(RepublicanNews.org) – A few legal experts have weighed in on former President Donald Trump’s options in the wake of an appeal bond of $464 million that the former president’s attorneys revealed that Trump is having trouble securing the funds for.
In a court filing on Monday, March 18th, Trump’s attorneys said it was impossible and not practical “under the circumstances presented” to obtain almost half a billion dollars for the appeal bond following the civil fraud judgment against the former president in New York.
Criminal defense attorney David Gelman, who once served as a deputy district attorney, is one of the legal experts who weighed in on the situation and described the judgment as a “unicorn.” Gelman argued that Trump should’ve been given more leeway by the judge to pay the bond, stating that “even the richest man in the world” doesn’t just have $464 million “lying around.”
Trump tried to delay the payment last month, but a New York Appeals Court Judge rejected the request. In that appeal, Trump’s attorneys requested that the court allow him to only post a bond of $100 million with a promise that the rest of the judgment would be paid in due time, arguing that securing the entire amount for a single payment was “impossible.” The judge did allow Trump and his sons, two of whom were also sued in the civil fraud case brought against them by New York Attorney General Letitia James, to continue doing business in the state temporarily during the process of appealing the judgment.
The months-long civil fraud case against the former president concluded in February and New York Judge Arthur Engoron ruled against Trump in the juryless trial, convicting him of inflating the value of his assets and defrauding banks and insurance companies to build his real estate empire.
Gelman called the decision “unprecedented” and said no judgment of such “magnitude against a company or individual” has ever happened in New York’s history, calling the legal implications “uncharted territory.”
In a post on Truth Social on Monday, the former president also called the bond set by the judge “unprecedented,” as well as “unconstitutional” and “un-American.” He said it’s “practically impossible” even for a company as successful as his to pay such a lump sum.
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