‘He Can’t Find a Frigging Company?’ Andrew Weissmann Roasts Trump for Going to ‘Not Qualified’ Bond Insurer
Former federal prosecutor Andrew Weissmann expressed incredulity at the drama surrounding Donald Trump’s New York fraud case.
Last year, the former president was found liable for defrauding banks and insurance companies and was subsequently ordered to pay $354 million to New York state. With interest, Trump owes nearly $500 million. To appeal, Trump initially had to post a bond of $454 million, but his attorneys said they could not find a company willing to backstop that amount. An appeals court ultimately reduced the figure to $175 million, which Trump allegedly posted via an outfit called Knight Specialty Insurance Company.
Trump had until Monday to demonstrate to the court the legitimacy of the bond. As of 9 p.m. ET, he had yet to do so.
Weissmann and Lawrence O’Donnell addressed the matter on Monday’s edition of The Last Word on MSNBC.
“Andrew, this filing, which we haven’t seen yet that should be coming by midnight from Trump’s attorneys needs to explain whether that $175 million bond really is a guaranteed form of payment,” the host said.
Weissmann replied:
Yeah, absolutely. It is just so remarkable. This is somebody who has been found by two juries to have defamed somebody, who has been found to have sexually assaulted somebody – the company of which has been found criminally liable for a decade-long tax conspiracy, criminally, and has been found to have committed fraud, has to post a bond of $175 million, is on trial starting today for a criminal case involving 34 felonies.
And he can’t find a frigging company that is registered in New York? Meaning, that they are licensed to do business here, which it appears they are not, and that has the wherewithal to pay the money because remember, the whole point is that you either have to put up the money now or you have to find a bond company that is sufficiently liquid that the plaintiff can look to that bond company if at the end of the day the judgment is affirmed.
Weissmann added that the company appears to be “not qualified” for the task.
Shortly after Weissmann’s appearance, MSNBC’s Lisa Rubin reported that Knight Specialty Insurance Company filed a series of documents purporting to attest to the validity of the bond. Judge Arthur Engoron, who presided over the civil case, will decide if the filings are sufficient.
The bond wasn’t Trump’s only legal travail on Monday. Jury selection began in his criminal trial in Manhattan, where he has been charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.
Watch above via MSNBC.
