Filing shows Trump is “lying,” reluctant to “squander limited assets” or deemed untrustworthy, law professor says
A lawyer for James, Dennis Fan, in response called Trump’s filing “procedurally improper” and argued Trump has not explained why he can’t post his real estate or obtain a letter of credit. Trump’s team also should have informed them of their bond issues earlier rather than days before payment is due, Fan said.
“As far as the Court can infer, sureties may have refused to accept defendants’ specific holdings as collateral because using Mr. Trump’s real estate will generally need ‘a property appraisal’ and his holdings are not nearly as valuable as defendants claim,” Fan added in the filing, seemingly taking aim at the true value of Trump’s assets.
The former president’s “alleged difficulty” in obtaining a bond raises a number of questions about what underlies his claims, Bennett Gershman, a Pace University law professor and former New York prosecutor, told Salon.
In the filing, Fan also told the appeals court that Trump’s Monday claims are “unreliable” because they’re based on sworn statements from Gary Giulietti, a friend of Trump’s, and Alan Garten, the Trump Organization’s general counsel, The Post reports.
Giulietti, Fan wrote, was deemed not credible as a witness by Judge Arthur Engoron, who oversaw James’ civil trial against Trump, while Garten, Fan argued, was involved in the conduct at issue and has “professional interests in this litigation.” Garten disputed Fan’s claim, according to The Post.
Former federal prosecutor Andrew Weissmann, who served on special counsel Bob Mueller’s team, told MSNBC that the “real issue” for Trump is that he “may just be too leveraged.”