'Filthy hands off Trump Tower!' Frantic fundraising plea issued as fraud deadline nears

Donald Trump sent out a frantic fundraising plea centered around the possibility that Trump Tower might be seized as part of the massive New York fraud judgment leveled against him.

The former president's lawyers notified the court that none of 30 underwriting entities they approached would finance the half-billion bond he needs to pay as he appeals the fraud judgment, which means the New York attorney general's office could begin seizing his properties next week if he fails to pay by Monday's deadline.

"KEEP YOUR FILTHY HANDS OFF TRUMP TOWER!" reads a fundraising email sent to supporters. "Insane radical Democrat AG Letitia James wants to SEIZE my properties in New York. THIS INCLUDES THE ICONIC TRUMP TOWER!"

"Democrats think this will intimidate me," the message adds. "They think that if they take my cash to stifle my campaign, that I'll give up! Here's one thing they don't know: WE WILL NEVER SURRENDER!"

The fundraising pitch accuses President Joe Biden of coordinating the civil lawsuits and criminal prosecutions against Trump, accusing him of "election interference," and calls on a million supporters to donate money to his campaign.

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The fundraising pitch focuses on Trump Tower, probably his most famous property and his private residence until moving into the White House, and his former communications director identified that holding as one that would pain him to lose.

"I think if it were to happen, 40 Wall Street [also known as the Trump Building] is probably the one that he would, I mean, he would hate it,'" said Stephanie Grisham, his White House communications director from July 2019 until April 2020. "But I think if she tried to seize Mar-a-Lago or Bedminster or Trump Tower even, I mean, those are his babies."

New York Judge Arthur Engoron, who found him liable for fraud and imposed the $464 million penalty, set a deadline for him to pay by Monday, and he said the attorney general's office could enforce the court order if Trump failed to pay the judgment or come up with the same amount for a bond required by state law to file an appeal.