'It doesn’t make any sense': Ex-DOJ prosecutor doubts Trump's latest financial claims
Andrew Weissmann, the former senior prosecutor on Robert Mueller's special counsel team, questioned the validity of Donald Trump's claim that he's broke.
Filling in for Nicolle Wallace on Wednesday, MSNBC host Alicia Menendez said that something doesn't quite add up in Trump's latest claim that over 30 companies wouldn't bond him. Attorney General Letitia James questions whether the refusals are actual people saying they wouldn't bond him or if Trump simply wasn't open to the terms outlined.
Weissmann agreed that was what seemed fishy to him as well.
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"This is something I was saying that just doesn't make any sense at all. Donald Trump was saying, I don't have enough cash, and with respect to the real property, there are companies not willing to take real property as collateral to give me a bond," he said. "The reason that Tish James is saying it doesn't make sense is: One, fine, go ahead and post real property in court. The court can hang on to the property. Just post the real property if there's any equity in it. She said, you can get a letter of credit from a company, and you can have the real estate back that up."
Trump confessed in a filing Monday night that the four brokers he approached checked with 30-plus surety companies. They went so far as to list some of them in the footnote.
Weissmann suggested getting a mortgage on the real estate and then using the funds. Another problem, however, for Trump is that he has trouble getting a bank to lend him money for a mortgage.
"All of us, who have ever owned property, gets mortgages. He can do all that. The real issue is he may be too leveraged," Weissmann continued. "He says he's worth so much, but all these properties are used to back loans from other institutions. He may not have all that much money, either cash on hand or property that isn't already pledged for other loans. The reason he's having trouble and might be having this meltdown is he can't post the money, and he needs a lifeline through some third party who is going to be able to bail him out."
This is similar to what Michael Cohen said Monday. Also, when speaking to MSNBC, he explained that the properties have state and federal taxes as well as mortgages that must be paid on them. So, any property put up as collateral is really only worth about 60 percent of the value of each property because 40 percent of it will be tied up in other people that must be paid off first.
The international insurer, Chubb, offered a $91.6 million bond for Trump's E. Jean Carroll judgment. To appeal each case, Trump must first put up the bond. Chubb was also listed as one of the companies they approached to bond him for the fraud case. The company backed out, Trump's lawyer said.
See the clip of the conversation in the video below or at the link here.
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