The presumptive Republican nominee for president is a “massive national security risk” due to his inability to make $464 million bond in his civil fraud case, a lawmaker said.
Trump’s lawyers said in a court filing Monday that he is unable to secure the full bond amount due in his New York civil fraud case, which one insurance broker called “a practical impossibility.”
“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 lawyers wrote, according to CNN.
The former president’s lawyers are asking an appeals court to delay posting the bond until his appeal of the case is over, arguing that the value of Trump’s properties far exceed the judgment, but underwriters are seeking cash to back the bond, not properties.
The admission presents a potential opening for a foreign adversary to “buy a president,” and influence his actions as president, which makes Trump a national security risk, according to Rep. Sean Casten (D-IL.)
“The presumptive @GOP nominee for President is desperate for $464M (and counting) which he cannot personally access. That fact alone makes him a massive national security risk; any foreign adversary seeking to buy a President knows the price,” Casten wrote in a post on X/Twitter.
The lawmaker also pointed to the $91 million bond Trump recently secured as he appealed the $83 million verdict reached by a jury earlier this year, after they found that he defamed writer E. Jean Carroll after sexually abusing her in the 90s.
The bond was guaranteed by Federal Insurance Company, a subsidiary of Chubb Group LLC which is based in Switzerland. It is unclear what collateral Trump presented to obtain the bond from Chubb, according to The Washington Post.
“We already lack clarity on what security was provided for the $91M bond he posted in response to the E. Jean Carroll case,” Casten said. “That is already a plenty BFD. A guy who wants your trust and wants to be President should disclose his liabilities. Indeed, all of us who run for Congress or serve are required to post regular reports of our assets and liabilities.”
“The fact that we don’t know this about someone running for the highest office in the land shifts the liability onto our democracy itself,” he added.
