As the deadline for Donald Trump to post bond for his $464 million civil fraud judgment inches closer, the debt-laden former president’s campaign is fundraising off Trump Tower’s fate.
In a text message to supporters on Wednesday, a fundraising committee for Trump cast his financial woes — which stem in large part from his massive legal bills — as a ploy by Democrats, including New York Attorney General Letitia James, to “stifle” his campaign.
“Insane radical Democrat AG Letitia James wants to SEIZE my properties in New York. THIS INCLUDES THE ICONIC TRUMP TOWER!” the message reads, with prompts for donations of $20.24 and upward. “Democrats think this will intimidate me. They think that if they take my cash to stifle my campaign, that I’ll give up! Here’s one thing they don’t know: WE WILL NEVER SURRENDER!”
It’s not even clear whether Trump could use money raised in this way to pay the civil judgment. As Reuters points out, “[w]hile federal law prohibits the use of campaign money for personal expenses, Trump has been able to use donor money to pay some of his lawyers’ fees.”
Trump is not one to shy away from asking for donations at every possible opportunity, but his latest effort underscores some real concern about his money troubles. Ahead of the March 25 deadline, his lawyers have been scrambling to secure a bond for the full fraud judgment; in a court filing this week, they called it a “practical impossibility” and said that they had already been rejected by 30 surety companies that would not accept real estate as collateral. Trump’s legal troubles and the financial costs that have come with them loom large over his presidential campaign. He has been paying his legal bills through the Save America PAC, but the group’s spending outpaced the amount it raised last month. The former president already posted a $91.6 million bond this month to appeal the judgment in the E. Jean Carroll defamation case. Now, with his New York assets at stake, Trump is making a desperate plea to supporters to help bail him out, $20 at a time.
Clarissa-Jan Lim is a breaking news reporter for MS NOW. She was previously a senior reporter and editor at BuzzFeed News.
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