Politics
Trump Faces $536.8 Million in Legal Penalties, how will he pay?
(CTN News) – After losing $536.8 million in two judicial defeats, it’s unclear if former President Donald Trump’s opponents will receive any money.
On Friday, a New York judge ordered Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump and his business trust to pay $453.5 million in penalties and interest for fraudulently inflating the value of real estate holdings, including his own Trump Tower penthouse and private club in Florida.
Last month, a Manhattan federal jury sentenced Trump to pay $83.3 million to writer E. Jean Carroll in defamation. Carroll accused Trump of sexually assaulting her in the mid-1990s.
Trump won’t ‘go gently’
Trump claims both charges were political hit jobs intended to hinder his steamroller campaign for the Republican nomination, and he has promised to appeal.
“Donald Trump is going to fight this to the end and will try to delay it until the last possible moment,” said George Arzt, a senior New York political consultant.
“There is no chance that he is going to go gently.”
But it won’t stop New York Attorney General Letitia James, who sued Trump for real estate fraud, or Carroll and her lawyers from attempting to take their judgements right away, analysts say.
Defendants in Trump’s position may face collection actions even during an appeal unless they get an appeal bond or make a cash deposit with the court that exceeds the judgment amount with interest.
In the real estate fraud case, it means Trump would have to furnish hundreds of millions of dollars in cash or property upfront — unless someone agrees to offer him a lower-cost appeal bond — to ensure James’ ability to collect later if his promised appeal failed.
If Trump files an appeal without obtaining a bond or making a deposit with the courts, Carroll and James would ordinarily be able to seize the money immediately.
That “would mean liquidating bank accounts and seizing his assets, not just in New York, but anywhere in the United States,” Mitchell Epner, a former federal prosecutor who has practised law in New York for about 30 years, told USA TODAY.
“It’s a really bad outcome, which is why most people and most companies, if they take an appeal, try to figure out a way to put up the undertaking, to stay the judgement, during the course of the appeal,” says Epner.
Will Donald Trump face a cash crunch?
However, obtaining a bond or depositing the cash can be difficult when dealing with the types of court judgements Trump faces.
While the health of Trump’s money remains unclear, third-party assessments place the real estate and reality TV mogul’s net worth far above the hefty New York judgements. Last year, the Bloomberg Billionaire’s Index assessed his fortune at $3.1 billion, while Forbes reported $2.6 billion.
That surplus may indicate that Trump can comfortably pay. However, his true level of financial comfort is more likely determined by the amount of cash he has on hand. Epner says very few companies — even well-capitalized — have hundreds of millions of dollars.
“If you are a business, you want to have your assets at work, in real estate, in operating companies, in things that are going to be paying you more than the amount of interest you can get by putting it into a bank,” says Epner.
This means that despite being a multibillionaire, Trump will most likely feel the squeeze.
“A nine-figure number, coming on top of the $83.3 million number in the E. Jean Carroll case, is going to put a very severe cashflow crunch on Donald Trump,” said Epner.
In a 2023 deposition for the civil fraud case, Trump stated that he had “fairly substantially over $400 million in cash.” The assertion has not been independently verified, but his current legal situation may require him to forfeit a sizable portion of that amount if it is accurate.
Assuming Trump is a multibillionaire, Ohio-based bonds advisor Mark Levinson predicted Trump would be able to obtain an appeal bond but warned the process might be unpleasant.
A bonding company will most likely want Trump to post collateral equal to the amount of the judgment or obtain an irrevocable letter of credit from a bank — a form of bank guarantee — to ensure the company can reclaim the money, Levinson said.
“Even for someone that’s three or four times over a billionaire,” Levinson said, the $83.3 million Carroll judgment alone is a lot of money to part with. According to him, Friday’s $453.5 million fraud judgment may need collaboration among different surety companies that supply appeal bonds.
“That’s going to be pretty difficult for anybody to get that bond,” he said.
In the New York civil fraud case, Trump received a judgement from a state court. To avoid collection, the losing party must get an appeal bond or deposit 100% of the judgment plus interest.
Carroll won $83.3 million against Trump in a New York federal court, which has the authority to require Trump to post a deposit or bond to prevent Carroll from collecting during his appeal. That court normally seeks 100% of the judgment plus interest.
After losing an earlier action against Carroll for $5 million, Trump placed a deposit surpassing that amount with the court while pursuing an ongoing appeal.
In both circumstances, a court may prevent the winning party from immediately claiming the money. However, if that does not happen and Trump cannot find the money, Carroll and the state attorney general’s office may pursue him.
