Lawyers: Trump shouldn’t have to pay E. Jean Carroll bond due to 'great financial resources'

27 February 2024

Former President Donald Trump's latest court delay tactic deploys a novel argument in one of his two civil judgments: He's too wealthy to have to pay a bond.

On Tuesday, the New Republic reported that Trump is making a unique argument to get out of paying a costly bond after a jury found him liable for defaming writer E. Jean Carroll and ordering him to pay her $83.3 million in compensatory and punitive damages. In order to file an appeal of a civil judgment in New York, defendants typically have to obtain a surety bond, which includes both the full judgment plus interest to be set aside in an account managed by the court. That's essentially a guarantee that a defendant has the money to pay the judgment if the appeal is rejected.

But in a recent filing to US District Judge Lewis F. Kaplan, Trump's legal team used Carroll's own words in court to make the argument that their client shouldn't have to get a bond, because the plaintiff herself admitted that he was incredibly wealthy.

"Having argued to the jury that President Trump has great financial resources, Plaintiff is in no position to contradict herself now and contend that she requires the protection of a bond during the brief period while post-trial motions are pending," Trump's legal team argued in their motion for a stay.

Trump's lawyers also claimed their client would succeed in his appeal, lowering his judgment amount to roughly $22 million. That would require a bond of approximately $24 million. Comparatively, Trump's current $83.3 million judgment would require a surety bond of roughly $91.6 million.

Judge Kaplan observed that Trump's legal team filed their motion for a stay almost at the very end of the window Trump had to pay or appeal. He is refraining from issuing a decision on the motion until Carroll's attorneys respond by Thursday. Trump would then have until March 2 to respond to Carroll's counter-filing.

Aside from the Carroll judgment, Trump is also now on the hook for more than $450 million in both judgment and interest following Judge Arthur Engoron's ruling against him in the civil fraud trial earlier this month. When combining that with the more than $50 million he's already paid his lawyers to defend him in 2023 and the $5 million sexual abuse judgment he was ordered to pay last year, the former president's legal bills are currently in the neighborhood of $600 million.

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