NEW YORK (AP) — Days after former President Donald Trump Issued a $175 million bond New York State immediately prevented a large collection Civil Fraud JudgmentState prosecutors on Thursday called for more information about the bond's authenticity.
State Attorney General Letitia James' office gave Trump's lawyers, or bond contractors, 10 days to “justify” the bond — basically, to show the company can make good on it. That means revealing more about the collateral provided by Trump.
The hearing was scheduled for April 22.
One of Trump's lawyers, Christopher Kiss, said after the appeals court last month that James was trying to incite “a baseless public fight in a desperate attempt to regain contact.” significantly reduced in size of bond required to stop collection.
“Another witch hunt!” Kiss wrote in an email.
A message seeking comment was sent to the underwriter, Knight Specialty Insurance.
bindingPublished on Monday, at least temporarily halted the state Trump's assets are likely to be seized He must settle more than $454 million in damages after losing a lawsuit. caseBrought by a Democratic attorney general, Trump, along with his company and key executives, accused him of defrauding bankers and insurers by lying about his wealth.
The former president and Republican nominee denies the Republican candidate's claims Appeal of judgment.
By posting the bond, Trump aimed to stop the clock on enforcing the ruling during his appeal. But it was not entirely smooth sailing.
First, the court system on Monday withdrew filings for additional documents, including Knight Specialty Insurance's financial statements. In its filing Thursday, the company has more than $539 million in assets and is owned by related reinsurer Knight Insurance Co. Ltd shows over $2.1 billion.
James' office then filed a notice that would “take an exception to the sufficiency” of the bond — the fact that judgment winners can, under certain circumstances, obtain additional information from out-of-state underwriters.
Knight Specialty Insurance is a Wilmington, Delaware-based division of Los Angeles-based Knight Insurance Group.
The Attorney General's notice did not request specific information. But “justification” usually means proving that the lender is financially sound and can pay the bond amount if the judgment is upheld.
A state appeals court has also held, in an unrelated case, that a bond must be shown to be “sufficiently secured by identifiable assets.”
Knight Insurance Group President Dan Hankey told The Associated Press on Monday that cash and bonds were used as collateral for Trump's appeal bond.
Eric Trump, the former president's son and a top executive at his company, said in a social media post on Thursday that the bond was backed entirely by cash.
The attorney general's objection was “another example of the absurdity and stupidity that has been the underlying theme throughout this circus of a case,” the younger Trump X, the former, wrote on Twitter.
He and his brother, Donald Trump Jr., a fellow Trump Organization executive vice president, were defendants in the fraud case. They were found liable and ordered to pay $4 million each.
The judgment against Trump, Sons and other defendants totals more than $467 million, growing daily with interest.
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Associated Press writers in New York, Michael R. Sisak and Brian Zlotysko in Washington contributed.
