Catherine Rampell at the Washington Post asks if you had the ability to lend the Malignant Loser all or part of the $464 million bond he owes, why would you?? An extended excerpt:
Of course no one will lend Donald Trump the half-billion dollars he needs to put up while appealing his fraud case. Would you? [snip]
Even if there were no problem whatsoever with Trump’s collateral, skittishness about lending to Trump is more than reasonable. Trump has an extensive history of not paying his bills, whether to cabinet-builders hired by his casinos or big banks financing his skyscrapers. In fact, he often brags about not paying his bills.
Again: He treats every bill, every signed contract, as merely an opening offer.
Additionally, imagine you loan Trump a few million dollars, and then he gets elected president again. It would become virtually impossible to collect. If you did try to collect, Trump would likely have few qualms about siccing the Justice or Treasury departments on you.
How do we know? Because he did exactly this the last time he was president. He weaponized the powers of state for much smaller infractions. For example, his administration opened a bogus antitrust investigation into auto companies that didn’t support his fuel-efficiency standards. His former chief of staff, John Kelly, also said in a sworn statement that Trump tried to order the Internal Revenue Service to investigate his perceived enemies. More recently, Trump himself stated (on TV!) his intentions to deploy law enforcement against his opponents if granted another term.
That’s the funny thing about rule of law: When you make clear you won’t uphold it, those who might need its protection are a little less willing to do business with you.
If the $464 million bond isn't posted by Monday (barring a stay), New York Attorney General Letitia James can start enforcing the fraud judgement by seizing the Malignant Loser's assets. Be sure to have plenty of popcorn on hand.
