A five-judge panel of appellate court judges ruled today that it would accept a $175 million bond from former President Donald Trump after he was ordered by Judge Arthur Engoron to pay a fraud penalty of $454 million. The New York Appellate Court also gave Trump ten extra days to come up with the $175 million.
Note: Trump, who was found guilty of fraudulently inflating his net worth, claimed on Thursday on social media that he had “nearly $500 million in cash” days after his lawyers told the court that Trump could not secure a $454 million appeal bond after approaching 30 insurance companies.
Yet again, @realDonaldTrump gets special treatment with his own private system of justice. The NY Appeals Court has decided to give Trump more time to pay less money by reducing his bond from $454M to $175 and giving him 10 days to get the money. This makes absolutely no sense. pic.twitter.com/ZFfI0ibyjI
— Michael Steele (@MichaelSteele) March 25, 2024
Michael Steele, former chair of the Republican National Committee (RNC), raged against the decision. He wrote: “Yet again, Donald Trump gets special treatment with his own private system of justice. The NY Appeals Court has decided to give Trump more time to pay less money by reducing his bond from $454M to $175 and giving him 10 days to get the money. This makes absolutely no sense.”
New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement: “Donald Trump is still facing accountability for his staggering fraud. The $464M judgment still stands.” (Note: The discrepancy in reports between the $454 million and $464 million is attributable to interest on the judgement.)
Note: When Trump’s daughter-in-law, Lara Trump (wife of Eric Trump), was recently named co-chair of the RNC, Steele harshly criticized her fundraising strategy. Lara Trump said: “Every single penny will go to the number one and the only job of the RNC, that is electing Donald J. Trump as president of the United States and saving this country.”
Steele replied, “Wrong answer.” He added: “You are required to organize and coordinate every state party and the territories of the United States who are in the Republican family, and you are to provide them the platform from which you will launch a platform to talk about what the party believes in.”
Note: Steele, the first Black chairman of the RNC (2009 to 2011), has been critical of Trump since he first ran for president. Speaking at a dinner in 2016, Steele said he would not vote for Trump who, according to Steele, “captured that racist underbelly, that frustration, that angry underbelly of American life and gave voice to that.”