Former President Donald Trump’s lawyers were arguing to overcome what they called a “practical impossibility” when he appealed to a New York appeals court. reduced in size they were forced to occupy by court order civil fraud case about 400 million dollars.
Don HankeyThe billionaire chairman of Knight Insurance Group told NBC News that he was negotiating with the Trump Organization to post a larger bond of $557 million when the state Appellate Division reduced the required bond to $175 million.
It was a bond for that amount was published on Monday night, Hankey’s Knight Specialty Insurance Co . written by “It was a good experience,” Hankey said.
The bond posting prevents New York Attorney General Letitia James from raising money $464 million verdict Against Trump and his co-defendants in the civil fraud case pending appeals.
Judge Arthur Engoron issued a large sentence – an award 350 million dollars That rose to $464 million, plus prejudgment interest — after Trump found his company and senior executives committed “persistent” fraud over several years.
Trump immediately applied argued that the award was riddled with errors and that the judge had double and tripled some damages. In New York, if a person or company wants to stay a judgment while appealing, they usually have to post security for the full award and then some.
Because state law requires a 9% annual interest rate on judgments when a party appeals, courts in New York generally require security of 120% of the award. For Trump and his co-defendants, that amount will be $557 million, their lawyers said in court documents.
Trump’s lawyers asked the appeals court to reduce the amount to $100 million. They argued that deploying the full amount would be “impossible” and would require Trump and his company to start selling assets because they don’t have that much cash on hand.
A single appellate judge rejected this request In late February, but before James was due to begin collecting the verdict, he gave Trump an expedited briefing schedule to make his case to the full jury.
Trump’s lawyers later detailed the struggle to find the necessary funds.
“The defendants’ continued efforts have proven that a bond in the full amount of the judgment is ‘practically impossible,'” they said in the March 18 filing. “This effort included approaching 30 warranty companies through 4 separate brokers.”
They went on to say that their efforts had proved that “receiving the full amount of the appellate debt” of the judgment was “impossible in the circumstances”. This was largely because most bond companies “will not accept hard assets such as real estate as collateral” and “will only accept cash or cash equivalents (such as marketable securities).”
Experts told NBC News that Trump needs the appeals court to take a break because of the ramifications there could be if James were to begin seizing assets. disastrous potentially leading to bankruptcy for the company.
Trump’s lawyers asked the appeals court to prevent the defendants from releasing any security information during the appeal process, arguing that Trump’s “real estate, including iconic properties such as 40 Wall Street, Doral Miami and Mar-a-Lago. — far exceeds the amount of the judgment,” and could be used to secure an award if they lose an appeal.
Soon Hankey – who said Forbes he has supported Trump’s political campaigns in the past – he has been involved. She told NBC News that she had been following Trump’s struggles with closure in the news, and about her relationship with Trump, she “informed an acquaintance that a huge relationship was something she could ‘think about.’
He said he was on the second day of talks with a lawyer from the Trump Organization when the Appellate Division lowered the bond to $175 million and gave Trump 10 days to deal with the issue. This period was supposed to end on Thursday.
“When the bond went down, we thought they would be able to pay for the damage themselves, and we didn’t think we’d hear back from them, but a few days later they called us,” Hankey said. Negotiations moved quickly, with the company saying it would pledge the full amount using a combination of cash and bonds. Hankey added that the money they eventually deposited all appeared to be cash.
“We’ve done bonds in the past, but this is a big one for us and everybody else,” he said, adding that his involvement had nothing to do with politics.
“That’s what we do,” he said. “I’d be happy to do it for a Republican or a Democrat.”