snickered before he was able to recover and correct himself. 😆
trollhattan
@…now I try to be amused: And now that he’s reelected with [checks notes] a mere 87% Vlad can go back to using Donny as one of his personal pinatas, or whatever kind of doll Russians whack with a stick.
Princess
@Suzanne: Interesting. Not clear if Obama was already in the UK or if he went there specifically to talk to Sunak. The one thing I’m certain of, it has nothing to do with Kate.
Kay
@Suzanne:
I hope he’s somehow involved in hiding Kate. Michelle is giving her a decent meal somewhere.
TBone
@PAM Dirac: is that the judge’s real name? Are you pulling my leg? 😆😭
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Kay: I admire your fantasy life.
TBone
@West of the Rockies: 💙
Sister Golden Bear
@Omnes Omnibus:
I’m OK withI’d relish a death by a thousand cuts,as long as it happens before the election.
TBone
@rikyrah: Dedicated to the DOJ 🎶 and all the poor widdle “hostages” they’re taking.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pafY6sZt0FE
TBone
@Sister Golden Bear: I’m licking my lips in anticipation of that denouement.
Baud
@Kay:
It’s a live action version of Shrek!
rikyrah
@TBone:
BWA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA
Sister Golden Bear
@Dorothy A. Winsor: Kate Middleman is now in a small village, where she’s fallen in love the with artisanal baker and is learning the true meaning of Christmas
Eunicecycle
@Sister Golden Bear: it’s the only thing that makes sense.
SiubhanDuinne
@TBone:
I once knew a guy named Glasscock. His nickname (behind his back, but her must have known) was “Crystal Dick.”
raven
@SiubhanDuinne: There was a receiver at Mizzou named “Shorthose”!
Tasha
@Omnes Omnibus: it’s theoretically possible to split the bond among multiple insurers. Someone (not TFG) might be able to get five companies to each supply a $100mm bond
rikyrah
@Tasha:
The likelihood where they would get their money back?
LMAO!!!
SNCO
This is just my opinion . . . but . . . From a strictly practical (call it Machiavellian, if you like) standpoint, how does supporting a washed-up and fading populist serve the interests of Trump’s prior patrons?
Why are we so sure these nefarious and shadowy types still find Trump useful enough to squander multiple millions of dollars on – when he is also clearly a documented spendthrift who doesn’t understand how to cut his losses and limit his own liability?
His rallies – which used to be covered in their entirety (and unedited) – are now too boring for the networks to carry. His prior uncanny ability to channel the worst of aging working-class white rage has declined into purely personal grievances – that don’t even really interest any but his die-hard cultists. So . . . what is in it for his shadowy patrons?
Why would they waste more money at this point?
geg6
@Kay:
Lord, I hope not. I’d lose all respect for him forever.
Mike S. (Now with a Democratic Congressperson!)
@TBone : @geg6: I don’t think the sale is on hold, but it seems like it is unlikely to bring in the amount of money Drumpf is hoping for.
Several episodes of Meidas Touch have talked about it. The SEC had apparently said the acquisition of “truth” social by the SPAC could go ahead. Here is Ben Meiselas talking about why he thinks is will not work for Drumpf.
Has anyone seen info about the sale definitely being put on hold for the lawsuits or for any other reason? (eta is seems @PAM Dirac: has found info that the deal is on.)
Michael Popok on MT also had a discussion of the SPAC recently.
geg6
@SiubhanDuinne:
The street I grew up on was Woodcock. I never heard the end of that one.
raven
@raven: And there is an undertaker in Appomattox named “Stiff”!
SiubhanDuinne
@raven:
LOL
SiubhanDuinne
@geg6:
Then there’s the Canadian musician, Bruce Cockburn.
Yutsano
@geg6: At least woodcocks are cool…
patrick II
@Suzanne:
He’s still the President.
Juju
@geg6: What you ha-ed.
LiminalOwl
@RaflW: Craig Unger, “House of Trump, House of Putin,” (c) 2018, has lots of juicy details.
Salty Sam .
There is a urologist in Austin who specializes in vasectomies- his name is Richard Chopp. And yes, he goes by the usual short form of that first name.
Odie Hugh Manatee
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
How about “If you don’t have a dime, you can’t appeal the crime.”
I like that version!
CaseyL
Possibly this is a dead thread, but I don’t want to intrude on Tom’s delightful science thread up top:
David Corn on Twitter reports that the Opperman Foundation, who give out the RBG Leadership Award, having so thoroughly shit the bed by giving the award to three people who in no way whatoever deserve it, has now decided it won’t. The whole thing is cancelled, and their news release says they’re going to re-evaluate whether to keep going at all.