The New York judgement contained $453.5 million, with interest, in “joint and several liability” against Trump and certain corporations. “Joint and several liability is warranted when the misconduct of the company and its top controlling officers are indistinguishable,” Judge Arthur Engoron stated in his verdict on Friday. That implies Attorney General James can sue either Trump or the firms for their entire liability.
Carroll’s lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, has already committed to seek the full verdict in the $83.3 million defamation case.
“Even if he doesn’t have the cash on hand, he has plenty of assets, and he may have to sell his assets to pay us, but we’re going to get the money,” Kaplan told CBS Mornings on Monday.
‘Trump would avoid bankruptcy at all cost.’
Epner said whether a bonding company would want to help Trump is unclear. Trump’s casinos have been bankrupt for decades, and he financed the $5 million Carroll judgment.
Levinson also said that Trump’s chequered history with creditors may give a bonding company concern. If there are concerns that Trump will declare bankruptcy, the company may require collateral worth 100% of the bond or even an irrevocable letter of credit from an acceptable bank because that type of guarantee, unlike collateral in the form of property or cash, cannot be reclaimed during the bankruptcy process.
“If he can’t get an appeals bond, then he has to put up an undertaking in the court itself, and that ordinarily is cash,” he said.
Filing for bankruptcy remains a possibility. Former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani responded to a $148 million court loss in a slander lawsuit filed by two Georgia election workers. Filing for bankruptcy automatically halts efforts to collect from the debtor.
However, filing for bankruptcy would have serious consequences.
“I think Trump would avoid bankruptcy at all costs because if he filed, the bankruptcy court allows super broad discovery into his financial affairs with the help of subpoena power, which I believe he would not want,” said Albert Togut, a bankruptcy lawyer with 45 years of experience.
“In the same manner that Trump didn’t want to disclose his taxes when he was running for president or when he was president, I can’t imagine that he would ever want a trustee with federal court powers to be looking into his affairs,” Togut told the U.S. News & World Report.
Politics
Millennials in Canada Have Turned their Backs on Justin Trudeau
Justine Trudeau and his Liberal Party are currently engaged in a fierce battle for second place against Jagmeet Singh’s socialist NDP, as both parties find themselves trailing by 20 points behind Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives.
A recent poll indicates that 38% of Canadians consider Trudeau to be the most ineffective leader the nation has encountered in over fifty years. An impressive 47% of Canadian Millennials indicated they would support Poilievre if an election were to take place today, while nearly half of all Canadians express a desire for an election to be called this year.
Pierre Poilievre’s strong appeal among young voters can be attributed primarily to economic factors: soaring inflation, a pressing cost-of-living crisis, and the challenge of housing affordability are pushing many away from the Liberals, who have held power for nearly nine years.
According to UnHeard, Millennials are increasingly distancing themselves from Trudeau due to his stringent measures aimed at controlling the internet to combat alleged disinformation, as well as his climate change initiatives, notably the carbon tax.
An increasing number of Canadians are becoming aware of Trudeau’s ineffective policies and his approach to mass immigration. This past summer, there was significant outrage among parents of teenagers and young adults as they observed their children remaining at home without jobs.
The primary concern stemmed from the fact that most low-skilled and entry-level positions were being filled by unskilled, temporary foreign workers, predominantly from India.
There has been a notable rise in criminal activities linked to international students and unvetted temporary residents who are becoming involved with Punjabi gangs in Canada, contributing to a surge in auto thefts nationwide.
Pierre Poilievre and the Conservatives are actively seeking to alter Trudeau’s approach to mass immigration and prioritize the construction of more housing should they come into power.
Significantly, Pierre Poilievre is perceived as more trustworthy than Trudeau, with over half of Canadians characterizing Poilievre as “open and honest about his actions, decisions, and intentions,” while only 39% share that sentiment regarding Trudeau.
The characteristics in question may shed light on Poilievre’s favorable polling, particularly among younger voters and women, who have historically leaned towards the Liberals or the NDP rather than the Conservatives.
The Liberal Party’s support has dwindled to an estimated 7% of Canadians, revealing a significant number of disillusioned voters eager for transformation. Poilievre is emerging as the type of leader that resonates with the desires of many Canadians.
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Politics
U.N. Special Rapporteur Calls on Thailand’s Banks to Cut-Off Myanmar Junta
The U.N special rapporteur for human rights in Myanmar has said the Bank of Thailand, commercial banks, and the anti-money laundering office are working on measures to stop the Myanmar Junta from acquiring weapons through Thailand’s banking system.
Tom Andrews the U.N. special rapporteur for human rights in Myanmar, said that some banks commercial in Thailand had aided Myanmar Junta’s by facilitating transactions that supplied military equipment to the Junta through the international banking system.
