New York Attorney General Letitia James sits in the courtroom for the civil trial of former President Donald Trump at New York State Supreme Court on October 18, 2023, in New York City. | Source: Pool / Getty
Donald Trump, who wants everybody to believe that he is a billionaire, cannot afford to pay for his own bond as he appeals a mammoth fraud judgment after a jury found he exaggerated the worth of his business and assets to secure loans and other financial benefits without revealing that he’s not as wealthy as he claims.
Lawyers for Trump all but plainly stated Monday that not only is he unable to cover a bond for the $464 million judgment but he has also failed to secure underwriters like insurance companies to pay for the bond, NBC News reported.
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In the meantime, New York Attorney General Letitia James, whose office successfully prosecuted Trump in the case, will be able to begin collecting on the judgment next week if a bond cannot be secured. The $464 million figure will have more than $110,000 tacked on daily until the judgment is paid in full.
Trump’s lawyers said in a court filing that it was “a practical impossibility” to secure the bond after being turned down by dozens of insurance companies — or surety agents — in part because they won’t accept the former president’s real estate holdings as collateral and instead want “cash or cash equivalents” to have them put up the money for the judgment.
But doing that would jeopardize Trump’s businesses, the lawyers said in the filing, by costing him nearly $1 billion.
Again, Trump is supposed to be a billionaire.
Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks to supporters during a rally at the Dayton International Airport on March 16, 2024, in Vandalia, Ohio. | Source: Scott Olson / Getty
Even though Trump’s lawyers said he can’t afford a bond, they want the court to believe that he’s good for it.
“Defendants’ real estate holdings — including iconic properties like 40 Wall Street, Doral Miami, and Mar-a-Lago, — greatly exceed the amount of the judgment. Such assets are impossible to secrete or dispose of surreptitiously, leaving the plaintiff effectively secured during the pendency of an appeal,” the filing insisted.
Forbes estimated that Trump’s net worth stood at $2.6 billion as of Monday afternoon.
Trump’s attorneys earlier this month were able to post a bond for an $83.3 judgment after he was found guilty of defamation against writer E. Jean Carroll, whose claims of rape were upheld in court.
The update in Trump’s civil fraud case comes days after his legal team was dealt a significant setback in one of his other multiple criminal cases.
On Friday, a Georgia judge ruled that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis was not disqualified from prosecuting sweeping conspiracy charges against Trump and more than a dozen of his co-defendants over allegations they tried to overturn the state’s 2020 election results.
The decision allows the case to move forward and dashed defense attorneys hopes all charges wold be dismissed because of a nonexistent conflict of interest posed by Willis’ past romantic relationship with special counsel Nathan Wade, who on Friday recused himself from the case.
Trump followed up that ruling in a speech on Saturday by threatening “a bloodbath” if he doesn’t win the presidential election.
This is America.
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