Former President Trump has not been able to secure a $464 million appeal bond he needs following a New York civil fraud judgment against him, his attorneys say.
In a court filing Monday, his lawyers said obtaining one is a ‘practical impossibility under the circumstances presented.’
In late February, a New York Appeals Court judge denied Trump’s request to delay payment of the $464 million owed as a result of Attorney General Letitia James’ lawsuit, but said he will temporarily allow the 2024 front-runner and his sons to continue running their business during the appeals process.
Trump and his sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump were barred earlier that month from operating their business in New York for a range of two to three years. Trump was also found liable for hundreds of millions of dollars in damages in the civil fraud case brought against him, his family and the Trump Organization by James.
The filing Monday says ‘ongoing diligent efforts have proven that a bond in the judgment’s full amount is ‘a practical impossibility.’’
‘These diligent efforts have included approaching about 30 surety companies through 4 separate brokers,’ the filing says. ‘A bond requirement of this enormous magnitude – effectively requiring cash reserves approaching $1 billion … is unprecedented for a private company.’
It also says that ‘waiving the bond requirement will impose no cognizable harm on the Attorney General. The case involves no actual victims and no award of restitution, and she is fully protected by Defendants’ real-estate holdings. This factor alone warrants a stay.’
‘The Court should stay the judgment pending appeal, and put the brakes on the Attorney General’s overzealous litigation crusade,’ Trump’s lawyers also argued. ‘If oral argument would assist the Court in coming to that conclusion, we respectfully request an opportunity for such a hearing.’
His attorneys also said, ‘The practical impossibility of obtaining a bond interferes with Defendants’ right to appeal and threatens this Court’s appellate jurisdiction.’
‘The amount of the judgment, with interest, exceeds $464 million, and very few bonding companies will consider a bond of anything approaching that magnitude,’ they added. ‘The remaining handful will not ‘accept hard assets such as real estate as collateral,’ but ‘will only accept cash or cash equivalents (such as marketable securities).’
Trump Campaign Spokesman Steven Cheung later said in a statement that ‘This is a motion to stay the unjust, unconstitutional, un-American judgment from New York Judge Arthur Engoron in a political Witch Hunt brought by a corrupt Attorney General.
‘A bond of this size would be an abuse of the law, contradict bedrock principals of our Republic, and fundamentally undermine the rule of law in New York,’ he added. ‘President Trump will continue fighting and beating all of these Crooked Joe Biden-directed hoaxes and will Make America Great Again.’
A New York Appeals Court judge previously ruled that the former president must post a bond for the full amount of the judgment and that an independent director of compliance will be appointed.
That ruling comes after Engoron handed down his decision earlier in February after a months-long trial beginning in October in which the former president was accused of inflating his assets and committing fraud in financial documents.
Engoron ruled that Trump and other defendants were liable for ‘persistent and repeated fraud,’ ‘falsifying business records,’ ‘issuing false financial statements,’ ‘conspiracy to falsify false financial statements,’ ‘insurance fraud’ and ‘conspiracy to commit insurance fraud.’
‘In a massive victory, we won our case against Donald Trump for engaging in years of incredible financial fraud to enrich himself. Trump, Donald Trump, Jr., Eric Trump, and his former executives must pay over $450 million in disgorgement and interest,’ James wrote on X, celebrating on the same day of the judgment.
On Feb. 23, James, who has denied having a ‘personal vendetta’ against Trump despite remarks suggesting otherwise, posted flatly, ‘$464,576,230.62.’
Fox News’ Brooke Singman and Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.
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