Republican Warns Donors 'Beware' of Donald Trump

Former Republican Representative Liz Cheney told donors on Tuesday to "beware" of Donald Trump.

"Is it just a coincidence that Donald Trump took over the RNC, fired most of its Republican staff, and installed his daughter-law as co-chair at the same time he's become desperate for money and can't post bond?" Cheney, a vocal critic of the former president, wrote on X, formerly Twitter. "Donors better beware."

Newsweek reached out to Trump's spokesperson via email for comment.

Cheney's remarks came in response to Trump's legal team saying this week that they are currently unable to post a $464 million bond in his civil fraud case brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James.

Last month, Judge Arthur Engoron ruled in James' favor in her lawsuit against Trump, his adult sons, and The Trump Organization, alleging that the former president inflated the value of his properties, as well as the value of his own net worth, to secure more favorable bank loans and taxation deals.

Trump, the presumed Republican presidential nominee, was later required to pay over $400 million in penalties, and he and his sons were barred from conducting business in New York for a period of two to three years.

However, on Monday, Trump's lawyers filed a document in court admitting that they are currently unable to come up with the bond amount.

"The amount of the judgment, with interest, exceeds $464 million, and very few bonding companies will consider a bond of anything approaching that magnitude," Trump's legal team wrote in its filing. "Despite scouring the market, we have been unsuccessful in our effort to obtain a bond for the Judgment Amount for Defendants for the simple reason that obtaining an appeal bond for $464 million is a practical impossibility under the circumstances presented."

Responding to Trump's filing, Adam Klasfeld, a fellow for Just Security at the Reiss Center on Law and Security at New York University School of Law, said, "As we reported earlier, Trump's estimated liquidity was widely believed to be less than his civil judgments...The sureties willing to consider a bond of this magnitude 'will not 'accept hard assets such as real estate as collateral,'' his lawyers say."

Earlier this week, Trump took aim at Cheney on Truth Social saying that she should be "jailed" over her participation in the January 6 Select Committee.

"Hi Donald: you know these are lies. You have had all the grand jury & J6 transcripts for many months. You're trying to halt your 1/6 trial because your VP, WH counsel, WH aides, campaign & DOJ officials etc will testify against you. You're afraid of the truth and you should be," Cheney said in response.