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Background: People walk by The Trump Building office building at 40 Wall Street in New York City on Friday, Jan. 7, 2022. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey). Inset left: New York Attorney General Letitia James. (Alamy Live News via AP.) Inset right: Donald Trump is seen on Oct. 18, 2023, outside the New York State Supreme Courthouse during his civil fraud case in New York City. (NYC) (zz/Andrea Renault/STAR MAX/IPx 2023)
Coming up a few hundred million dollars short, attorneys for Donald Trump signaled on Wednesday that the former president is only presently willing to post a $100 million portion of the $464 million fine he was ordered to pay at the conclusion of his civil fraud case in New York.
In a motion appealing the order, the attorneys wrote that the “exorbitant” judgment issued by New York State Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron was an “unprecedented and punitive disgorgement.”
Engoron’s ban on Trump’s doing any business in New York for the next three years also ruffled the former president, the filing showed, with his attorneys dubbing the prohibition “unlawful” and “unconstitutional.”
Therefore, they wrote, it would be “impossible to secure and post a complete bond.”
“Appellants nonetheless plan to secure and post a bond of $100 million,” the attorneys continued.
During a deposition in April during the civil fraud trial, Trump claimed that his property in West Palm Beach, Mar-a-Lago, was worth $1 billion by itself. The Associated Press reported at the time that tax appraisers put the value of the estate closer to $18 million to $37 million.
New York State Attorney General Letitia James responded on Wednesday to the request, telling the court the motion should be denied.
“There is no merit to defendants’ contention that a full bond or deposit is unnecessary because they are willing to post a partial undertaking of less than a quarter of the judgment amount. Defendants all but concede Mr. Trump has insufficient liquid assets to satisfy the judgment; defendants would need ‘to raise capital’ to do so,” James wrote.
The massive motion, which stretches to more than 1,000 pages, accused the state court of “improperly” aggregating its estimates of Trump’s gains by relying on “speculative theories” proffered by the state’s attorney general at trial.
Trump argued he shouldn’t have to pony up the bond to cover the full $464 million because, according to the motion, the funds aren’t going anywhere. An independent monitor from Trump Organization can see where funds are coming and going as-is, they argue. Plus with the $100 million bond in place, that should be assurance enough.
“The security provided by the ongoing oversight of the independent monitor — with or without a bond — cannot be overstated,” they wrote.
By late Wednesday, Trump received the stay in an order from New York State Supreme Court associate Justice Ancil Singh — but not quite how he wanted it.
Under Singh’s order, the ban on Trump’s “serving in the financial control of any New York corporation or similar business or entity registered and/or licensed in New York State and/or serving as an officer or director of any New York corporation or other legal entity in New York,” would be temporarily stayed, the 2-page order states.
Singh emphasized that the stay request was denied as it pertained to enforcement of the monetary judgment ordered by Engoron and the installation of an independent director of compliance.
“More importantly … there has been no dissipation of assets, and Appellants continue to own substantial real estate assets within New York. Those assets are not going anywhere, nor could they given the oversight of the Monitor and the practical realities of the existence of the very public Judgment. The Attorney General’s interests are therefore more than adequately secured as to any judgment affirmed. Further, there is no possible prejudice to the Attorney General because there are no distributions to purported ‘victims.’ Any funds paid pursuant to the Judgment would go to the State of New York. No ‘victim’ is waiting on payment to recover any actual loss because the loans at issue were fully performed,” wrote attorneys Clifford Robert and Alina Habba.
As Law&Crime previously reported, Engoron shut down Trump’s attempt to stay the judgment last week, telling his legal team they had “failed to explain, much less justify, any basis for a stay” when Trump proposed making a “counter-judgment” to staggering sum.
James said last week that one way or the other, if Trump cannot pay off what is owed to the state, she will ask the court to start seizing his real estate.
Notably on Wednesday, ABC News reported that Engoron received an envelope filled with a white powdery substance. It was addressed specifically to the justice, though he did not handle it himself. A pair of court officers were reportedly the only people to touch the envelope once it arrived at the courthouse in Manhattan.
A bomb threat was made to Engoron’s home this January when closing arguments first got underway in the civil fraud case.
