CNN
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Former President Donald Trump could not find an insurance company to underwrite his bond to cover a massive judgment against him in a civil fraud case by the New York attorney general, his lawyers told a New York appeals court.
Trump's lawyers said he had approached 30 underwriters to back the bond by the end of this month.
“The amount of the judgment, with interest, exceeds $464 million, and some bonding companies will consider anything approaching that amount a bond,” Trump's attorneys wrote. (Trump himself was ordered to pay $454 million; the $464 million included alimony to his adult sons, Don Jr. and Eric.)
Insurance broker Gary Giulietti, who testified for Trump during the civil fraud trial, signed an affidavit saying it was “practically impossible” to get the bond for the full amount.
According to Trump's lawyers, potential underwriters are seeking cash to back the bond, not assets.
Trump's attorneys have asked the appeals court to delay posting the bond until after an appeal of the case, arguing that the value of Trump's assets exceeds the judgment. If the appeals court rules against him, Trump has asked the court to delay posting the bond until he appeals to New York's Supreme Court.
Trump said Monday he thought it was “practically impossible” for him to post the bond.
In a post True community, he called the bond measure “unconstitutional, un-American, unprecedented and practically impossible for any organization, including one as successful as mine. Underwriters have never heard of a bond of this size before, nor do they have the ability to post such a bond even if they wanted to.
Last month, Trump was ordered to pay $355 million “Improper gains” or diversion by New York Judge Arthur Engoran in a civil fraud case brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James. In his 93-page decision, Engoron wrote that Trump and his adult sons — including his adult sons — were responsible for fraud, conspiracy and providing false financial statements and false business records. Very favorable loan and insurance rates.
Trump owes more than $450 million plus interest.
Trump is appealing the ruling, but to prevent the ruling from being enforced, Trump must post a bond in the account pending the appeals process, which could take years to litigate.
Trump posted $91.6 million bond e. Jean Carroll earlier this month as part of her appeal in the defamation case.
But Giulietti said some very large underwriters have internal policies that restrict them from underwriting bonds of more than $100 million. None of them, including the world's biggest insurance companies, accept real estate — they are only comfortable taking cash or shares, he said.
Including fees and interest, Trump said it should come in at more than $550 million.
“In my career, where I have been directly or indirectly involved in issuing thousands of bonds, I have never heard or seen an appeal bond of this magnitude for a private company or individual,” Giulietti said. “After considerable good faith effort over the past several weeks, obtaining an appeal bond for the over $464 million judgment is not possible under these circumstances.”
Alan Gordon, the Trump Organization's top legal official, said in an affidavit that Chubb, who wrote Trump's $91.6 million bond to cover up the Carroll judgment, could not accept real estate to obtain a civil fraud bond.
Lack of underwriters to accept Gordon Real Estate is a “major obstacle” to obtaining a bond.
Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung blasted the scale of the fraud verdict.
“A bond of this magnitude would abuse the law, contradict the bedrock principles of our republic, and fundamentally undermine the rule of law in New York,” Cheung said. “President Trump will continue to fight, defeat all of these crooked Joe Biden-directed hoaxes, and make America great again.”
Correction: This story has been updated to correctly spell the name of Gary Giulietti, Trump's insurance broker. It has been updated to include additional details and background information.
CNN's Kate Sullivan contributed to this report.
