Because if you pay the $200k you get it back when the case is over. The $20k is gone forever.

That's assuming the judge doesn't decide you've violated the bond conditions forfeit the bond. If that happens, the bondsman's going to go after you for the full $200k in addition to what you paid though, and you still wind up $20k poorer than if you put up the full amount in the first place.

What probably happened is that he plans to use his usual delaying tactics and run the case out for several years, so his accountants decided they could earn at least 11% on the remaining $180k by the time the case is up, making it cheaper to pay the $20k up front.

A bail bondsman has more legal options for going after someone than any other type of loan officer, including the use of bounty hunters.

That’s not how bail bonds works. It’s not a loan. You pay the bondsman 10%. Then the bondsman guarantees that the defendant will show up to his court dates. If the defendant fails to show up the bondsman has to pay the court the entire amount. Bondsman often use bounty hunters to pick up defendants who haven’t shown up.

Man, I really hope he runs. Just to see Republican faces when he abandons them and maybe a few finally realize they were conned.

My head canon for that timeline involves him being hunted down for betraying the united states, and his corpse dumped in the ocean like bin laden so that his grave site doesn’t become a place of worship for republicans.

Particularly if you think you might decide to skip out at some point.

Looking forward to the documentary of bounty hunters trying to catch him 😊

But this isn't the same kind of thing. When the court sets bail, you give them that amount as like a deposit. When you show up to court, you get it back. Looks of people don't have the cash though, so they go to a ball bondsman, give them 10% of the total amount, and the bondsman pays the court the whole amount. When you show up to court, the bondsman gets that amount back, and they keep your 10%.

So yes, it's a loan, but it's a really shitty loan. I can't see how he wouldn't be better off just paying the full amount himself unless he thinks he can successfully skip town.

Mind expand a bit on that, please, then?

I think the point is that he paid the 10% rather than front the $200k out of his own pocket. The 10% he doesn’t get back since he used a bail bondsman, but he would have gotten the full $200k back when he showed up in court had he used his own money.