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Donald Trump has posted a $91.6mn bond to forestall collection of a $83.3mn civil judgment for defaming writer E Jean Carroll, as the former US president races to cover the costly legal judgments that have stacked up against him in recent weeks.
The sum, insured by a subsidiary of the Chubb corporation, was posted on Friday in Manhattan federal court as part of an appeal against the decision. After Monday, Carroll’s lawyers would have been authorised to begin the process of seizing Trump’s assets to satisfy the judgment.
Judge Lewis Kaplan, who oversaw the Carroll case — in which Trump was accused of defaming the former journalist who claimed he had raped her in the 1990s — on Thursday refused to grant the former president’s request to temporarily stop Carroll’s lawyers from collecting.
He wrote that “Mr Trump’s current situation is a result of his own dilatory actions”. Kaplan further declined to rush through a ruling on whether he should be allowed to appeal without having to post the full amount.
Filings submitted as part of Trump’s appeal show that he had already secured the bond on Tuesday, perhaps anticipating Kaplan’s refusal to rule.
The posting of the $91.6mn bond — comprising the $83mn judgment plus an additional amount for any interest, costs or other fees — comes as Trump is faced with posting a much larger bond to delay the enforcement of a $450mn judgment against him in the sprawling civil fraud case won by the New York attorney-general.
Trump is also spending millions of dollars on legal fees as he defends himself against criminal and civil cases in courthouses across the country, while campaigning for November’s presidential election in which he will face Joe Biden.
A New York appeals court judge last week denied Trump’s request to post a partial bond of just $100mn to stop the state from collecting on the civil fraud judgment, after his lawyers had argued that their client would be unable to find the full sum pending appeal.
“The exorbitant and punitive amount of the judgment . . . would make it impossible to secure and post a complete bond,” they wrote, adding: “In the absence of a stay . . . properties would likely need to be sold to raise capital under exigent circumstances.”
The decision left Trump searching for hundreds of millions of dollars to deposit with the court, or risk his assets — including his New York properties — being seized by state authorities, while he awaits a hearing in front of a full panel of the appeals court in Manhattan.
A different jury in a related case had previously ordered Trump to pay Carroll $5mn, which he posted in full while he appealed to a higher court. A spokesperson for Carroll declined to comment. Kaplan has given Carroll until Monday to raise any objections.