By MICHAEL R. SISAK (Associated Press)
NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump's legal team told a New York appellate court on Monday that it's not feasible for him to provide a bond covering the full amount of a $454 million civil fraud judgment during his appeal.
His attorneys stated in a court filing that obtaining a bond for the full amount of the judgment is not possible in this situation.
Trump's lawyers have asked the state's intermediate appeals court to overturn a previous ruling that required him to post a bond covering the full amount to stop enforcement while he appeals the judgment in New York Attorney General Letitia James' lawsuit.
With interest, Trump owes $456.8 million, and he and his co-defendants, including his company, sons Eric and Donald Trump Jr., and other executives, owe $467.3 million. To obtain a bond, they would need to post collateral worth $557 million, according to Trump's lawyers.
Trump is appealing Judge Arthur Engoron's ruling from February, which concluded that he, his company, and top executives, including his sons, had deceived banks and insurers by inflating his wealth on financial statements used to secure loans and make deals.
Among other penalties, the judge placed strict limitations on the Trump Organization's ability to do business.
Trump has until March 25 to pay the judgment or obtain a court order known as a stay, which would prevent enforcement while he is appealing. James, a Democrat, has said she will try to seize some of Trump's assets if he can't pay.
James' office declined to comment on Trump's inability to secure a bond.
In a court filing last week, Senior Assistant Solicitor General Dennis Fan stated that a full bond was necessary because Trump's lawyers had not shown that his liquid assets would be enough to satisfy the full amount of the judgment following appeal.
Trump's lawyers have asked the intermediate appeals court, the Appellate Division of the state's trial court, to consider oral arguments on its request and have also preemptively sought permission to appeal a losing result to the state's highest court, the Court of Appeals.
Trump is asking a full panel of the Appellate Division to stay the judgment while he appeals. His lawyers had previously suggested posting a $100 million bond, but Appellate Division Judge Anil Singh rejected that after an emergency hearing on Feb. 28. A stay is a legal mechanism that pauses collection of a judgment during an appeal.
Singh did grant some of Trump's requests, including pausing a three-year ban on him seeking loans from New York banks.
An insurance broker friend enlisted by Trump to help obtain a bond stated in an affidavit filed with the court that very few bonding companies would consider issuing a bond of the required size.
The remaining bonding companies will not accept hard assets such as real estate as collateral, but will only accept cash or cash equivalents, like marketable securities.
Gary Giulietti, a broker, said that bonds of this size are rarely if ever seen. In the rare case that a bond of this size is issued, it is given to the largest public companies in the world, not to individuals or privately held businesses.
Giulietti, who serves as an insurance broker for Trump’s company, testified at Trump’s civil fraud trial as an expert witness called by the former president’s defense lawyers. Judge Engoron noted that some of Giulietti’s testimony was contradicted by other witnesses, including a different defense expert, in his ruling.
Engoron mentioned that in his over 20 years as a judge, he had never encountered an expert witness who not only was a close personal friend of a party but also had a personal financial interest in the outcome of the case for which he is being offered as an expert. He pointed out that Giulietti’s company earned $1.2 million in commissions on its Trump accounts in 2022.
On Feb. 26, Trump filed an appeal a few days after the judgment was made official. His legal team have asked the Appellate Division to determine whether Engoron “committed errors of law and/or fact” and whether he abused his discretion or “acted in excess” of his jurisdiction.
Trump was not obligated to pay his penalty or post a bond in order to appeal, and filing the appeal did not automatically stop enforcement of the judgment.
If Trump were to put up money, assets, or an appeal bond covering what he owes, he would receive an automatic stay. He also had the option, which he is now utilizing, to request the appeals court to grant a stay with a bond for a lower amount.
Trump claims that he is worth several billion dollars and stated last year that he had about $400 million in cash, in addition to properties and other investments.
In January, a jury ordered Trump to pay $83.3 million to writer E. Jean Carroll for defaming her after she accused him in 2019 of sexually assaulting her in a Manhattan department store in the 1990s. Trump recently posted a bond covering that amount while he appeals.
This is in addition to the $5 million a jury awarded Carroll in a related trial last year. Trump has put more than $5.5 million in an escrow account while he appeals that decision.
