New York Attorney General Letitia James can target any of former President Donald Trump's assets from "across the world" in order to pay the $454 million judgment he owes, according to lawyer Renee Zaytsev on Saturday.
In February, Judge Arthur Engoron ordered Trump to pay $355 million, plus interest, and barred him from doing business in New York for three years after finding him liable for financial fraud in September 2023 in a lawsuit brought on by James' office. Trump, the presumed GOP presidential nominee in the 2024 election, has claimed that he has done nothing wrong and that the case is politically motivated against him. He has appealed Engoron's judgment.
Meanwhile, the former president has until Monday to come up with a $454 million bond to stop James from seizing his assets in order to pay Engoron's judgment.
MSNBC's Katie Phang asked Zaytsev on The Katie Phang Show on Saturday about what James could do if Trump can't come up with the bond.
"New York is a very creditor-friendly state. We take creditors rights seriously here and our law has a lot of options for creditors to enforce their judgments. Even before we get to his properties, she can very, very easily go ahead and freeze his bank accounts," Zaytsev, a New York-based corporate lawyer, said.
She continued: "And all she has to do to that is to serve restraining notices on the banks where he holds accounts, and she can then have a sheriff execute on those accounts or she can commence a turnover proceeding directing the banks directly to turn over the assets in those accounts."
Zaytsev explained that James can seize Trump's buildings, belongings, even intellectual property from anywhere in the world.
"Speaking of turnover proceedings, she any actually do that for any asset that Trump owns, no matter where it is located—across the country, across the world," the lawyer said. "That includes things like stock that he owns, LLC member interests, intellectual property, cars, planes, jewelry, furniture, personal property. She can seek an order, directing that Trump turn over those assets to her and then those assets can be auctioned."
Newsweek reached out to Trump's campaign and lawyer as well as Zaytsev via email for comment.
Besides Trump's properties in New York, the former president has his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, and a luxury hotel in Las Vegas. He also has a plethora of golf courses across the United States and even two in Scotland—Aberdeen and Turnberry—and one in Doonbeg, Ireland.
Despite Trump's legal team writing in a court filing last Monday that it is a "practical impossibility" to come up with the judgment by Monday, the former president said Friday on his social media platform Truth Social that he has almost $500 million in cash.
"Through hard work, talent, and luck, I currently have almost five hundred million dollars in cash, a substantial amount of which I intended to use in my campaign for president," Trump wrote.
The former president alleged this number was known by James and Engoron and played a factor in the ruling.
"The often overturned political hack judge on the rigged and corrupt A.G. case, where I have done nothing wrong, knew this, wanted to take it away from me, and that's where and why he came up with the shocking number which, coupled with his crazy interest demand, is approximately $454,000,000," he added.
Zaytsev told Newsweek via email on Saturday night that James could bring Trump's social media post to the Court.
"Trump has two options to stay enforcement of the judgment: He can post a bond or he can get a discretionary stay from the appellate court, which he's asked for," she said. "I think he's facing an uphill battle to get a discretionary stay for a number of reasons and he's certainly not helping his cause by posting on social media that he has $500 million in cash. I would not be surprised to see the AG formally bring the post to the court's attention so that it can be considered on the stay motion."
The lawyer said that Trump could "pull a rabbit out of a hat" and come up with the money by Monday.
"If Trump doesn't get the discretionary stay—or if he doesn't get it quickly enough—I think we'll see him pull a rabbit out of a hat and find some way to post the bond. Especially in these months leading up to the election, I just don't see Trump being able to stomach the alternative, which almost certainly would involve the AG going after some of his most prized possessions," Zaytsev said.
Meanwhile, James is already preparing to seize Trump's assets. The attorney general registered the $454 million judgment in Westchester County on March 6, according to a Westchester County online database.
This move makes it easier for James to potentially seize the former president's assets in the New York suburb. The former president owns the 140-acre Trump National Golf Club Westchester and Seven Springs estate in the county.
In addition, Trump's two adult sons Donald Jr. and Eric, and two company executives from the Trump Organization, Allen Weisselberg and Jeff McConney, were also named in James lawsuit and face their own penalties.
Updated 3/24/24, 9:08 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with comment from Zaytsev.
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