He called on the Bank of Thailand and financial institutions to do more to stop Myanmar’s junta acquiring weapons which they use on civilians to maintain power.
The special rapporteur was in Bangkok to address a parliamentary committee on security, he called on the Thai government to stop financial transactions that help supply weapons to Myanmar’s junta in line with a plan promoted by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) that sets out an end to violence as a first step toward peace.
In his 2023 report “The Billion Dollar Death Trade,” Andrews noted that Singapore had implemented a clear policy opposing the transfer of weapons to Myanmar.
Thailand’s Banks Lacked Clear Policy
As a result, exports of weapons and related materials from Singapore-registered entities using the formal banking system dropped from almost U.S. $120 million in fiscal year 2022 to just over $10 million over the next 12 months.
However, he said Thailand had no explicit policy position opposing weapons transfer to the Myanmar Junta, which saw exports from Thai-registered entities more than double in 2023, from just over $60 million to nearly $130 million.
He called on Thai Government to conduct a thorough investigation into transfers as Singapore had done into its companies’ dealings.
Andrews told the the committee that five Thai commercial banks and Thai-based companies were assisting Myanmar’s junta obtain weapons, dual-technology items and jet fuel, enabling Military Junta to conduct atrocities against the people.
But said he had found no evidence that the Thai government was involved or was aware of the transactions or that Thai commercial banks had knowledge.
Banks Condemn Myanmar Junta Violence
Meanwhile representatives from Thailand’s central bank, anti-money laundering office and the commercial banks named in the report were also present at the parliamentary meeting at government house in Bangkok.
A representative of the Bank of Thailand said officials were working with the commercial banks and the anti-money laundering office to make sure that enhanced oversight was properly practiced.
The Thai Bankers Association that was also at the parliamentary meeting said it did not have the means to investigate and monitor such irregularities beyond Thailand’s borders.
Mr. Pongsit Chaichatpornsuk, a Thai Bankers Association representative told the committee that If government security agencies tell us, we will stop transactions. We don’t support arms procurement by Myanmar Junta or any military government to violate human rights.
Thailand, which shares a long border with Myanmar and hosts many thousands of refugees fleeing conflict there, has tried to promote dialogue between Myanmar’s military rulers and opposition forces but no progress has been made.
This Article was first published in RFA
Politics
People Rushing Sign Online Petition to Impeach South Korea’s President Crash Site
The Speaker of the National Assembly of South Korea said in a statement that an online petition calling for South Korea’s President Mr. Yoon Suk-yeol’s impeachment crashed due to the enormous number of individuals attempting to sign the petition. Saying the National Assembly would resolve the matter as quickly as possible.
Since the petition was launch on the National Assembly’s website on June 20, more than 811,000 people have signed it. The petition urges Parliament to introduce legislation to impeach President Yoon on the grounds that he is unfit for office.
Late on June 30, National Assembly Speaker Mr. Woo Won-shik issued an apology for the disturbance and stated that Parliament would take action to protect the public’s fundamental rights.
People attempting to access the petition on July 1 experienced delays of up to four hours. At one point, an error message indicated that more than 30,000 individuals were waiting to access the site.
South Korea’s Parliament Hesitant
The online petition accuses Yoon of corruption, escalating the risk of conflict with North Korea, and endangering South Koreans’ health by failing to prevent Japan from leaking treated radioactive water from the destroyed Fukushima nuclear power plant.
By law, Parliament must assign every petition signed by more than 50,000 people to a committee, which will then decide whether to put it to a vote in the assembly.
However, the opposition Democratic Party, which has a majority in Parliament, is hesitant to turn the petition into an impeachment bill, according to media reports, with a spokesperson stating that the party has yet to address the topic.
The Parliament can impeach a president with a two-thirds majority. The Constitutional Court then deliberates the motion and decides whether to remove or reinstall the president.
Meanwhile, on Monday Reuters reported North Korea criticized a joint military exercise performed this month by South Korea, Japan, and the United States, according to official media, saying such drills demonstrate the three nations’ alliance has evolved into “the Asian version of NATO”.
On Thursday, the three countries began large-scale combined military drills named “Freedom Edge” featuring navy destroyers, fighter fighters, and the nuclear-powered US aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt, with the goal of strengthening defenses against missiles, submarines, and air strikes.
The drill was designed at a three-way meeting at Camp David last year to boost military cooperation amid concerns on the Korean peninsula caused by North Korea’s weapons testing.
Pyongyang will not overlook the strengthening of a military bloc led by the United States and its allies, and it would respond aggressively and decisively to defend regional peace, according to North Korea’s foreign ministry, as reported by KCNA.
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