Former President Donald Trump is confronted with immense challenges as an insurance firm remains elusive in underwriting his $464 million bond. The bond acts as coverage for the massive judgment against him in the civil fraud case led by the New York attorney general. He revealed these challenges to a New York appeals court via his legal team.
Approaching 30 underwriters, Trump's efforts to secure backing for the bond, due before the month runs out, remain fruitless. According to his attorneys, the gravity of the judgment, including interest, deters bonding companies. To echo this, they asserted that "the amount of the judgment, with interest, exceeds $464 million, and very few bonding companies will consider a bond of anything approaching that magnitude." They clarified that $454 million of this figure is on Trump's account, including a disgorgement for his adult sons, Don Jr. and Eric.
Is Securing the Full Amount of Bond for $464M a Practical Impossibility?
Gary Giulietti, an insurance broker who affirmed during Trump's civil fraud test, signed an affidavit stating that obtaining a bond in the total amount signifies sheer impracticality. According to Trump's lawyers, potential underwriters demand cash as backing for the bond, not properties.
Trump's attorneys have petitioned the appeals court to postpone posting the bond until his case's appeal concludes. They argue that Trump's property values massively outweigh the judgment. If the appeals court ruled unfavorably against him, Trump urged the court to defer his posting the bond until New York's highest court heard his appeal. He voiced on Monday his belief about the "practical impossibility" of him posting the bond.
Trump's Appeal and the Hard Stance of Insurance Companies
In a post on Truth Social, Trump denounced the bond's magnitude as "unconstitutional, un-American, unprecedented, and practically impossible for ANY Company, including one as successful as mine."
Last month, a civil fraud case verdict compelled Trump to disgorge $355 million for "ill-gotten gains." New York Judge Arthur Engoron, presiding over the case initiated by NY Attorney General Letitia James, disclosed the ruling. Engoron's 93-page decision pointed out that Trump and his co-defendants were guilty of fraud, conspiracy, and issuing false financial statements and business records. This ruling arrived after establishing that the defendants fraudulently inflated the value of Trump's assets to gain favorable loan and insurance rates.
Trump's debt surpassed $450 million with the inclusion of interest. His appeal against the ruling threatens to halt the state from actualizing the judgment. Resisting this move implies that Trump must post a bond, isolated in an account pending the appeal process, potentially prolonging for years.
Earlier this month, Trump posted a $91.6 million bond as part of his appeal in the E. Jean Carroll defamation case. Giulietti explained that some of the most prominent underwriters restrict their policies from securing bonds exceeding $100 million. He noted their reluctance to accept real estate, indicating they feel comfortable only with cash or stock.
Fraught with Difficulties
According to Giulietti, Trump requires more than $550 million to cater for fees and interest. In sworn testimony, Trump Organization's top legal officer, Alan Garten, asserted that Chubb, which secured Trump's $91.6 million bond to cover the Carroll judgment, could not accept real estate to guarantee the civil fraud bond.
The inability of underwriters to accept real estate, Garten indicated, forms a "major obstacle" in securing a bond. In the same vein, Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung condemned the size of the fraud judgment. "A bond of this size would be an abuse of the law, contradict bedrock principals of our Republic, and fundamentally undermine the rule of law in New York," voiced Cheung, maintaining that "President Trump will continue fighting and beating all of these Crooked Joe Biden-directed hoaxes and will Make America Great Again."
