Former US President Donald Trump posted a $91.63 million bond on Friday, March 8 as he appeals a Manhattan jury’s judgment against him for defaming writer E. Jean Carroll.
The posting of the bond is expected to allow Trump to stop the penalty from being enforced while he challenges January’s verdict at the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
Trump was ordered to pay the massive sum at a trial to determine damages after a federal judge found Trump liable for repeatedly defaming Carroll, whom a prior jury found Trump sexually assaulted inside a department store fitting room by claiming that she’d made up her allegation to get publicity for her book and calling her a “whack job” who should “pay dearly.”
Insurance company Chubb underwrote the bond for Trump, which the former president signed on Tuesday. Under the terms of the bond, Chubb will only secure the appeal of the $83.3 million judgment, not any future appeals.
The bond size is greater than the judgment because the district court generally requires a party to post 110% of the bond.
In a statement, a Chubb spokesperson declined to comment on the specifics of Trump’s bond.
“As a matter of policy, we do not comment on client-specific information,” the spokesperson said. “Our surety division provides appeal bonds in the normal course of business. These bonds are an ordinary and important part of the American justice system, protecting the rights of both defendants and plaintiffs.”
Trump also faces a March 25 deadline to put up another $454 million in the New York attorney general’s civil fraud case.
In Carroll’s case, Trump has argued that the jury award is excessive and should be reduced. During the trial, Carroll’s lawyers told the jury that Trump should be punished with a large number in damages so that it actually gets him to stop his defamatory behavior.
In addition to those two judgments against him, Trump is also facing mounting legal fees he owes on the four criminal trials he’s facing as he campaigns for another presidential term.
