NY AG James asks appeals court to make Trump pay bond in full

New York Attorney General Letitia James on Wednesday asked that a New York appeals court require former President Donald Trump to pay his $454 million bond in full before it pauses judgement in her civil fraud case against him.

Judge Arthur Engoron in February ordered that Trump pay roughly $454 million as part of James's case, a penalty Trump hopes to overturn or substantively reduce on appeal. He has, however, been unable to secure a bond in the full amount and previously asked that the court accept a $100 million bond, though the judge rejected that proposal.

Trump is still seeking to post a $100 million bond, arguing that a bond company was unlikely to approve a bond for the full amount.

The Wednesday filing form James's office rejects Trump's claims that obtaining a bond was not possible, further asserting that "[d]efendants' new factual allegations and legal arguments fail to support their extraordinary request for a stay based on a bond or deposit of less than one-fourth of the money-judgment amount," The Hill reported.

Arguing for James's office, Dennis Fan further asserted that Trump's inability to secure the bond stemmed merely from bond companies' unwillingness to accept his real estate as collateral.

"As far as the Court can infer, sureties may have refused to accept defendants’ specific holdings as collateral because using Mr. Trump’s real estate will generally need ‘a property appraisal’ and his holdings are not nearly as valuable as defendants claim," he said.

James has previously indicated that she would move to seize Trump's assets, including signature properties in New York such as 40 Wall Street, should Trump prove unable to pay the bond. Should he secure it, however, a bond would pause enforcement of Engoron's initial judgement and stave off such a development.

Trump, for his part, has railed against the bond amount, which he deemed part of a broader political effort to punish him.

"I built a Magnificent Business, which helped rebuild New York City and State, with Amazing, Unparalleled, Historic Properties and tons of CASH, which Crooked Joe Biden and his Maniac Persecutors are trying to wrongfully and illegally take from me," he said this week. "A bond of the size set by the Democrat Club-controlled Judge, in Corrupt, Racist Letitia James’ unlawful Witch Hunt, is unConstitutional, un-American, unprecedented, and practically impossible for ANY Company, including one as successful as mine."

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter.