Longtime Trump confidante and billionaire businessman Thomas Barrack was formally arraigned on federal criminal charges in Brooklyn on Monday, appearing in court to hear the charges against him and formally approve a bond agreement.
That amount of wealth combined with sleazeball associates across the globe is exactly why he should not have been granted bail.
I still think this guy will pull a runner.
Really? He could wipe his ass with that money and never even miss it.
I’m quite sure I could live like a king for the rest of my life with access to only 1/10th of his remaining $750,000,000.
Right there with you, LiWS.
All the President’s men to All the President’s felons. The Republican Party has been on a downward trajectory for over 50 years now, and that’s starting from a baseline of impeachment and resignation.
Not sure how the judge can say that with any confidence. Does he know how much Barrack has cached outside US jurisdiction?
There’s a lovely villa waiting for him in the UAE. The chances of him sticking around for the trial are not good - or realistic.
That bail may sound like big money to the court, but he has access to lots more.
I’m just wondering what more it’s going to take to make people realize that the entire Trump [mal]Administration was a set of foreign intelligence operations.
He should not be free. He will flee.
Hi Max, I totally agree with you. His crimes are such that no one who did what he did should ever be allowed their freedom until and unless they are found Not Guilty. That would also provide an incentive for the rich to mind their manners and support our country rather than undermine it.
I believe that might wipe you out, sir.
Ugh. The magistrate just issued a challenge to the defendant in a game which he, on a $194,000 civil service salary, has no experience. The judge thinks 250 million is a lot of money. He’s about to get an education in exponential numeracy.
He might… I would prefer to avoid spending years in jail, myself, and I might be willing to give up a great deal to avoid a prison term. That said, I don’t think a life on the run for a relatively high profile individual is really that much of a thing. Most of the countries that lack extradition treaties with the US are not places that many of us would be happy to travel, and, his money is likely to be tied up in ways that he could lose access to it, were he on the lamb. I’m afraid that like most of the grifters, felons, and broken things in Trump’s orbit, this S.O.B. failed to consider the consequences of his behavior should Trump not become our Beloved, Supreme, Orange, Diaper Stain for Life.
Except for the parts that were just plain old-fashioned mobster.
Though I grant that, at least in Russia, there is not exactly a clear dividing line between the two.
One million dollars!
Though other members of his family also had to put up stakes as part of the bond agreement, which often gets ignored next to the eye-popping top line number. So if he runs, he’s going to alienate/inconvenience his family members. So it really depends how much of a sociopath he is whether that becomes a factor or not.
Why isn’t putting a tracking bracelet on his ankle good enough? That’s what’s done for defendants all the time. Or is losing an ankle not enough of a good of a risk in this guy’s case?
The government is in a position to freeze his assets both here and abroad. Look at how many years Iran spent trying to get their money back and you have some idea of what the US can do to fleeing individuals.
He’s in deep Do-Do. Remember Manafort had to forfeit so much that he paid for his own trial.
“I find that there are conditions to indicate the risk of flight is present,” the judge said.
Then deny bail.
(Why is this so hard?)
Reilly also disclosed that Barrack did not appear to have any meaningful foreign financial assets or properties.
Emphasis mine. Of course Barrack has offshore accounts that DOJ and the judge have no knowledge of.