Donald Trump‘s efforts to secure a bond for a $454 million judgment in a New York civil fraud case face a major setback.
What Happened: Thirty surety companies declined the quadruple-indicted former president’s request, making it likely that his properties will be seized, Reuters reported.
Justice Arthur Engoron, in the civil fraud judgment from Feb.16, ruled that Trump inflated the value of his assets to mislead lenders and insurers.
Trump — alongside his adult children Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump, and Trump Organization executives — set out to secure a bond that would forestall the state’s seizure of his assets during the appeal process.
Christopher Kise, one of Trump’s attorneys, reportedly engaged with four different brokers in a vain attempt to secure the necessary bonding.
“Very few bonding companies will consider a bond of anything approaching that magnitude,” Kise and Trump’s other lawyers — Alina Habba, Clifford Robert and John Sauer — wrote in a nearly 5,000-page filing Monday.
A surety bond in this context would serve as a financial safety net, ensuring that the judgment is paid should Trump ultimately lose his appeal and prove incapable of covering the cost.
In a move to counteract the looming threat of asset seizure, Trump’s legal team filed a plea with a New York state appeals court. They argued for a postponement in enforcing the judgment, criticizing the demanded sum as disproportionately high. Instead of the full amount, Trump’s lawyers, including Habba, proposed a $100 million bond during the appeals process.
This legal maneuver sheds light on the complexities of securing such a substantial bond, with industry experts like Gary Giulietti of Lockton Companies — hired by Trump for this very purpose — highlighting the rarity and difficulty of issuing bonds of this magnitude, particularly for private individuals and entities.
Why It Matters: The situation underscores the severity of the legal entanglements surrounding the GOP front-runner for the 2024 presidential election.
The broader implications of this legal battle also extend beyond the immediate concerns of bond and asset seizure of Trump’s high-profile assets (i.e., the Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida and the Trump Tower penthouse in Manhattan).
Some GOP officials are worried that Trump and his family will try to pressure the Republican National Committee (RNC) to foot his bill of hefty legal expenses.
For example, Henry Barbour, a national RNC representative from Mississippi, circulated two draft resolutions aimed at preserving RNC funds and what he says were meant to be a neutral committee.
But the resolutions were considered “dead” after the RNC met in early March, Barbour later said.
The RNC is currently under the helm of co-chairpersons Michael Whatley, a North Carolina Republican who has echoed Trump's false theories of voter fraud, and Lara Trump, the former president's daughter-in-law.
Trump faces a March 25 deadline to post the required bond or face asset seizure. As a result, the coming days are critical for Trump’s legal and financial future.
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