Former President Donald Trump's lawyers acknowledge the challenge of securing a bond for the nearly half-billion required to pause a judge's February ruling in a New York civil fraud case.
Seeking a stay on the judgment while Trump contests it, the defendants face a $464 million tab with accrued interest. In a comprehensive 5,000-page submission, Trump's legal team argued that the bond requirement, demanding cash reserves close to $1 billion, is unprecedented.
They criticized the judgment as "grossly disproportional" to the offenses found, related to a decade-long scheme involving bank and insurance fraud through property overvaluations and manipulation of Trump's net worth.
"Very few bonding companies will consider a bond of anything approaching that magnitude," expressed Trump's lawyers, Alina Habba, Clifford Robert, Christopher Kise, and John Sauer.
In the filing, Trump Organization general counsel Alan Garten highlighted that surety companies are hesitant to accept real estate as collateral.
Garten mentioned that over 30 surety companies were approached, offering to use cash, cash equivalents, and unencumbered real estate as collateral for a bond. However, most companies lacked the financial strength to handle such a large bond, and those that could were unwilling to accept the associated risk.
Donald Trump's recent filing in the case followed his posting of a bond exceeding $90 million to appeal a previous legal loss where he was found to have defamed writer E. Jean Carroll. The bond was obtained through a subsidiary of Chubb, a major insurance company.
An affidavit from insurance executive Gary Giuletti, president of Lockton Companies, stated that despite efforts to secure a bond for Trump, it was deemed impossible given the circumstances.
"A bond of this magnitude is extremely rare," Giuletti emphasized in his statement.
Giuletti, who testified as an expert witness for Trump in a fraud trial, disclosed his long-standing friendship with the former president and his role as an insurance broker for the Trump Organization.
Judge Arthur Engoron expressed strong disapproval of Giuletti's testimony during the trial, as well as the defense team's choice to present him as a witness.
"Throughout its more than two decades on the bench, this Court has never encountered an expert witness who not only maintained a close personal relationship with a party involved but also had a personal financial stake in the case's outcome for which he was being presented as an expert," Engoron stated in his ruling dated February 16.
A representative for Attorney General Letitia James did not respond to a request for comment. James' office has specified that Trump must post a bond for the entire judgment by March 25 to prevent her office from enforcing the damages while he pursues an appeal. James has indicated that the state might consider seizing Trump's assets if he fails to satisfy the judgment.
