Trump’s legal roller coaster

Faced with a double legal jeopardy, Donald Trump experienced a day in New York on Monday comparable to a roller coaster ride. By mid-morning, his morale reached an unexpected high thanks to an appeals court’s decision to postpone and reduce his bail in a civil case. Then he took a dizzying dive shortly after when a judge refused to postpone his criminal trial in the Stormy Daniels case for another time. Five questions to navigate these twists and turns.

What is this decision that so delighted Donald Trump?

A New York appeals court threw him a lifeline by reducing the amount of bail he had to post Monday to appeal a judgment imposed following his fraud trial in New York, in last February. The court increased this amount from $454 million to $175 million, while granting the former president an additional ten days to secure this sum.

Without this intervention, New York State Attorney General Letitia James could have started seizing Donald Trump’s real estate and bank accounts on Monday. The judges of the court of appeal did not explain their decision in the terse two-page document announcing it, which is not abnormal in itself.

Will Donald Trump be able to guarantee the required $175 million?

Speaking to reporters, he said he intended to deposit “very quickly, within 10 days, $175 million in cash or collateral.” According to an analysis of New York Timeshe has more than $350 million in cash, stocks or bonds.

Whether he had that amount or not, he welcomed a twist that even his lawyers no longer hoped for, especially given the fact that the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York did not l habit of rendering decisions on Mondays. “I greatly respect the decision of the appellate division,” Donald Trump told reporters.

In a fundraising email, he exulted: “Trump Tower remains mine. » In reality, he does not own this skyscraper.

Does this decision call into question the judgment imposed by Judge Arthur Engoron last February?

No, but… According to a spokesperson for the Attorney General of the State of New York, the judgment “remains valid” and Donald Trump “must still answer for his astonishing fraud”.

After finding the former president responsible for financial fraud spanning 10 years and aimed at inflating the value of his assets to obtain more favorable loans from banks and better insurance conditions, Judge Engoron sentenced him to 355 million dollars fine, a sum which rises to 464 million dollars taking into account interest.

But the appeal court’s decision on bail may mean judges could reduce the amount of the fine imposed by Judge Engoron.

How did the twist in the Stormy Daniels affair occur?

The judge in charge of the case, Juan Merchan, had already postponed by at least 30 days, until mid-April, the criminal trial of Donald Trump which was to begin Monday. However, instead of undertaking the selection of jurors, he held a hearing where the former president’s lawyers requested a postponement of the trial for 90 days or its outright cancellation.

This request arises from the recent submission of a mass of documents resulting from a federal investigation into the same matter. Donald Trump’s lawyers accused Manhattan prosecutor Alvin Bragg of trying to hide these documents. The accusation made the judge jump, who raised his voice while asking one of the ex-president’s lawyers to prove his statements.

“You are literally accusing the Manhattan district attorney’s office and the people in charge of this case of misconduct and you are trying to make me complicit in it,” the judge denounced before announcing a 45-minute recess.

After returning from recess, he set April 15 as the start of the trial, ruling that defense attorneys would have ample time to review the new documents by then.

Donald Trump is accused of falsifying company documents to conceal the payment of $130,000 to porn actress Stormy Daniels in exchange for her silence about a sexual relationship with him. The payment came shortly before the 2016 presidential election.

Of the four criminal cases targeting Donald Trump, the New York case could be the only one to go to trial before the presidential election.

How did Donald Trump react to this decision?

Very bad. “I don’t know how we can have a trial that takes place in the middle of the election,” declared the Republican presidential candidate, while denouncing “electoral interference” and “voter intimidation.” Like his lawyers, Donald Trump promised to appeal Judge Merchan’s decision. However, it is not certain that such an appeal is still possible.

The New York trial is expected to last about six weeks. It will thus cover one of the calmest periods of the presidential campaign. Donald Trump has only participated in one political rally since he became the Republican Party’s likely candidate for president on March 12.