A California bank and a top shareholder have helped Trump when he needs cash. (Part-2

[{"selector":"#anim-0af1884a-7d93-4039-9b07-6b4eda198cd1","keyframes":[{"offset":0,"transform":"translate3d(0, -247.05352%, 0)","easing":"cubic-bezier(.5, 0, 1, 1)"},{"offset":0.29,"transform":"translate3d(0, 0%, 0)","easing":"cubic-bezier(0, 0, .5, 1)"},{"offset":0.45,"transform":"translate3d(0, -69.471449824%, 0)","easing":"cubic-bezier(.5, 0, 1, 1)"},{"offset":0.61,"transform":"translate3d(0, 0%, 0)","easing":"cubic-bezier(0, 0, .5, 1)"},{"offset":0.71,"transform":"translate3d(0, -23.618316512%, 0)","easing":"cubic-bezier(.5, 0, 1, 1)"},{"offset":0.8,"transform":"translate3d(0, 0%, 0)","easing":"cubic-bezier(0, 0, .5, 1)"},{"offset":0.85,"transform":"translate3d(0, -8.869221368%, 0)","easing":"cubic-bezier(.5, 0, 1, 1)"},{"offset":0.92,"transform":"translate3d(0, 0%, 0)","easing":"cubic-bezier(0, 0, .5, 1)"},{"offset":0.96,"transform":"translate3d(0, -3.8540349119999995%, 0)","easing":"cubic-bezier(.5, 0, 1, 1)"},{"offset":1,"transform":"translate3d(0, 0%, 0)","easing":"cubic-bezier(0, 0, .5, 1)"}],"delay":0,"duration":600,"fill":"both"}] After his efforts to change the 2020 election and the Jan. 6 Capitol incident, Trump exited the White House as a business pariah. He also had deadlines to repay large loans on Trump Tower and his Doral golf course resort in Miami.

[{"selector":"#anim-4bc58f38-3cc2-4b53-a2f4-e5a1ba176f1f","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":2000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] Axos acted. Records reveal that Trump received $225 million in loans from the bank in 2022 to pay off those two debts just before they were due. Property records show that the company again provided a $190 million loan to help a Miami-based investor group buy Washington's historic Old Post Office building for $375 million in 2022, when Trump was closing his hotel lease.

[{"selector":"#anim-09890655-d824-4a10-b8f2-0e22fcee3604","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-39b83737-9558-48a8-9ec6-d3105ec1b296","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(-121.33333%, 0px, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] Axos said it financed MSD Partners, the deal's main lender. Many hotel traders, owners, and consultants were surprised by the 263-room hotel near the White House's expensive price. In each of Trump's four years, even prior epidemic shutdowns, the hotel lost over $70 million. The Associated Press stated that Trump's companies made $100 million after the deal.

[{"selector":"#anim-e2ec7c60-3a8d-4536-be5c-68d567198647","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-da07c2db-2da7-499a-b543-3f54a769a5b4","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(0px, -401.69639%, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] The latest Axos-related financing came this week when Hankey's Knight Specialty Insurance posted a $175 million bond that Trump was obliged to pay to challenge a $454 million civil fraud verdict in New York.

[{"selector":"#anim-57d7927f-4fa4-485a-b265-99863a11a9d6","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-d7cd8305-e4b4-49b6-9572-a554410e4e8e","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(115.89405%, 0px, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] According to SEC records, Hankey is Axos Bank's largest stakeholder with a 5% interest. “This is what we do at Knight Insurance, and we’re happy to do this for anyone who needs a bond,” Hankey said this week after Trump made the bond. He told the AP he never met Trump.

[{"selector":"#anim-555e4726-5805-472a-9f7e-a9a0b5d1eba0","keyframes":{"transform":["scale(1)","scale(1.5)","scale(0.95)","scale(1)"],"offset":[0,0.33,0.66,1]},"delay":0,"duration":1450,"easing":"ease-in-out","fill":"both","iterations":1}] In a court filing on Thursday, New York Attorney General Letitia James' office opposed to the bond and requested that Knight Insurance provide more proof of its financial stability and collateral. Hankey, who gave $80,000 to Trump and the GOP in 2016, says politics did not affect his donation. Trump provided cash and bonds as collateral, he added.

[{"selector":"#anim-907fa8df-b950-4524-923b-6ef3421a81ec","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(-120.5298%, 0px, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":1000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(.2, 0, .8, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-649f27b2-c5b6-4a45-a10f-c87e18a60c7a","keyframes":{"transform":["rotateZ(-180deg)","rotateZ(0deg)"]},"delay":0,"duration":1000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(.2, 0, .5, 1)","fill":"forwards"}] “I’m chairman of the board of several companies, and we just carry on our business and try to avoid political issues or taking sides,” Hankey told The Washington Post. That doesn't reassure Trump detractors who followed his transactional presidency.

[{"selector":"#anim-67c7533f-f229-4b76-b018-deaee5b987e6","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":2000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(.3,0,.55,1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-41272d6a-d804-40c4-9f77-f56ffc7f99ff","keyframes":{"transform":["scale(0.3333333333333333)","scale(1)"]},"delay":0,"duration":2000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(.3,0,.55,1)","fill":"forwards"}] There are multiple layers of questions about what is Hankey's relationship to Trump and to others in Trump's orbit,” said Norman Eisen, a former Obama “ethics czar” and Brookings Institution senior scholar.

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