March 8, New York (Reuters) – On Friday, Donald Trump started his appeal of the lawsuit that started when he called writer E. Jean Carroll a liar after she accused him of raping her decades ago, and he posted a $91.6 million bond to cover the defamation ruling in her favor.
If Trump were to lose his appeal of the Jan. 26 ruling and default, the bond from Federal Insurance Co., a division of the insurer Chubb, would pay Carroll’s $83.3 million award.
Carroll, 80, would also not be able to collect on the verdict while the appeals process was pending, which might take years, thanks to the posting of a bail.
The appeal resulted from a Manhattan jury’s finding in June 2019 that Trump had defamed Carroll, a former journalist for Elle magazine, by refuting his claim that he had sexually assaulted her in a Manhattan dressing room at the Bergdorf Goodman department store in the mid-1990s.
Trump’s request for a temporary respite was denied by trial judge U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan, and he was given until March 11 to obtain the bail or set aside funds for the judgment.
Carroll and her attorneys were given until March 11 by Kaplan on Friday to voice any concerns about the bond.
Carroll claimed that Trump was just saying “trust me” when he claimed that he shouldn’t need to post any security because Carroll was well-protected.
Requests for comment from the attorneys representing Carroll and Trump were not immediately answered.
As the Republican nominee for president in November, Trump will likely face off against Democratic incumbent Joe Biden, who defeated him in 2020.
A spokesperson for Trump’s presidential campaign, Steven Cheung, claimed that despite the ruling being “baseless” and a product of a “witch hunt” supported by Democrats, Trump nonetheless posted the bond.
AVAILABLE ASSETS
What assets Trump was compelled to offer in order to obtain the bond was unclear.
The Pedersen & Sons Surety Bond Agency owner in New York, Neil Pedersen, who is not associated with the case, stated that it is highly likely that Trump provided liquid assets as collateral.
“The uncertainty of whether Trump will be elected in 2024 is reason enough to require liquid collateral to secure the bond, because no surety has had to enforce an indemnification agreement against a president,” he stated.
Trump’s bond is in line with the trial court’s custom of equating bonds to 110% of judgments.
It temporarily fixes one of the problems resulting from his legal troubles, but he still has financial difficulties.
In order to appeal last month’s $454.2 million verdict in a civil fraud case brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James, Trump still needs to post enough security.
James’s attorneys have stated that it is not possible to post a bond for the entire amount James is requesting and have offered to deposit a $100 million bond.
Four criminal indictments are also pending against Trump. Charges against him include fabricating business documents to hide hush money payments made to porn star Stormy Daniels prior to the 2016 election that propelled him to the presidency. The trial is slated to begin on March 25.
‘DESIRED TO PROTECT MYSELF’
The jury in Carroll’s case gave her $18.3 million in compensatory damages, which included $11 million for reputational injury and $7.3 million for emotional distress. They also gave her punitive damages in the amount of $65 million.
Trump has stated that either he shouldn’t owe anything, or that the amounts owed should be much decreased.
Trump’s attorneys requested a new trial, claiming that Kaplan’s decision to exclude Trump’s testimony regarding his mental state at the time of his disparaging remarks about Carroll compromised the verdict.
The lawyers contended that Trump’s claim that he “just wanted to defend myself, my family, and, frankly, the presidency” was significant in determining whether or not he had committed malice, and that ignoring it would “all but assure” a sizable award of punitive damages.
Attorneys for the lawyers claimed that Kaplan had misled the jurors over the standard of proof required to establish malice.
Over a similar October 2022 denial, a different jury found in May of last year that Trump had sexually assaulted Carroll and defamed her, and they ordered him to pay her $5 million.
Trump has allocated $5.55 million to the Manhattan court for the appeal process in order to challenge that ruling.
Reporting from New York by Jonathan Stempel and San Francisco by Alexandra Ulmer Peter Graff and Jonathan Oatis edited this.
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