Former President Donald Trump says the massive $464 million bond that New York is requiring of him to appeal an adverse ruling is “practically impossible” for any company to meet. In fact, he says the money should be required only after the appeal is finished.
“I shouldn’t have to put up any money, being forced by the Corrupt Judge and AG, until the end of the appeal. That’s the way system works!” he wrote in a post on Truth Social on March 19.
He also says the case is creating a hostile business climate that makes it “crazy” for any company to relocate there.
“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,” the ex-president said in another post on Truth Social on Monday evening.
He fired off a series of posts on Monday and Tuesday, railing against the alleged unfairness of the bond situation he faces in the wake of Judge Arthur Engoron’s decision to fine him $355 million, plus additional millions against his sons and The Trump Organization.
The judge issued those fines in a civil fraud case last month, finding that the defendants inflated the value of assets to gain more favorable interest rates from banks and insurers. The ex-president has denied overvaluations and also points out that the loans were repaid on time and that no one was harmed by the alleged overinflation.
Trump attorneys had offered to post a $100 million bond. An appeals court has yet to rule on whether that amount would will be enough to put Mr. Engoron’s judgment on hold pending appeal.
Last week, President Trump’s lawyers revealed that 30 bond companies refused to underwrite the $464 million bond that New York Attorney General Letitia James is requiring to cover the fines plus interest. She has threatened to seize the ex-president’s assets if he fails to secure that bond.
President Trump, in his post, called the bond amount “unConstitutional, un-American, unprecedented, and practically impossible for ANY Company, including one as successful as mine.”
“The Bonding Companies have never heard of such a bond, of this size, before, nor do they have the ability to post such a bond, even if they wanted to,” the former president wrote.
Indeed, an executive with the world’s largest privately held insurance brokerage firm, Gary Giuletti, said many bonding companies must adhere to policy limits of $100 million.
Mr. Giulietti, who works on behalf of one of four insurance brokers that Trump attorneys hired to seek the $464 million bond, wrote an affidavit that the brokers spent “countless hours negotiating with the largest insurance companies in the world,” but failed.
He called that bond amount “commercially unattainable for a privately owned company,” even if the company had “billions of dollars in real estate.” Mr. Giulietti, who has 50 years of experience, said surety companies that are big enough to write a $464 million bond will not accept real-estate as collateral. Therefore, attaining the bond would require assets to be sold. Mr. Giulietti called that situation “both crippling and punitive.”
Mr. Giulietti stated that the Trump Organization “is in a strong liquidity position,” but it doesn’t have $1 billion in cash.
President Trump questioned the fairness of being required to post such a huge amount to secure the right to appeal. Then, after mortgaging or selling off his assets, “perhaps at fire sale prices,” the company would be permanently damaged because “if and when I win the Appeal, they would be gone.”
He repeatedly wrote, in all-capital letters: “Election Interference” and “Witch Hunt.”
In a related post, the ex-president wrote: “The statute used to attack me has never been used for such a purpose before—No Jury allowed, ridiculous $18 Million Value for Mar-a-Lago, the Judge ignored the Statute of Limitations Decision by the Appellate Court, Ironclad Disclaimer Clauses, No Damages, No Victims—A Disgraceful ‘Case!'”
President Trump said the case is a “sham,” and it is “forcing companies and people to flee New York, and stopping companies from entering.”
“If they did, they would be crazy, because they don’t need the Communist China, or old Soviet Union, model of business to interfere with their Prosperity and Success,” he said.
Several high-profile business leaders have publicly stated that they were considering divesting from New York or were abandoning plans to do business there because of the Trump case.
Elena Cardone, the wife of one such businessman, Grant Cardone, started a GoFundMe account on behalf of President Trump to assist with payment of the fine–and to stand up for what is right.
President Trump said the business climate in New York, where he lived for many years as he built his business empire, is downright inhospitable.
“The level of anger and hostility toward businesses and business people is incredible,” he wrote in a post on March 19. “Numerous people have spoken to me about this” in the wake of Judge Engoron’s ruling.
“Engoron laughed with disdain at the Appellate Division, his superior court, when they handed down a decision which essentially ended most of the case, and he REFUSED TO ABIDE BY IT,” the ex-president complained. “This is the first time something like that has ever happened in New York State.”
President Trump denounced Mr. Engoron as “a Crazed, Trump Hating, Rogue Judge.” He alleged that the judge has “ZERO respect for the Appellate Judges, and has torn apart the Legal System in New York State, making it impossible for outside businesses to want to come there. Existing businesses will flee!!!”
Nevertheless, President Trump said he remains determined to battle against the decision.
“We will fight and defeat this Hoax, and all of the other Crooked Joe-directed Hoaxes, once and for all,” he wrote, adding, “If I wasn’t running for President of the United States, and leading by a lot, this kind of Witch Hunt would never have happened!”
From The Epoch Times
