Former President Donald Trump has been given an additional 10 days by a New York appeals court to post his bond in response to a civil fraud judgment. The court has also reduced the bond amount required to $175 million, providing a lifeline for Trump who had been facing a judgment of over $464 million, including interest. The judgment was given after Judge Arthur Engoron found Trump and his co-defendants guilty of fraudulently inflating the value of his assets.
This ruling postpones the possibility of New York Attorney General Letitia James seizing Trump’s property to enforce the judgment. Prior to the appellate decision, Trump was struggling to come up with a bond exceeding $500 million. Despite the reduction in the required amount to $175 million, Trump still faces a challenge in securing the necessary funds. His attorneys had previously mentioned the difficulty in obtaining approval for a bond of over $100 million from banks.
The $175 million bond will need to be posted by Trump by the following week. The ruling ensures that James will not be able to enforce the judgment against Trump until at least September. The order also suspended additional penalties imposed by Engoron in the judgment, allowing Trump and his sons to continue operating a business in New York and obtain loans from New York financial institutions temporarily.
Although the enforcement of certain penalties from the judgment has been halted, the court-ordered monitor and compliance director appointments will remain in place. These measures are meant to ensure compliance with the court’s orders and oversee Trump’s business activities in the state. The order issued by the appeals court provides Trump with a temporary reprieve while he strives to meet the reduced bond requirement within the extended timeframe granted by the court.
This development in Trump’s legal battle represents a complex situation as he continues to navigate the fallout from the civil fraud judgment. The reduction in the bond amount and the extension granted for posting the bond provide some breathing room for Trump, but the challenge of securing the required funds remains. As the legal proceedings unfold in the coming weeks, the fate of Trump’s properties and assets in New York hangs in the balance, with the potential for seizure still looming until the bond is successfully posted. The ruling has both immediate and long-term implications for Trump as he works to address the legal consequences of the fraud judgment.
