Trump locks down $175 million bond after New York civil fraud judgment – Washington Examiner

Former President Donald Trump has secured a $175 million bond in his New York civil fraud case, according to the latest court filing.

“As promised, President Trump has posted bond,” Trump lawyer Alina Habba said in a statement to the Washington Examiner. “He looks forward to vindicating his rights on appeal and overturning this unjust verdict.”

FILE – Former President Donald Trump attends the closing arguments in the Trump Organization civil fraud trial at New York State Supreme Court in the Manhattan borough of New York, Jan. 11, 2024. A New York judge has ruled against Donald Trump Friday, Feb. 16, 2024, imposing a $364 million penalty over what the judge said was a yearslong scheme to dupe banks and others with financial statements that inflated the former president’s wealth. Trump also has been barred from serving as an officer or director of any New York corporation for three years. However, the judge backed away from an earlier ruling that would have dissolved the former president’s companies. (Shannon Stapleton/Pool Photo via AP, File)

The former president secured the bond via Knight Specialty Insurance Company, one week after a panel from New York’s Appellate Division granted Trump, his adult sons, and two former Trump Organization executives a 10-day pause of the $464 million judgment in their civil fraud case and allowed them to post a reduced bond of $175 million.

Trump’s counsel argued that paying the full $464 million judgment would be a near-impossible task after being rejected by more than two dozen bond companies. They also contended that Trump would suffer irreparable harm if he had to sell assets in order to come up with the amount to post a bond before his appeal of the fraud judgment.

New York Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron ruled in February that Trump and his business associates engaged in decades of business fraud after falsely inflating Trump’s net worth to secure favorable loans and insurance premiums.

Trump denies wrongdoing, and his lawyers have appealed Engoron’s ruling, arguing that the disgorgement amount was unconstitutional and disproportionate and that no parties, including banks, sustained any damages in the process.

“There is no evidence, and no finding by Supreme Court, that the relevant lenders and insurers would not have given Defendants loans and policies on the same terms in the absence of the supposed ‘misrepresentations,’” defense lawyers wrote in a March filing.

Trump and other defendants will be on the hook for the entire $464 million judgement if their appeal fails, though the process could last into 2025, legal experts previously told the Washington Examiner.

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And if Trump lacks the funds to pay off the full judgment, New York Attorney General Letitia James has threatened to seize his assets, including property and valuable possessions.

Trump more recently posted a bond following the judgment in a civil case brought by former Elle magazine columnist E. Jean Carroll. The amount was $92 million, paid through insurance company Chubb after a jury in January found him liable for defaming her. Trump has denied wrongdoing in that has and has filled notice of appeal.