“But the Trumpian part is that even though, or perhaps because, it may be part of a Trump scam, Knight now too may be on the hook for $175 million as it won’t automatically get out from underneath its own proffered surety.”
Hankey, a billionaire, has already said that his company will be able to post the money for Trump.
He was reacting to a comment on X by lawyer Dave Kingman, who wrote that Knight will not be able to post the $175 million.
“Understand that Knight Specialty has a problem. This bond cannot be approved. Under the CPLR [Civil Practice Laws and Rules] the surety will remain obligated under the bond until a replacement bond is filed. Trump is unlikely to get a replacement bond. Knight Spec will be liable AND Trump won’t have a stay [on enforcement],” he wrote.
To actually give an answer, it’s because the Constitution very deliberately does not allow criminal convictions to disqualify someone. This was done because it was, and in plenty of places still is, common practice for a government to simply make up charges and arrest any opposition, thus disqualifying them from running.
You always have to look at this kind of stuff from the other side. Would you really want a Trump to be able to disqualify an opposing candidate for running a red light once twenty years ago?
I think it’s good that Trump can technically run - but it’s fucking embarrassing that he’s managed to retain so much support.
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You’re correct, but the fundamental blame for that does lie with the voters, at the end of the day. No amount of structural protections can protect democracy from voters that do not care about it. At that point, they’re just ink on a page.
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