Legal experts have warned that former President Donald Trump’s lawsuit against him has failed to secure the required $464 million appeal bond following his New York state civil fraud conviction. I’m considering my options.
Mr. Trump’s lawyers said in a court filing Monday that obtaining a nearly $500 million appeal was “not realistically possible under the circumstances presented.”
David Gelman, a criminal defense attorney and former deputy district attorney, called the ruling a “unicorn.” He argued that the judge should give Trump more latitude to meet bail because “not even the richest man in the world has $464 million sitting around.”
Former U.S. President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at the Buckeye Values PAC rally in Vandalia, Ohio, on March 16, 2024. (Kamil Krzazinski/AFP via Getty Images)
Late last month, a judge on the New York State Court of Appeals denied President Trump’s request to delay the payment of $464 million owed as a result of a lawsuit filed by New York Attorney General Letitia James, but the He said he would temporarily approve the lawsuit filed by the presidential candidate and his sons. To continue operations during the appeal process.
A New York Court of Appeals judge had previously ruled that the former president must pay the full amount of his judgment as bond and that an independent compliance director be appointed.
The ruling comes after New York Judge Arthur Engoron handed down the verdict in early February, following a months-long trial that began in October in which the former president was accused of inflating his assets and falsifying financial documents. I was disappointed.
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Engoron accused Trump and the other defendants of “persistent and repeated fraud,” “falsification of business records,” “issuance of false financial statements,” “conspiracy to falsify false financial statements,” “insurance fraud,” The court found them liable for “conspiracy to commit insurance fraud.” . ”
“Everyone needs to realize how unprecedented this is,” Gellman told Fox News Digital.
“Never in the history of New York have there been judgments of this magnitude against businesses or individuals. So we are truly in uncharted territory.”
New York State Attorney General Letitia James speaks during a press conference on September 21, 2022 in New York. (AP Photo/Britteny Newman, File)
Gelman said President Trump has three options: not appeal, ask the court to allow Attorney General James to use his property as collateral, or go to federal court to secure New York’s lawsuit. Either they argue that the law is prima facie unconstitutional.
“Courts don’t really reject corporate bonds when there are other payment options. Again, this is unprecedented and I don’t care how wealthy you are, No one has that much liquid cash, so if the court had the option of allowing the defendant to use other collateral to satisfy the bond; Yes, they will,” Gelman said.
He added there was no reason for the judge or Attorney General James to say no.
“You’re dealing with Trump. He’s not going anywhere. He’s the most famous, well-known person in the world. It’s not like he just disappears and is never found,” Gellman said.
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Former federal prosecutor Andrew Czerkasky told Fox News’ The Story with Martha McCallum: “I’m not going to rule out Trump just yet.”
Cherkasky said that even if the court rejects Trump’s appeal, he “still has a path forward through the federal courts and ultimately to the Supreme Court for violations of the Eighth Amendment.” “I will.”
According to the Eighth Amendment, which provides for cruel and unusual punishment, “Excessive bail shall not be required, excessive fines shall not be imposed, and no cruel or unusual punishment shall be imposed.”
Laura Trump speaks with former President Donald Trump at the NCGOP state convention on June 5, 2021 in Greenville, North Carolina. (Melissa Sue Gerrits/Getty Images)
Cherkasky argued that the fine imposed on Trump was “astronomically high here, and it’s incredible that the Constitution would allow it under these circumstances.”
“I think and I hope that the New York Court of Appeals will properly consider this issue,” Cherkasky said. “But like I said, I think even the Supreme Court would be interested in this case under the Eighth Amendment.”
President Trump’s lawyer Alina Haba said. X22 report On Monday, she said she was “confident” President Trump’s debt would be forgiven.
“The witnesses are saying, frankly, these are great customers, we’re all making money, they’re not doing anything wrong, they’re being accused of these outrageous numbers,” Haba said in an online podcast. However, I am confident that we can overcome this number.” .
President Trump posted on his platform Truth Social late Monday that the bonds set up by Engoron are “unconstitutional, un-American, unprecedented, and include successful companies like mine. “This is virtually impossible for any company to do.”
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“Bond companies have never heard of bonds of this size and do not have the ability to issue them even if they wanted to,” Trump wrote.
FOX News’ Greg Norman contributed to this report.
