‘An unprecedented time’: Ex-Fed prosecutor Brett Tolman discusses Trump’s NY case on ‘Fox & Friends’ as time to secure bond runs out
NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: Former federal prosecutor Brett Tolman joined co-host Will Cain to discuss what lies ahead in the New York civil fraud trial of Donald Trump on the Sunday, March 24, episode of 'Fox & Friends.'
With the deadline for Trump to pay $454 million to secure bond expiring the following day, the conversation largely revolved around the possible measures NY Attorney General Letitia James could take against the former President if he fails.
Donald Trump may face assets forfeiture
Cain mentioned that Trump may have his assets seized as he was yet to secure his bond, but that would take a while to litigate. However, his bank accounts may be frozen sooner, starting Monday, March 25.
"This is an unprecedented time," observed Tolman. "You have an individual who has been a businessman. There have been no victims in the underlying case. The judgment that was assessed on this is devoid of being tied rationally to the case at hand."
"It's what we have long known about civil asset forfeiture in this country, that it is done often times without the benefit of the facts truly supporting it. It's an area of the law that really needs an overhaul, but this is going to start a process that can take quite some time," he continued.
"Donald Trump will have the ability to have hearings on it, valuations become important. But if there is anyone or any entity that has ownership of any of the other assets, they're going to have claims on this. So it's going to be more legal wrangling, more assessments, and judgment that come down from a court that doesn't like Donald Trump."
Process turning into punishment
Tolman was in agreement with Cain claiming that the prosecution did not care as much about the outcome of the case as they did about making Trump go through the legal process.
"The thing that most Americans may be missing on this is ...it is that they don't really care about the outcome... anytime someone with power - a prosecutor, a DA - anyone with power that can enforce the laws of this country, when they stop caring about the actual case at hand and they care more about making it difficult for an individual that they don't like, then we've lost the interest of fairness in the administration of justice," he added.
