An appeals court in New York lowered the $464 million bond imposed on former President Donald Trump in his civil fraud case on Monday. The five-judge panel ordered the bond be reduced to $175 million, and the payment date extended another ten days. The decision stayed a previous court order that Trump post the $464 million bond by March 25.
The court issued its order to stay pursuant to New York’s Civil Practice Laws and Rules § 5519(c). The section allows a litigant to request a stay of a court order if an appeal is pending. Trump is currently in the process of appealing the verdict from the New York Supreme Court, which found him guilty of falsifying business records, issuing false financial statements, conspiracy to commit insurance fraud and conspiracy to falsify business records.
In the request to stay, Trump’s legal team called the bond amount “a practical impossibility” and argued that despite intense negotiations, no company “in the world” would take on such a loan. His attorneys also argued that the “required collateral” for such a transaction would amount to $557 million “in the form of cash or cash equivalents.”
On his social media platform, Truth Social, Trump claimed that the bond was inflated as part of a plan to drain his assets so he could not use them to defeat Incumbent President Joe Biden in the November election. Trump also accused the court of devaluing his real estate assets to make the bond more difficult to satisfy.
The court rejected New York Attorney General Letitia James’ request to deny the stay. She argued that the bond was not required by law to be posted by just one company and could be divided up as needed. Additionally, she stated that the size of this bond was not uncommon and cited several high-profile cases requiring $1 billion bonds.
The large bond amount reduction was not the only stay of the previous order. The court also stayed prohibitions on Trump and several associates from serving as officers or directors of a New York-based corporation and from obtaining loans in the state.
Trump is currently facing numerous legal challenges, including a classified documents case and a 2020 election interference case.
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