Attorneys for former President Donald Trump admitted in a court filing on Monday that he cannot secure a bond to pay his massive $464 million fraud judgment.
″Defendants’ ongoing diligent efforts have proven that a bond in the judgment’s full amount is ‘a practical impossibility,’” Trump’s lawyers wrote, adding that they approached 30 different surety companies through four brokers and have spent “countless hours negotiating with one of the largest insurance companies in the world.”
“The amount of the judgment, with interest, exceeds $464 million, and very few bonding companies will consider a bond of anything approaching that magnitude," the filing said.
The lawyers wrote that if the appellate division of the Manhattan Supreme Court considers denying their requested stay, it should allow for oral arguments on the issue.
Trump and his co-defendants previously offered to post a $100 million bond, a proposal rejected by appeals court Judge Anil Singh. Trump earlier this month obtained a $91.6 million bond from the Chubb insurance company to cover the civil defamation judgment in favor of writer E. Jean Carroll as he appeals the ruling.
“I’ve represented and prosecuted large real estate developers, and it’s not uncommon for them to be highly illiquid,” tweeted former federal prosecutor Renato Mariotti. “That said, Trump had to know that this judgment was coming, and his inability to obtain a bond suggests he is much less wealthy than he portrays himself to be.”
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