Russian Oligarchs May Want to Bail Out Donald Trump: Nat'l Security Lawyer

Amid Donald Trump's growing debt among his legal cases, Russian oligarchs may want want to bail out the former president, according to national security lawyer Mary McCord on Saturday.

New York Attorney General Letitia James in a lawsuit filed in September 2022 accused Trump, his two adult sons, Donald Jr. and Eric, The Trump Organization and two firm executives, Allen Weisselberg and Jeff McConney of fraudulently overvaluing assets to secure more favorable bank loans and taxation deals.

Last week, Judge Arthur Engoron ruled that Trump will be fined roughly $355 million and be barred from doing business in New York for three years after a monthslong civil trial from late last year into early January. Trump has maintained his innocence in the case and claimed it was politically motivated.

The New York judgment comes weeks after Trump was ordered to pay $83.3 million to former Elle columnist E. Jean Carroll for damaging her reputation after she accused him of sexually assaulting her during an incident in the 1990s. A separate jury last year awarded Carroll $5 million from Trump for sexual abuse and defamation. Trump has also denied any wrongdoing in the case.

In an interview with MSNBC's The Weekend on Saturday McCord, who previously served as acting assistant attorney general for national security at the Department of Justice (DOJ), was asked by host Symone Sanders-Townsend if Trump's financial exposure poses a national security risk.

"Yes, we are talking about how difficult it might be for him to post this near half a billion dollar bond, but he has certainly plenty of people who might want to bail him out on that. Some of those might be foreign, some of those might be Russian oligarchs, some of those might be people right here in the U.S.," McCord said.

McCord added that Trump's fondness of Russian President Vladimir Putin is also cause for concern, saying that there may be other countries that see the possibility of Trump becoming president as a way to earn favors from him.

"Anytime you are talking about someone who is running for president or holding any elected office and potentially could have some indebtedness or feeling of owing somebody else something, that's very dangerous. Particularly here as we know his fondness for Putin, his continuing praise of Putin and the way he governs Russia and that's something I could very much see people there who have the means to help him out. There's plenty of other countries that would like to get some favors from Donald Trump should he become the president again," she said.

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

At a rally earlier this month, Trump sparked bipartisan backlash after saying he would "encourage" Russia to do "whatever the hell" it wants to members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) who insufficiently contribute financially to the military alliance.

"I said, 'You didn't pay, you're delinquent?'" the former president told the crowd. "In fact, I would encourage them to do whatever the hell they want. You got to pay. You got to pay your bills."

McCord is not the first to suggest the former president's debt makes him vulnerable to foreign influence. Last week in an interview with with MSNBC's Jen Psaki, Trump's former national security adviser John Bolton said that the legal issues Trump faces is one reason why the former president is not fit for office.

"I think this is one of the demonstrations why Trump is really not fit for office because he is consumed by these troubles, his family is consumed by them, and I think foreigners will try to take advantage of it one way or another. They may be doing it already," he said.

With the civil fraud ruling and the two judgments in Carroll's defamation case, the former president would be responsible for approximately $542 million in judgments.

In addition, the verdict in the civil fraud trial requires Trump to pay interest on some of the deal profits he has been ordered to give up. According to James, the interest payments totaled $99 million and would "continue to increase every single day until it is paid."

The former president plans to appeal Engoron's decision, according to his lawyer.

Trump is also set to appeal Carroll's case in an attempt to lower the $83.3 million awarded. As of February 8, Trump is given 30 days to post a bond pending post-trial motions to have the award lowered.