Attorneys for former President Donald Trump told an appellate court a week ago that their client could not secure a $454 million appeal bond to pay the penalty he owes the state of New York after losing his civil fraud case. On Thursday, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee said on social media that he had “nearly $500 million in cash.”
Trump’s sons, Donald Trump, Jr. and Eric Trump — co-defendants in the fraud case — have been ordered to pay $4 million each.
Note: Judge Arthur Engoron found that all the defendants had fraudulently inflated the value of Trump’s real estate assets to increase his net worth and obtain more favorable loan terms for Trump Organization.
If Trump does not meet the deadline – Monday, March 25 — to pay the penalty his assets may be seized by the State.
The day before the deadline, Eric Trump wrote: “The entire world is watching this unfold. The notion of seizing properties owned by the Former President of the United States (and the front runner for President in 2024) – properties belonging to a company that has NEVER missed a payment, never been in default, never breached a covenant, built American skylines, has repeatedly made banks hundreds of millions of dollars while employing THOUSANDS of hard working New Yorkers – is shattering the trust of not just of New York (which is fragile at best) but in the entire legal system in the United States.”
Eric Trump’s positive Trump Organization optics don’t address the specifics of the Engoron judgment, which stated:
“Timely and total repayment of loans does not extinguish the harm that false statements inflict on the marketplace. Indeed, the common excuse that ‘everybody does it’ is all the more reason to strive for honesty and transparency and to be vigilant in enforcing the rules. Here, despite the false financial statements, it is undisputed that defendants have made all required payments on time; the next group of lenders to receive bogus statements might not be so lucky. New York means business in combating business fraud.”
Judge Engoron
Eric Trump doesn’t note either that a jury found two Trump Organization companies guilty of 17 felony counts related to tax fraud in 2022.
Let’s call this what it is — a demand that Trump’s businesses be treated differently from everyone else.
Whenever anyone else loses at trial, and faces a civil judgment, they have to get a bond to delay collection proceedings.
Trump wants special treatment because of who he is. https://t.co/XT6Mskie2l
— Renato Mariotti (@renato_mariotti) March 24, 2024
Former Federal Prosecutor Renato Mariotti responded to Eric Trump’s outcry and called it “a demand that Trump’s businesses be treated differently from everyone else.” Mariotti explained: “Whenever anyone else loses at trial, and faces a civil judgment, they have to get a bond to delay collection proceedings. Trump wants special treatment because of who he is.”
Trump’s lawyers have said that obtaining a bond was “nearly impossible” citing as one reason insurance companies’ reluctance to go above $100 million for a surety bond. New York Attorney General Letita James has provided “counterexamples of several $1 billion-plus bonds” — see below.
Second, do not give credence to the notion that this would be the biggest bond ever. Yes, hyperbole is a Trump specialty—but here, again, the NYAG has counterexamples of several $1 billion-plus bonds as well. 3/ pic.twitter.com/haSlAcWFE5
— Lisa Rubin (@lawofruby) March 24, 2024