Former President Donald Trump posted a $175 million bond Monday night. Separately, the gag order against him in his hush-money probe was extended.
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Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
Former President Donald Trump posted a $175 million bond Monday night. Separately, the gag order against him in his hush-money probe was extended.
Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
Former President Donald Trump posted a $175 million bond Monday in his New York civil fraud case. Meanwhile, the judge approved expanding Trump's oral order in his hush-money lawsuit to include the judge's family.
California-based Knight Insurance issued the bond, according to a court filing. The move ensures that New York Attorney General Letitia James will not seize Trump's assets related to the case.
News of the bond comes a week after a New York appeals court reduced Trump's bond from nearly half a billion to $175 million and gave him 10 days to post it. Trump made that payment well within that window. Trump has argued that a bond to cover the $454 million civil fraud judgment is “practically impossible” because he doesn't currently have the money to guarantee it.
Separately, Judge Juan Mercant last week ruled against Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, in a case designed to prevent him from attacking witnesses, jurors and prosecutors and their families, including members of his family. In his ruling, Merson rejected Trump's claim that his statements “constitute important political discourse.”
Trump has been targeting Merson's daughter in his social media posts. Monday's gag order will not be extended to Mercen or Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who brought the case. Both have incurred the wrath of the former president. Trump claimed — without evidence — that the cases against him were politically motivated.
Jury selection in the hush-money case begins on April 15.
Trump has been accused of falsifying business records to keep an affair secret at the end of the 2016 campaign. Although his criminal trial in New York will be relatively less serious, it will be a historic first against a sitting or former president.
