Appeals court in New York slashes bond in Trump fraud judgment
NEW YORK — A New York appeals court on Monday agreed to hold off collection of former President Donald Trump’s $454 million-plus civil fraud judgment if he puts up $175 million within 10 days.
If Trump does, it will stop the clock on collection and prevent the state from seizing the presumptive Republican presidential nominee’s assets while he appeals.
The appeals court also halted other aspects of a trial judge’s ruling that had barred Trump and his sons Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr, the family company’s executive vice-presidents, from serving in corporate leadership for several years.
Trump said on Monday that he respected the decision, and cash or a bond would be put up very quickly.
Earlier, Trump’s lawyers told the appeals court that it was impossible to post the bond in full and proposed a bond of $100 million instead.
The judgment against Donald Trump and the other defendants in the case still stands, according to a spokesperson with the New York Attorney General’s office.
Trump maintained on social media on Friday that he has almost $500 million in cash, but he said at a news conference on Monday that he’d like to be able to use some on his presidential run.
He asserted that New York Attorney General Letitia James and civil trial judge Arthur Engoron, who’s also a Democrat, “don’t want me taking cash out to use it for the campaign”.
Trump’s social media company begins trading publicly on Tuesday.
Trump Media & Technology Group was acquired on Monday by a blank-check company called Digital World Acquisition. Trump Media, which runs the social media platform Truth Social, now takes Digital World’s place on the Nasdaq stock exchange.
Hush money case
Meanwhile, Juan Merchan, another judge in New York, said on Monday that the criminal trial against Trump regarding election interference will begin on April 15 with jury selection.
Merchan had planned to begin the trial on March 25 but dismissed Trump’s motion to toss out the indictment altogether or delay the trial further on Monday.
Arraigned in the case in early April 2023, Trump faces charges that he falsified business records during the 2016 presidential campaign to make “hush-money” payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels.
With the election race heating up in the country, Robert F. Kennedy Jr plans to announce his running mate on Tuesday as he races to secure a place on the ballot for his independent campaign for president.
In advance of an event on Tuesday in Oakland, Kennedy and his aides have circulated the names of several contenders, including celebrities with household names and no experience in politics. Those names include NFL quarterback Aaron Rodgers and “Dirty Jobs” star Mike Rowe as well as former Minnesota governor Jesse Ventura.