George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley said Monday banks may not be providing former President Donald Trump loans to post an appeals bond due to fear of crossing Democratic Attorney General Letitia James.
Trump’s attorneys told a New York appellate court that finding funds for an appeals bond was “a practical impossibility” due to the size of the judgment by New York Judge Arthur Engoron, who ruled Feb. 16 that Trump was to pay $354 million. Turley said that even though an appeals court judge allowed Trump to seek loans, banks may be shying away due to James. (RELATED: Jonathan Turley Says Prosecutions Of Trump Prove Him ‘Right’ About Weaponization Of Government)
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“You don’t have to like Donald Trump to be appalled by what we’re seeing,” Turley told “Fox and Friends” co-hosts Ainsley Earhardt, Steve Doocy, Lawrence Jones and Brian Kilmeade. “I can’t imagine why any business in New York would want to continue to do business in New York, including these banks. Could you imagine being the bank that gives this bond to Trump whether you have got an attorney general who is just laying waste to the land?”
“I mean, these banks don’t want to get in the crosshairs as the next target of Letitia James,” Turley continued. “Keep in mind that what you just played by James was a campaign based on selective prosecution. Selective prosecution is anathema to the rule of law. She actually ran on that. She pledged that she would get Trump without saying what she would get him on. She just pledged I’ll bag him for you.”
Jonathan Turley, George Washington University Law School Shapiro Chair for Public Interest Law, testifies during a House Oversight Committee hearing titled “The Basis for an Impeachment Inquiry of President Joseph R. Biden, Jr.” on Capitol Hill September 28, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
New York Judge Arthur Engoron previously ruled that Trump was liable for fraud Sept. 26, ordering that several business licenses Trump held were to be revoked and that his businesses were to be shut down, but an appeals court stayed Engoron’s ruling on Oct. 6. An Associated Press review of more than 150 cases over 70 years found no other instance where a business was targeted for dissolution.
James promised to investigate Trump during her 2018 campaign for attorney general, during which she labeled him an “illegitimate president.” She also sued a meatpacking company, claiming it lied about the effects its operations had on climate change and sued the National Rifle Association in August 2020, seeking the group’s dissolution after campaigning on targeting the gun-rights advocacy organization. (RELATED: ‘It’s A Terrible Look’: CNN Legal Analyst Chides Letitia James For ‘Gloating’ About Trump Verdict)
“I find it appalling,” Turley said about the situation. “It shocks the conscience that you have to pony up this type of money just to get someone to look at what you believe and I believe is an excessive ruling by this judge.”
New York Attorney General Letitia James addresses members of the media outside New York State Supreme Court during former U.S. President Donald Trump’s civil fraud case in New York, U.S., October 17, 2023. REUTERS/Bing Guan
James’ office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.
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