特朗普称他拥有近5亿美元现金，但不想用它来支付纽约的判决
【中美创新时报2024年3月23日讯】（记者温友平编译）唐纳德·特朗普周五（22日）声称拥有近 5 亿美元现金，但表示他宁愿将其用于总统竞选，也不愿用于纽约针对他的 4.54 亿美元民事欺诈判决。这位前总统发誓，“如有必要，将一直上诉至美国最高法院”，因为如果他不支付巨额费用，该州可能会没收他的部分资产。美联社记者MICHAEL R. SISAK对此作了如下报道。
特朗普在对这一令人震惊的判决提出上诉时，一直试图让州上诉法院免除他提供财务担保以证明他有钱的要求。他没有提供任何现金索赔文件，他的律师表示，在保证企业运转和履行其他义务的同时，将如此多的现金绑在债券上是不可行的。
曼哈顿的一名法官今年二月发现，特朗普在向银行和其他机构提供的财务报表中多次谎报自己的财富，以获取贷款和进行交易。法官命令他放弃某些房地产交易的利润以及通过获得较低贷款利率节省下来的钱。特朗普否认他试图欺骗任何人。
就在周四，特朗普的律师在法庭文件中重申，他们很难获得涵盖判决的保证金，因为承销商坚持以现金、股票或其他流动资产而不是房地产作为抵押品。他们表示，30 多家担保公司拒绝了他们的请求。
特朗普的律师要求该州中级上诉法院推翻先前的裁决，该裁决要求他缴纳全额保证金以停止执行。纽约州总检察长利蒂蒂亚·詹姆斯(Letitia James)反对特朗普的要求，敦促上诉法院要求全额赔偿，以确保在维持原判的情况下，纽约州能够轻松获得这笔钱。
特朗普的律师表示，为了获得保释，他可能需要缴纳判决金额的 120%，即超过 5.57 亿美元。上诉法院尚未做出裁决。
特朗普周五对福克斯新闻频道表示：“如果有必要，我会一直抗争到美国最高法院。”他曲解了法律，并补充说：“在你有机会上诉之前，他们不能拿走你的财产。”
由于欺诈案是在州法院审理的，特朗普可能必须首先用尽州上诉程序，或者要求联邦法院受理此案（这种情况很少见），甚至有机会将他的斗争带到美国最高法院。在联邦上诉法院或纽约州高等法院（称为上诉法院）败诉的诉讼当事人可以提交调卷令状申请，这是一份要求最高法院复审案件的文件。
与特朗普的说法相反，当某人无法获得足够的现金来支付民事罚款时，即使上诉仍在审理中，扣押资产也是一种常见的法律策略。上诉本身并不停止收集。除非法院干预，否则如果特朗普不付款，詹姆斯完全有合法权利开始没收特朗普的财产。
特朗普周五在其“真相社交”平台上发帖称，他有足够的现金至少可以全额支付判决费用，但他认为他不应该这样花掉。
他用全部大写字母写道：“通过努力、天赋和运气，我目前拥有近五亿美元的现金。”并补充说，他计划在总统竞选中使用“大量资金”。
身为共和党人的特朗普此前从未暗示过他将为自己的 2024 年竞选活动捐款，并且自离开白宫之前就一直在向外部捐助者征求捐款。2016年竞选时，特朗普多次声称他的竞选资金是自筹的，尽管他依赖捐助资金。
“我不需要任何人的钱，”他在 2015 年的宣布演讲中说道，“我用的是我自己的钱。我不利用说客，也不利用捐助者。我不在乎。我真的很有钱。”
最终，特朗普最终在这场竞选中花费了约 6600 万美元的自有现金用于贷款和捐款——远低于他经常承诺的 1 亿美元。
特朗普是否真的如他所声称的那样拥有近5亿美元的现金，可能会成为未来法庭对其资产之争的主题。民主党人詹姆斯最早可能会在周一开始努力收集她对特朗普赢得的法律判决，除非上诉法院介入。
詹姆斯表示，她准备寻求没收特朗普的部分资产，但尚不清楚这会以多快的速度展开。她的办公室拒绝对其计划发表评论。
去年四月，特朗普在民事欺诈案的一份证词中作证称，他“拥有超过 4 亿现金”，但那是在他以 6000 万美元将纽约市高尔夫球场的管理权出售给赌场运营商 Bally’s 之前。此前，在 2021 年 6 月 30 日的财务报表中，特朗普报告称拥有 2.938 亿美元现金和现金等价物，总净资产为 45 亿美元。
周五，当一家上市空壳公司的股东批准了一项与特朗普的媒体业务合并的交易时，特朗普的巨额个人财富可能会进一步增长，该公司运营着社交网站 Truth Social。根据周四的股价，特朗普持有的该公司股份价值可能超过 30 亿美元，尽管规则可能会阻止他至少在六个月内出售新发行的股票。
吉尔·科尔文为本报告做出了贡献。
题图：共和党总统候选人、前总统唐纳德·特朗普在竞选集会上发表讲话。（MIKE STEWART/ASSOCIATED PRESS）
附原英文报道：
Trump says he has nearly $500m in cash but doesn’t want to use it to pay New York judgment
By MICHAEL R. SISAK The Associated Press,Updated March 22, 2024,
NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump claimed on Friday to have almost a half-billion dollars in cash but said he’d rather spend it on his presidential run than on the $454 million civil fraud judgment against him in New York. The former president vowed to fight the verdict “all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary” as the state gears up to potentially seize some of his assets if he doesn’t pay the hefty tab.
