Concern about the fact that Donald Trump must post a $450 million-plus bond by Monday — and where he might get that money — prompted a curious debate with the ex-president’s lawyer on Fox News on Wednesday.
Earlier in the day on The View, Joy Behar worried about the risks posed by a financially-desperate Trump.
“I mentioned Saudi Arabia and Russia, they have motivation to give him money because then they will own him,” said Behar.
Fox News anchor Martha MacCallum put the question directly to Trump lawyer Alina Habba later in the day.
“Is there any effort on the part of your team to secure this money through another country, Saudi Arabia or Russia as Joy Behar seems to think?” MacCallum asked.
Habba’s answer, and that of any politician running for U.S. office, should have been a resounding, “No.” Instead, Trump’s lawyer was more etherial.
“Well, there’s rules and regulations that are public,” Habba said. “I can’t speak about strategy, that requires certain things, and we have to follow those rules.”
She quickly segued into a protest against what she called the “manifest injustice” of the ruling and “witch hunt.”
Behar and MacCallum aren’t the only ones asking the question.
Hours after Habba’s equivocation, former National Security Adviser Susan Rice sounded the alarm about Trump’s financial vulnerability.
“In the event that [Trump] has to take that money from an individual or an entity, whether domestic or international, that individual or entity will potentially have real influence over him, and so that is of concern,” Rice told MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell.
“There’s just so many ways the stench of money from dubious places infuses his business enterprise, and so this would add more questions should that be the case going forward.”
Rep. Sean Casten (D. IL) on Monday wrote, “The presumptive @GOP nominee for President is desperate for $464M (and counting) which he cannot personally access. That fact alone makes him a massive national security risk; any foreign adversary seeking to buy a President knows the price.”
Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, also raised the issue on MSNBC’s Deadline: White House on Monday.
“First and foremost, if it’s coming from a company like Chubb or Federated [Insurance], yes we know that company, it’s an American company and so on. But what if hypothetically, the money is coming from Saudi Arabia, from Qatar? What if by chance, it’s coming through a backdoor channel of Russia?” he asked.
“That now leaves a potential presidential candidate basically owing a foreign entity. All at the expense of America’s security? This is no joke. This places our national security in jeopardy and continues to make Donald Trump the most dangerous thing in America to our national security and democracy. “