Donald Trump’s lawyers have reported in court documents that a bond of almost $92 million has been secured to support his appeal against the defamation judgement in favour of New York author E Jean Carroll. This development follows a denial by Manhattan federal court judge Lewis Kaplan of Trump’s earlier request to postpone the enforcement of the $83.3 million verdict awarded to Carroll by jurors on 26th January. The former US president has until 11th March to either pay cash or post a bond during his appeal.
Alina Habba, Trump’s lawyer, is appealing to Judge Kaplan to approve the bond amount, which exceeds the verdict sum, to cover interest. Should Kaplan approve, Trump will not need to pay Carroll any money until the appeal is concluded. However, this development does not mitigate Trump’s significant financial difficulties. He was ordered by Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron to pay $355 million in a separate civil fraud lawsuit filed by New York attorney general Letitia James on 16th February. With added interest, James’s office claims that Trump’s total debt amounts to $453 million.
This situation unfolds just a few weeks before Trump is due to face his first criminal trial regarding a series of charges against him. Jury selection for a criminal case involving hush money associated with adult film star Stormy Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal, led by state prosecutors in Manhattan, is set to commence on 25th March.
Carroll, on the other hand, was awarded $18.3 million in compensatory damages and $65 million in punitive damages in her second defamation lawsuit against Trump. This verdict was reached less than a year after a Manhattan federal court jury awarded Carroll $5 million in a case related to sexual abuse and defamation against Trump. In an article published in New York magazine in June 2019, which featured excerpts from her upcoming book, “What Do We Need Men For? A Modest Proposal”, Carroll alleged that Mr Trump assaulted her in the changing room of a high-end Manhattan department store.
Ms Carroll reported that her career and reputation were tarnished due to the way Trump rebutted her accusations, including calling her an untruthful political agent. In 2019, she initiated a lawsuit in response to these rejections since at that time period, she was restrained from taking legal action against Trump over the sexual assault due to the state’s civil statute of limitations.
Furthermore, Ms Carroll launched a new lawsuit against Mr Trump thanks to the Adult Survivors Act introduced in 2022. This act enabled adult victims to take legal action regarding incidents that took place beyond the civil statute of limitations’ time frame. This second lawsuit was in relation to the incident and Mr Trump’s slanderous remarks that were made after his presidency had ended.
When approached for a statement about the acquisition of this bond, Trump’s campaign communications director, Steven Cheung responded: “The bond equivalent to the unfounded judgement in the Carroll trial funded by the Democrats has been submitted, it is currently being appealed and trialled. All the hoaxes orchestrated under the direction of Joe Biden will be defeated and President Trump will restore America’s greatness again.” – Guardian