Former White House ethics head Norm Eisen called former President Trump “dumb” Friday for claiming he has nearly $500 million in cash despite his lawyers previously indicating that he cannot secure a $454 million bond in his New York civil fraud case.
“This is so dumb—now he can’t claim hardship to get a stay,” Eisen said Friday in a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. He added that New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) can now “help herself, including to this supposed money!”
Eisen’s post was responding to an earlier Truth Social post from Trump, in which he said, “THROUGH HARD WORK, TALENT, AND LUCK, I CURRENTLY HAVE ALMOST FIVE HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS IN CASH, A SUBSTANTIAL AMOUNT OF WHICH I INTENDED TO USE IN MY CAMPAIGN FOR PRESIDENT.”
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Former assistant special Watergate prosecutor Nick Akerman also criticized Trump’s Friday post saying on CNN it was “the dumbest thing he could have possibly done” because “that is a direct admission, by him, that he has the money.”
Trump faces a Monday deadline to pay the bond in the case, and his attorneys have said they have spent “countless hours negotiating with one of the largest insurance companies in the world” and approached 30 companies to back the bond, but to no avail.
“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 in a Monday filing.
In a post on Truth Social earlier this week, Trump ripped James and Judge Arthur Engoron, who oversaw the case, while indicating he would struggle to post bond.
“A bond of the size set by the Democrat Club-controlled Judge, in Corrupt, Racist Letitia James’ unlawful Witch Hunt, is unConstitutional, un-American, unprecedented, and practically impossible for ANY Company, including one as successful as mine,” Trump wrote.
“The Bonding Companies have never heard of such a bond, of this size, before, nor do they have the ability to post such a bond,” he added.
If Trump fails to meet the deadline, James said she may seize some of his assets.