Before halting the multimillion-dollar verdict in the former president Trump's civil fraud lawsuit, the attorney general's office of New York sought a state appeals court to require the former president to post a full bail.
The state's motion comes after Trump's legal team said on Monday that the former president is not making the necessary progress toward securing the entire bond amount, even with his "diligent efforts." In a written document attached to the petition, an insurance broker who testified for Trump during the fraud trial last year described the endeavor as a “practical impossibility”.
Dennis Fan, senior assistant solicitor general in the attorney general's office, stated in a court filing on Wednesday that "Defendants’ new factual allegations and legal arguments fail to support their extraordinary request for a stay based on a bond or deposit of less than one-fourth of the money-judgment amount."
After the state sued Trump in 2022 for dishonest business practices, a New York court found that Trump plotted to exaggerate his assets for tax and insurance advantages and was culpable for fraud. As a result, Trump was required to pay a $454 million penalty on his own. As of Wednesday, Trump owed the state around $457 million, with interest that was accruing at the rate of $112,000 every day that he failed to make payments.
A bond would instantly stop the judgment's execution while he files an appeal; but, in order to do so, Trump's attorneys said in the court document that he must provide collateral equal to 120 percent of the verdict, or more than $557 million.
Rather, Trump has requested that the court accept a $100 million bail.
Trump's attorneys said, "Very few bonding companies will consider a bond of anything approaching that magnitude." However, it is untrue, according to the attorney general's office.
Fan said that the former president might split the multimillion-dollar bond among many sureties to reduce "any individual surety's risk," claiming that there is no law restricting Trump to a single bond from a single surety for the whole judgment amount.
He informed the court that because of his “ongoing personal and professional relationship with Donald Trump,” Judge Arthur Engoron, who presided over the fraud trial, deemed the insurance broker mentioned in Trump’s request, Gary Giulietti, to be untrustworthy.
Additionally, the state attorney refuted Trump's claim that his many properties cannot be used as collateral, arguing that real estate may be used as collateral "hardly impossible."
Fan said that the core of the defendants' claims is that the sureties have refused to take up Mr. Trump's real estate assets as collateral in this lawsuit. "However, the defendants do not provide any documentation that shows what specific real estate they gave the sureties, under what circumstances, or why the sureties declined to take the assets.
"From what the Court can tell, sureties might have declined to take defendants' particular holdings as collateral since it usually requires 'a property appraisal' to use Mr. Trump's real estate, and his holdings are not nearly as valuable as defendants allege," he went on.
Monday is when Trump must post bail; on that day, his first criminal trial was supposed to start in Manhattan, but it was postponed due to a last-minute document dump.
If he is unable to provide the money, New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) may start seizing Trump's belongings, which may include some of his most well-known Manhattan buildings, such as Trump Tower and 40 Wall Street, in order to execute Engoron's judgment.
The state's motion comes after Trump's legal team said on Monday that the former president is not making the necessary progress toward securing the entire bond amount, even with his "diligent efforts." In a written document attached to the petition, an insurance broker who testified for Trump during the fraud trial last year described the endeavor as a “practical impossibility”.
Dennis Fan, senior assistant solicitor general in the attorney general's office, stated in a court filing on Wednesday that "Defendants’ new factual allegations and legal arguments fail to support their extraordinary request for a stay based on a bond or deposit of less than one-fourth of the money-judgment amount."
After the state sued Trump in 2022 for dishonest business practices, a New York court found that Trump plotted to exaggerate his assets for tax and insurance advantages and was culpable for fraud. As a result, Trump was required to pay a $454 million penalty on his own. As of Wednesday, Trump owed the state around $457 million, with interest that was accruing at the rate of $112,000 every day that he failed to make payments.
A bond would instantly stop the judgment's execution while he files an appeal; but, in order to do so, Trump's attorneys said in the court document that he must provide collateral equal to 120 percent of the verdict, or more than $557 million.
Rather, Trump has requested that the court accept a $100 million bail.
Trump's attorneys said, "Very few bonding companies will consider a bond of anything approaching that magnitude." However, it is untrue, according to the attorney general's office.
Fan said that the former president might split the multimillion-dollar bond among many sureties to reduce "any individual surety's risk," claiming that there is no law restricting Trump to a single bond from a single surety for the whole judgment amount.
He informed the court that because of his “ongoing personal and professional relationship with Donald Trump,” Judge Arthur Engoron, who presided over the fraud trial, deemed the insurance broker mentioned in Trump’s request, Gary Giulietti, to be untrustworthy.
Additionally, the state attorney refuted Trump's claim that his many properties cannot be used as collateral, arguing that real estate may be used as collateral "hardly impossible."
Fan said that the core of the defendants' claims is that the sureties have refused to take up Mr. Trump's real estate assets as collateral in this lawsuit. "However, the defendants do not provide any documentation that shows what specific real estate they gave the sureties, under what circumstances, or why the sureties declined to take the assets.
"From what the Court can tell, sureties might have declined to take defendants' particular holdings as collateral since it usually requires 'a property appraisal' to use Mr. Trump's real estate, and his holdings are not nearly as valuable as defendants allege," he went on.
Monday is when Trump must post bail; on that day, his first criminal trial was supposed to start in Manhattan, but it was postponed due to a last-minute document dump.
If he is unable to provide the money, New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) may start seizing Trump's belongings, which may include some of his most well-known Manhattan buildings, such as Trump Tower and 40 Wall Street, in order to execute Engoron's judgment.
