Attorneys for former President Donald Trump wrote in a court filing on Monday that he is unable to secure a bond to appeal the $464 million New York civil fraud judgment against him.
"Defendants have faced what have proven to be insurmountable difficulties in obtaining an appeal bond for the full $464 million," Alan Garten, general counsel for The Trump Organization, the former president's company, wrote in the filing.
Trump was ordered by a judge last month to pay $464 million in remedies and interest after being found liable in a civil fraud case accusing him of a scheme to dupe banks and others with financial statements that inflated his wealth. Trump was also barred from running any company in New York for three years; his adult sons, Don Jr. and Eric, were also barred for two years and fined $4 million apiece.
The ex-president and presumptive Republican nominee in November's election, who denied wrongdoing and vowed to appeal the ruling, faced a deadline of next week to post the bond.
"The amount of the judgment, with interest, exceeds $464 million, and very few bonding companies will consider a bond of anything approaching that magnitude," his attorneys wrote in an appellate court filing.
Those that will, they wrote, are unwilling to "'accept hard assets such as real estate as collateral,'" citing an affidavit from Gary Guilietti, president of insurance brokerage Lockton Companies who testified in Trump's defense and has been engaged to assist him in securing a bond, which was included in Monday's filing; instead, they "'will only accept cash or cash equivalents.'"
Trump's attorneys also expressed concern that insurance sureties would "require collateral of approximately 120% of the amount of the judgment," which would exceed $557 million, as well as bond premiums of 2% per year with two years in advance, which they estimate would cost $18 million upfront.
Garten wrote in his filing that the defendants, through their brokers, "have approached more than 30 surety companies" with a proposal to provide a combination of cash and real estate holdings as collateral.
"Unfortunately, we have been advised that there are only a handful of sureties in the market that have both the financial capability and willingness to underwrite a bond of this magnitude," Garten wrote. "According to Defendants' brokers, the vast majority simply do not have the financial strength to handle a bond of this size. Of those that do, the vast majority are unwilling to accept the risk associated with such a large bond."
"Despite scouring the market, we have been unsuccessful in our effort to obtain a bond for the Judgment Amount for Defendants for the simple reason that obtaining an appeal bond for $464 million is a practical impossibility under the circumstances presented," Guilietti wrote.
“A bond of this size is rarely, if ever, seen," Giulietti wrote. "In the unusual circumstance that a bond of this size is issued, it is provided to the largest public companies in the world, not to individuals or privately held businesses."
New York Attorney General Letitia James has said that she will seek to seize some of Trump’s assets if he’s unable to pay the judgment.
Trump would receive an automatic stay if he were to put up money, assets or an appeal bond covering what he owes. He also had the option, which he’s now exercising, to ask the appeals court to grant a stay with a bond for a lower amount.
Trump maintains that he is worth several billion dollars and testified last year that he had about $400 million in cash, in addition to properties and other investments.
The ex-president was also ordered in a separate case in January to pay more than $83 million to writer E. Jean Carroll in a defamation trial after he denied her accusations of sexual assault. He already posted bond for that sum as he appeals that judgment.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.