Lawyers for former President Donald Trump said it’s a “practical impossibility” for him to get a bond to secure the $464 million fraud judgment against him.
The bond is needed to halt New York Attorney General Letitia James from collecting while he appeals the case. However, they have not been able to get a bond, NBC News said.
In 2022, James sued Trump and accused the Trump Organization of fraud by inflating its assets to gain better terms from insurers and lenders.
“Defendants’ ongoing diligent efforts have proven that a bond in the judgment’s full amount is ‘a practical impossibility,'” the filing said. “These diligent efforts have included approaching about 30 surety companies through 4 separate brokers.”
The amount needed is too much for companies to risk.
The lawyers spent “countless hours negotiating with one of the largest insurance companies in the world.”
The other companies will not “accept hard assets such as real estate as collateral,” but “will only accept cash or cash equivalents (such as marketable securities),” the filing said. Those companies also need about 120% of the amount of the judgment in collateral. This would run the bill up to $557 million
“In addition, sureties would likely charge bond premiums of approximately 2 percent per year with two years in advance—an upfront cost over $18 million,” the filing said. That $18 million would not be recoverable even if Trump wins his appeal.
In all, the filing said, the “actual amount of cash or cash equivalents required ‘to collateralize the bond and have sufficient capital to run the business and satisfy its other obligations’ approach[es] $1 billion.”
The filing also claims that the money could be gleaned from, in the end, by Trump’s real estate.
“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 said.
Trump believes the $464 million penalty is “grossly disproportional” and said “there are no victims, as there were no damages and no financial losses.”
Last month, Trump’s lawyers asked for the bond amount be reduced to $100 million, but Monday’s filing argues he shouldn’t have to put up any bond at all, per NBC.
A 30-day automatic stay of the judgment handed down by Judge Arthur Engoron will expire March 25. Then James would allowed to start “seizing Trump’s assets unless the appeals court steps in,” per NBC, adding, “It’s unclear what properties or assets James might look to seize.”
