NY state asks court not to let Trump forgo $454M bond during fraud case appeal
New York state lawyers are urging an appeals court not to buy former President Donald Trump’s claims that it’s impossible to post a bond fully covering a $454 million civil fraud judgment while he appeals
NEW YORK — New York state lawyers urged an appellate court Wednesday not to buy former President Donald Trump's claims that it's impossible to post a bond fully covering a $454 million civil fraud judgment while he appeals.
The presumptive Republican nominee's lawyers said earlier this week that he couldn't find an underwriter willing to take on the entire amount. But the state is arguing that Trump and his co-defendants didn't explore every option.
The “defendants fail to propose a serious alternative to fully secure the judgment," Dennis Fan, a lawyer in the state attorney general's office, wrote in papers sent to the appeals court.
He suggested those alternatives could include dividing the total among multiple bonds from different underwriters — or letting a court hold some of Trump's real estate while he appeals. The ex-president is challenging a judge's ruling last month that he, his company and key executives inflated his wealth on financial statements that were used to get loans and insurance.
One of Trump's attorneys, Christopher Kise, said in a statement that the papers showed Attorney General Letitia James' “continued willingness to misrepresent the facts and misconstrue applicable law in her political crusade" against Trump. James is a Democrat, and Trump has repeatedly cast her as a partisan official trying to dent his campaign.
In a radio interview early Wednesday, Trump reiterated his complaints about the case, the judgment and the bond requirement.
“They don’t even give you a chance to appeal. They
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