#NYAG#LetitiaJames asked an appeals court to require Trump to prove within 10 days that the company providing his $175M bond in the state’s #civil#fraud case is financially capable of delivering if his #legal challenges fail.
The request was made in a filing Thurs by the state.
The ruling by a 5-judge panel of appellate court judges is a crucial & unexpected victory for #Trump, staving off a looming financial disaster. Had the court denied his request — & he failed to obtain the full #bond — he was at risk of losing control over his bank accts &, eventually, even some of his properties.
For now, those dire outcomes might be on hold. The bond will prevent the #NYAG’s office, which brought the #civil#fraud case, from collecting the judgment while he appeals.
#Trump has 10 days to obtain the new smaller bond of $175M, & 2 people w/knowledge of his finances said he should be able to secure it by then.
Until the #court accepted the smaller #bond on Mon, Trump was on the hook to obtain a bond for the full amount, in order to avoid paying #NYAG James’s office the >$454M while he appeals.
To obtain a bond of such size, Trump would have needed to pledge a significant amt of collateral to the bond co — ~$557M, his attys said….
#TrumpMedia merger wins investor approval, netting #Trumppotential windfall
TFG will own ~60% of #TruthSocial, which at its current share price would be worth ~$3.3B.
A lockup agreement will prevent him from selling the shares for 6 months.
A long-delayed move that will open the owners of TruthSocial to stock-market investors & grant Trump a stake worth billions he could use to pay down his #legal#debts.
A #LockupProvision in the #merger will prevent #Trump & other major investors from selling shares for 6 months unless granted a waiver by the post-merger co’s board.
That could limit Trump’s ability to use the windfall to help pay off hundreds of millions he #owes in #legal#judgments. Trump doesn’t have the $ to secure a #bond to delay enforcement of the $464M judgment in NY #fraud case. If he doesn’t post by Mon, #NYAG could seize his #BankAccounts, #RealEstate & other #assets.
#Trump & #TrumpOrganization must post a bond for the full amt by next wk in order to stop #NYAG#LetitiaJames from being able to collect while he appeals. They asked an appeals court to step in & said Mon they haven’t been able to get a #bond.
"Defendants’ ongoing diligent efforts have proven that a bond in the judgment’s full amount is 'a practical impossibility. These diligent efforts have included approaching about 30 surety companies through 4 separate brokers” the filing said.
In all, the filing said, the "actual amount of cash or cash equivalents required 'to collateralize the bond & have sufficient capital to run the business & satisfy its other obligations' approach[es] $1 billion,” the filing said.
While the filing says #Trump can't afford the #bond, it also argues that the #NYAG doesn't have to worry about being able to collect her judgment.
The danger posed to #Trump’s #finances by 2 recent judgments against him has been, if anything, underappreciated. The size of the awards, the structure of his business empire, & the condition of the #RealEstate#market combine to create a truly perilous moment for #TrumpOrganization &, by extension, for Trump’s personal finances.
He has insisted that he didn’t commit any #crime when he manipulated valuations, bc his lenders were repaid in full & didn’t object. But the statute under which James sued #Trump doesn’t require loss. Trump has complained that the #law …is “rarely used” & “VERY UNFAIR,” but attys familiar w/the #NYAG’s office said the law is deployed routinely, & has never suffered constitutional challenge. In fact, Trump was successfully sued for the #TrumpUniversity#fraud under the same law.
One of the sons, #EricTrump, is the #TrumpOrganization’s de facto chief executive, & the ruling throws into doubt whether any member of the family can run the business in the near term.
#Trump will appeal the financial penalty — which could climb to $400 million or more once interest is added — but will have to either come up w/ the money or secure a #bond within 30 days. The ruling will not render him bankrupt, because most of his wealth is tied up in real estate.
#Trump will also most likely ask an appeals court to halt the restrictions on him & his sons from running the company while it considers the case.
But there might be little Trump can do to thwart one of the judge’s most consequential punishments: extending for 3 years the appointment of an independent monitor who will be the court’s eyes & ears at the #TrumpOrganization, watching for #fraud & second-guessing transactions that look suspicious.
"Their complete lack of contrition & remorse borders on the pathological. …Trump is not Bernie Madoff. Yet, [these] defendants are incapable of admitting the error of their ways."