Former President Donald Trump cannot obtain a bond large enough to cover the entire amount of the judgment against him in the New York fraud case.
That, at least, is what his legal team told a New York court of appeals on Monday.
“[O]btaining an appeal bond in the full amount” of the $454 million judgment “is not possible under the circumstances presented,” Trump’s lawyers said in a filing, according to The Daily Express US.
The outlet said that if he cannot pay the judgment or obtain a bond while he appeals it, New York Attorney General Letitia James could being seizing his property and selling it off.
“If he does not have funds to pay off the judgement, then we will seek judgement enforcement mechanisms in court, and we will ask the judge to seize his assets,” James told ABC, according to the Daily Express and other outlets.
“We are prepared to make sure that the judgment is paid to New Yorkers,” James said, “and yes, I look at 40 Wall Street each and every day,” she added, referring to a Trump-owned property near her office.
She made no actual indication about what properties she might seize first, if it comes to that, the outlet reported.
Trump’s team therefore has filed a new motion to “stay the unjust, unconstitutional, un-American judgment from New York Judge Arthur Engoron in a political Witch Hunt brought by a corrupt Attorney General,” according to his campaign spokesman, Steven Cheung.
“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,” he added. “President Trump will continue fighting and beating all of these Crooked Joe Biden-directed hoaxes and will Make America Great Again.”
Will Trump have his property seized?
Trump has continued to deny any wrongdoing, even after Engoron ruled against him, and has repeated stated his intention to appeal both the ruling and the amount of the judgment.
According to the Daily Express, the interest on Trump’s civil fraud penalty amounts to over a half a million dollars since it was levied on Feb. 16.
Trump is being charged 9 percent annual interest in accordance with New York state law, the Daily Express reported.
“The interest will keep piling up even while he appeals,” the outlet noted. “Unless the court steps in or there’s an earlier resolution, his bill will reach half a billion dollars by August 2025.”
Meanwhile, his legal team said that Trump was facing “insurmountable difficulties” in obtaining a bond to satisfy the judgment during the appeals process, the Daily Express said in a separate article.
Unless the court issues a stay, the judgment against Trump is set to be enforced beginning next week, on March 25.
Trump has asked for such a stay, and his legal team offered a $100 million bond, which was rejected by one appeals court judge. The full appeals court has not yet ruled on the motion to stay the judgment pending appeal.
“A bond of this size is rarely, if ever, seen. In the unusual circumstance that a bond of this size is issued, it is provided to the largest public companies in the world, not to individuals or privately held businesses,” real estate broker Gary Giulietti wrote in an affidavit in support of Trump’s motion.
“Trump maintains that he is worth several billion dollars and testified last year that he had about $400 million in cash, in addition to properties and other investments,” the Daily Express reported Monday.
