Politics
WATCH: MSNBC Panel Melts Down After Learning Trump’s Bond Was Slashed On-Air: ‘So Infuriating’
In the latest episode of the never-ending saga of political melodrama, MSNBC found yet another reason to express their dissatisfaction. This time it was in response to the New York Court of Appeals’ reduction of former President Donald Trump’s bail related to his civil fraud trial.
Just when New York Attorney General Letitia James appeared poised to initiate asset seizures from the Trump empire, aiming to satisfy the original $454 million judgment, the appellate judges intervened, trimming the figure down to a mere $175 million.
The move, hailed by some as a judicious recalibration, nonetheless provided enough fuel for an on-air meltdown by an MSNBC panel, epitomizing the network’s often critical stance towards Trump-related news.
Legal analyst Tristan Snell reacted to the news, saying “I honestly think this is so infuriating I don’t even know what to do… Whatever it is, it’s flawed,” Snell claimed. “We have decided that he gets his own private court of justice… This is an absolute travesty.”
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“It would not happen for anybody else. Anybody else would be like, ‘Sorry, buddy,'” he continued. “The appellate court has now just decided they’re going to swoop in and just change it. And that’s it.”
The New York appeals court delivered the ruling that, for the moment, prevents New York Attorney General Letitia James from seizing Trump’s property. Initially, Trump was challenged to post the $464 million bond, however, the court’s decision has now reduced the figure to $175 million. The ruling not only offers Trump a financial reprieve but also imposes a delay on Attorney General James’s ability to proceed with the seizure of Trump’s assets.
The initial steps to seize Trump’s assets were taken by James last Thursday when she filed judgments in Westchester County, where Trump owns a private estate and golf course. Trump was given until the following Monday to either pay the judgment or convince the appellate court to postpone the payment while his appeal is pending.
Many parts of Monday’s ruling were left intact, however, including orders that Donald Trump, Jr. and various family associates be prevented from holding corporate officer positions in New York for the next several years.
If the decision had not come down, Trump ran the very real risk of seeing his personal bank account frozen and entire buildings vacated and put under the control of the state of New York. The GOP favorite now has 10 days to come up with the new amount.
On Friday Trump received good news after a vote by the parent company of Truth Social to merge with a shell corporation in advance of going public, a deal that could see Trump’s net worth swell by as much as $4 billion.
Many speculated that Trump could sell some shares of the company for immediate profit, though that would require the Securities and Exchange Commission to waive a lockout period preventing owners of new public companies from disgorging themselves in the first six months after an initial public offering.
Trump has maintained that his civil real estate trial was a “sham” perpetrated by allies of President Joe Biden like AG James and an unfair judge, Arthur Engoron, who repeatedly reprimanded him during appearances in court.