Letitia James Could Use Stormy Daniels to Help Pay Donald Trump’s Judgment

New York Attorney General Letitia James could use money that adult film actress Stormy Daniels owes Donald Trump to help pay for the $454 million judgment in the civil fraud case against him.

Trump’s March 25 deadline in the case is nearing, and if the former president can’t pay the hefty fine or obtain a bond by then, James could begin to collect the $454 million judgment ordered by Judge Arthur Engoron last month. Her civil fraud case accused him of deceiving banks and insurers by inflating his wealth on financial statements when trying to get loans and make deals.

James would be authorized to seize Trump’s bank accounts and properties, but she could also go after money that’s owed to the presumptive Republican nominee for president.

That could include over $600,000 that Daniels owes Trump for her failed defamation suit. The total surpassed $600,000 after the adult film actress was ordered to pay Trump an additional $121,972 in legal fees last year.

As of Thursday, “all the monies owed by [Daniels] are still outstanding,” Trump lawyer Harmeet Dhillon told Newsweek.

Daniels has previously stated that she would “go to jail before I pay a penny” to Trump. Newsweek reached out to Daniels via email for comment.

Bernard D’Orazio, a New York attorney who focuses on debt collection, told Newsweek that as the winner in the civil fraud case, James has the right to try to enforce the judgment, which includes “debts owed to the judgment debtor [Trump].”

“If Daniels owes money to Trump, the NYAG could seek a court order compelling her to pay the debt to her,” D’Orazio said.

On Monday, Trump’s attorneys revealed in court filings that he’s been unable to find an insurance company to back the bond he would need to obtain to block James from enforcing the $454 million judgment while he appeals it in court. They said that he had approached 30 underwriters but that because of the judgment’s size and the fact that underwriters are looking for cash and not property, Trump has been unable to obtain a bond.

The news suggested that James would move closer toward seizing Trump’s assets while he fights the $454 million judgment in court. Syracuse University Law Professor Gregory Germain told the Associated Press that if Trump can’t come up with the cash or a bond, the state “could levy and sell his assets, lien his real property and garnish anyone who owes him money.”

He continued: “If he can’t post a bond or meet the appellate division’s bonding requirements, then I would expect him to file bankruptcy to take advantage of the automatic stay on collection. But that’s a couple of chess moves away, so we will just have to see what happens.”

Although Trump’s businesses have declared bankruptcy a handful of times in the past, the former president has bragged that he’s never had to do so personally.

D’Orazio said that while James has the right to go after Daniels’ money, he doesn’t think the attorney general would do so because Daniels’ “ability to pay might be doubtful.”

Former federal prosecutor and elected state attorney Michael McAuliffe told Newsweek that even if Trump is able to get the money that Daniels owes him, it would be a drop in the bucket given what he owes the state.

“If and when he ever collects the fees and costs from Daniels, the funds might constitute a cash asset to go towards the fraud judgment, but the approximately $122,000 isn’t material to the almost half-billion-dollar fraud judgment against Trump and the others [in his family],” McAuliffe said.

Because of the size of the judgment, McAuliffe warned of “seismic” consequences that could lead to more financial problems for Trump.

“A lien or a creditor enforcement action could trigger the payment provisions of other loans, or the forced sale of real estate could violate debt covenants of other loans,” he said. “It could all fall in like a house of cards.”