Trump Posts Bond in Defamation Case

Former President Donald Trump has posted a bond in the defamation case he lost to writer E. Jean Carroll. Trump was able to secure a $91,630,000 appeals bond from Federal Insurance Co. of Virginia, according to ABC News…

Sandra RhodesMar 8, 20243 min read

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guarantees that Carroll can collect the judgment once Trump exhausts his appeals, former federal prosecutor Josh Naftalis told ABC News.

A federal jury awarded Carroll $83.3 million in January; Trump recently asked that the judgment be paused. That, however, was denied by Judge Lewis A. Kaplan. This meant Trump had to either come up with the money himself or secure help from an outside company, according to The New York Times.

Trump was ordered to pay $83.3 million in damages to Carroll for defaming her in 2019. He denied he sexually abused her in the dressing room of a Manhattan department store in the 1990s, per ABC News.

“Trump, who said Carroll was ‘totally lying’ and that she was ‘not my type,’ has denied all wrongdoing,” ABC News reported.

Carroll is a former Elle magazine columnist.

Trump also filed a notice of Appeal of the judgment to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. He was required to either pay the judgment or post the Bond in order to proceed with his Appeal, per the outlet.

“President Trump respectfully requests that this Court recognize the supersedeas Bond obtained by President Trump in the sum of $91,630,000.00 and approve it as adequate and sufficient to stay the enforcement of the Judgment, to the extent that the Judgment awards damages, pending the ultimate disposition of President Trump’s Appeal,” Trump attorney Alina Habba said in Friday’s filing.

Habba is confident the judgment will be overturned.

“Due to the numerous prejudicial errors made at the lower level, we are highly confident that the Second Circuit will overturn this egregious judgment,” Habba said.

Kaplain denied Trump’s plea for a delay of penalties, citing the former president had enough time to get his finances in order.

“Mr. Trump’s current situation is a result of his own dilatory actions,” Kaplan wrote in his order Thursday. “He has had since January 26 to organize his finances with the knowledge that he might need to Bond this judgment, yet he waited until 25 days after the jury verdict … to file his prior motion for an unsecured or partially secured stay pending resolution of post-trial motions.”

Trump is still appealing the $5 million judgment a jury awarded to Carroll last May in a separate trial. The jury ruled in favor of Carroll and determined Trump sexually abused her, ABC News reported.