On Monday, former President Donald Trump’s legal team appealed the recent civil fraud ruling by New York Judge Arthur Engoron.
Judge Engoron’s ruling ordered Trump to pay nearly $355 million, Donald Jr. and Eric to each pay $4 million, and ex-Trump Org chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg to pay $1 million. The order also barred Trump from serving as a corporate officer or a director of a company in New York for three years, and barred his sons for two years. The Trumps did avoid the so-called “corporate death penalty;”
Engoron declined to revoke the Trump Org’s certificate to do business in New York.
The monetary verdicts also incur pre- and post-judgment interest under New York law. With interest, the total amount Trump is currently on the hook for is just over $354 million, with post-judgment interest accruing at nearly $112,000 per day.
Trump has previously signaled he planned to file an appeal.
CNN Newsroom anchor Jim Acosta described it as “breaking but not shocking news” Monday morning and reported Trump will have to put up the cash or post bond to sustain the appeal, as chief legal affairs correspondent Paula Reid noted.
As CNN reported, the “common practice” in this New York court district is to require a bond of 110 percent, a staggering sum in light of these cumulative verdicts.
The New York fraud case and the Carroll verdicts “could wipe out a substantial amount of Trump’s liquid assets,” reported Adam Klasfeld at Just Security, noting that the ex-president had said in a deposition that his assets were “‘substantially in excess’ of $400 million,” and a Bloomberg analysis “estimated Trump’s liquid assets at $600 million.”
Drop the case