Trump has been trying to get a state appeals court to excuse him from a requirement that he provide financial guarantees showing he’s good for the money while he appeals the staggering verdict. He didn’t provide any documentation for his cash claim, and his lawyers have suggested it’s not feasible to tie up so much cash on a bond while also keeping his businesses running and meeting other obligations.
A Manhattan judge in February found that Trump repeatedly lied about his wealth on financial statements given to banks and others to secure loans and make deals. The judge ordered him to give up profits from certain real estate deals and money he saved by obtaining lower interest rates on loans. Trump denies that he tried to deceive anyone.
As recently as Thursday, Trump’s lawyers reiterated in court filings that they were having difficulty obtaining a bond covering the judgment because underwriters insisted on cash, stocks or other liquid assets instead of real estate as collateral. More than 30 bonding companies rejected their entreaties, they said.
Trump’s lawyers asked the state’s intermediate appeals court to reverse a prior ruling requiring that he post a bond covering the full amount to halt enforcement. New York Attorney General Letitia James has fought Trump’s request, urging the appeals court to require the full amount to ensure the state can easily access the money if the verdict is upheld.
To obtain a bond, Trump’s lawyers said he would likely have to put up 120% of the judgment, or more than $557 million. The appeals court has yet to rule.
“I’ll fight this all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary,” Trump told Fox News Channel on Friday. Mischaracterizing the law, he added: “They can’t take away your property before you’ve had a chance to appeal.”
Because the fraud case was tried in state court, Trump would likely have to exhaust the state appeals process first or ask a federal court to take up the case, which is rare, to even have a chance bring his fight to the U.S. Supreme Court. A litigant who loses in a federal appeals court or in a state’s high court — in New York, called the Court of Appeals — may then file a petition for a writ of certiorari, which is a document asking the Supreme Court to review the case.
Contrary to Trump’s claim, seizing assets is a common legal tactic when someone can’t access enough cash to cover a civil penalty, even while an appeal is pending. Appealing doesn’t, in itself, halt collection. Barring court intervention, James would be well within her legal rights to initiate seizure of Trump’s property if he doesn’t pay.
In a post Friday on his Truth Social platform, Trump suggested he had enough cash to at least cover the judgment in full — but didn’t think he should have to spend it that way.
“Through hard work, talent, and luck, I currently have almost five hundred million dollars in cash,” he wrote in all caps, adding that he had planned to use “a substantial amount” on his presidential campaign.
Trump, a Republican, has never before suggested that he would contribute to his own 2024 campaign and has been soliciting contributions from outside donors since before he left the White House. When he ran in 2016, Trump repeatedly claimed that he was self-funding his campaign, even though he relied on donor funds.
“I don’t need anybody’s money,” he said in his announcement speech in 2015. “I’m using my own money. I’m not using the lobbyists, I’m not using donors. I don’t care. I’m really rich.”
In the end, Trump ended up spending about $66 million of his own cash in loans and contributions on that race — far less than the $100 million he frequently promised.
Whether Trump actually has nearly $500 million in cash, as he claimed, could become the subject of a future court battle over his assets. James, a Democrat, could start efforts to collect on the legal judgment she won against Trump as soon as Monday unless an appeals court intervenes.
James has said she is prepared to seek to seize some of Trump’s assets, though it wasn’t clear how quickly that might unfold. Her office has declined to comment on its plans.
Last April, Trump testified in a deposition in the civil fraud case that he had “substantially in excess of 400 million in cash,” but that was before he sold his rights to manage a New York City golf course to casino operator Bally’s for $60 million. Prior to that, on a June 30, 2021, financial statement, Trump reported having $293.8 million in cash and cash equivalents and an overall net worth of $4.5 billion.
Trump’s substantial personal wealth likely grew even more Friday when shareholders of a publicly traded shell company approved a deal to merge with his media business, which operates the social networking site Truth Social. Based on Thursday’s stock price, Trump’s stake in the company could be worth more than $3 billion, though rules could potentially prevent him from selling newly issued shares for at least six months.
Jill Colvin contributed to this report.