Their statement is a steaming pile of crap, mostly (“Well, RBG was for EQUALITY, and we are supporting her calls for EQUALITY by giving this award to men who have spent years and fortunes promoting INEQUALITY.”). But at least Murdoch and Musk won’t be getting the gd thing.
Dorothy A. Winsor
Maybe Trump can get a loan from Taylor Swift.
karen marie
This thread may well be dead – it’s certainly superseded – but I thought this would be of interest.
Wendy Siegelman “compiled data on Individual-1’s cash/short term investments from 2013-2021 to reveal new information and insights and raised some new questions.
(The “this” points to her article, her name links to her Mastodon account.)
Suzanne
@Salty Sam .:
So.
A couple of years ago, I was at work, and I went into a private room to schedule my annual well woman visit. I was told that my normal doctor was not available, but I could see the new doctor in the practice, Dr. Seaman. I was like, “BAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAAAHAAHAHAAAAA”. The poor receptionist tried to respond, “He doesn’t spell it like that, he spells it S-E-A….” and I was still like “BAAAAAHAHAAAAA.”
Anyway, I come out of the private room, and I’m laughing so hard that I’m crying, and I told one of my woman colleagues/friends. And she said, “OH MY GOD, ME TOO, I just got a letter saying that there’s a new doctor at my gyno, DOCTOR ELIZABETH BEAVER.”
More BAAAAAAHAHAHAHAAAAAA.
TBone
@Omnes Omnibus: there is profit in cash when interest rates make it profitable. One of my financial advisors has me at something like 40% cash/cash equivalents (I’m retired) and sent me to my bank to buy some CDs when rates hit 5%.
TBone
@…now I try to be amused: It’s where the stories about his adult diapers come from. One of his producers, I think. I believe it.
Juju
@rikyrah: All you have to do to get some insight about that is to watch some episodes of “Midsomer Murders”.
cain
@Suzanne:
It’s nice to know it’s not always men :D
Snarki, child of Loki
I hear that 29 of the 30 companies that TFG approached for a bond, replied with an audio file of the I Love Lucy laugh track.
But it might have been all 30.
Attempted Chemistry
@TBone: In law school, you could always see him coming.
Omnes Omnibus
Not a good day in the NY courts for Trump. In the New York election interference case, the judge has ruled on the motions in limine. Trump did not do well.
Uncle Cosmo
@lowtechcyclist: Cheetoh Benito, God-Emperor of Dung (GEoD)
(Once upon a time I contemplated a parody of Dune, set on Albaraz, the 6-and-6/8th planet of the star Stronza Dreckonis , covered to an average depth of 99.44 meters in dessicated cow manure and commonly known as Dung, where the young Bowel Aturdes must confront his destiny as the Akil al-Qaraf to unite the Futzenmenschen of the Su-Azh Pwneds in their holy war against the Székrekedéses Császár Shytdam Insane and the evil Bony ExLaxu of Ecch,,.
,,,but I realized it was all crap and gave it up…;^p)
karen marie
@Omnes Omnibus: “this argument will not be entertained again”
Absofuckinglutely delicious!
billcinsd
@raven: There was a baseball player named Jack Glasscock. I believe he was one of the last MLB players to field without a glove. His nickname was Pebbly Jack because he went around the field picking up pebbles that alter the ball movement
billcinsd
Also, in my town we had a city councilman quit to get a sex change. In the next election he was replaced by a woman named Deb Hadcock.
PST
@Tasha:
I used to be pretty familiar with the world of big-time insurance, although not at all with supersedeas bonds. Enormous risks gets sliced and diced into manageable layers and shares, so even multi-billion dollar risks get insured; they just have to be split up. That $100 million figure comes from an affidavit Trump submitted, so it is probably worded in a cagey fashion to make the difficult sound impossible. The question, of course, is whether Trump can provide acceptable collateral.
Kenneth Fair
@Omnes Omnibus: Federal diversity jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1332 requires that none of the defendants reside in the state where the case is brought. Because several of the entities involved are NY entities, there is no federal diversity jurisdiction, regardless of where Trump resides.
Denali5
There used to be a Dr. Stopp in Rochester who specialized in giving vasectomies.
Ruckus
@Baud:
I imagine that as SFB is a pretty sharp investor in real estate he likely has all of them leveraged to the hilt and can’t squeeze another dime out of them. I call it railroad leverage, he’s leveraged one for say living expenses, then another for monthly payments and then the next one and so on. He’s likely doing this to have any cash flow whatsoever.
Ramona
@TBone: if they still voted for him after that, they are even stupider than I thought!
JAFD
@trollhattan:
Exorcisms are artisanal, you have to make sure the ritual you’re doing is for the particular demon that’s there.
And you’d better pay their bill promptly.
You don’t want to be re-possessed.