Donald Trump has until Monday to pay the $454 million bond he owes to New York, and Attorney General Letitia James has already filed judgments in Westchester County, where Trump has a golf resort and private estate. As former principal deputy solicitor general and lawyer Neal Katyal told Jen Psaki on her MSNBC show Sunday, “There’s a reason why I think some people are calling Donald Trump ‘Don Poorleone’ right now,” referencing “The Godfather” and its famous mafia leader Don Vito Corleone.
“And it’s because he’s talking out of both sides of his mouth,” Katyal continued. “His lawyers say he can’t get the money in time. He’s getting on Truth Social, his social media platform, and saying he can. You know, these things don’t make much sense together. And that’s kind of a microcosm of the way Trump, what got Trump into trouble in the first place.”
Katyal cautioned that the process of seizing Trump’s properties isn’t quick, but James could file liens “on any other property that she hasn’t already sought liens on … she’ll also, I suspect, file bank levies to take Trump’s bank money.”
Unsurprisingly, Trump has blasted James repeatedly on Truth Social throughout the weekend. Sunday morning he wrote, “Leticia James has a TERRIBLE RECORD ON VIOLENT CRIME AS NEW YORK STATE ATTORNEY GENERAL. BUT AT LEAST SHE GOES AFTER TRUMP FOR DOING ABSOLUTELY NOTHING WRONG!”
Five minutes later he added, “The Judge in the A.G. case FRAUDULENTLY UNDERVALUED MAR-A-LAGO AT $18,000,000 IN ORDER TO CREATE HIS FAKE NARRATIVE. HE IS GROSSSLY INCOMPETENT AND CORRUPT! I SHOULD HAVE ZERO FINE.”
If Trump does not make his payment on Monday, James can begin to seize his properties the next day. The process won’t be easy, New York real estate attorneys told The Guardian. The first step will likely be a letter of garnishment sent from the AG’s office to every bank in New York, the outlet adds, which will freeze Trump’s accounts.
Watch the segment with Katyal in the video above.
