Donald Trump posts $91.6 million bond for E. Jean Carroll's defamation verdict

[March 09, 2024]  By Jonathan Stempel and Alexandra Ulmer

NEW YORK (Reuters) -Donald Trump on Friday posted a $91.6 million bond to cover the defamation verdict in favor of writer E. Jean Carroll, and began his appeal of the case that arose from his branding her a liar after she accused him of raping her decades ago.

The bond from Federal Insurance Co, part of the insurer Chubb, would cover Carroll's $83.3 million judgment if Trump were to lose his appeal of the Jan. 26 verdict and refuse to pay.

The posting of a bond also means Carroll, 80, wouldn't collect on the judgment during the appeals process, which could take years.

The appeal stemmed from a Manhattan jury's conclusion that Trump had defamed Carroll, a former Elle magazine columnist, in June 2019 by denying that he raped her in the mid-1990s in a Bergdorf Goodman department store dressing room in Manhattan.

Trump faced a March 11 deadline to obtain the bond or set aside cash for the judgment after the trial judge, U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan, refused his bid for a temporary reprieve.

Kaplan on Friday gave Carroll and her lawyers until March 11 to register any objections to the bond.

Trump previously argued he shouldn't have to post any security because Carroll was sufficiently protected, but Carroll said this boiled down to Trump saying "trust me".

Lawyers for Trump and Carroll did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Trump is the Republican candidate for this November's presidential election, and faces an expected rematch against Democratic incumbent Joe Biden, who beat him in 2020.

Steven Cheung, a spokesman for Trump's presidential campaign, said Trump posted the bond even though the judgment was "baseless" and part of a Democratic-backed "witch hunt."

LIQUID ASSETS

It wasn't clear what assets Trump was forced to pledge to secure the bond.

Neil Pedersen, who owns Pedersen & Sons Surety Bond Agency in New York and is not involved in the case, said Trump almost certainly put up liquid assets as collateral.

"The uncertainty of whether Trump will be elected in 2024 is reason enough to require liquid collateral to secure the bond, because no surety has had to enforce an indemnification agreement against a president," he said.

Trump's bond reflects the trial court's usual practice that bonds equal 110% of judgments.

Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump reacts on stage during a campaign rally in Richmond, Virginia, U.S. March 2, 2024. REUTERS/Jay Paul/File Photo

It resolves for now one issue arising from his legal travails, though he still faces a financial squeeze.

Trump still has to post sufficient security for his expected appeal of last month's $454.2 million verdict in a civil fraud case brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James.

His lawyers have offered to post a $100 million bond and called it impossible to post a bond for the full amount, which James is seeking.

Trump also faces four criminal indictments. These include charges he falsified business records to conceal hush money paid to porn star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election that gave him the presidency. A trial is scheduled for March 25.

'WANTED TO DEFEND MYSELF'

In Carroll's case, jurors awarded her $18.3 million of compensatory damages, including $7.3 million for emotional harm and $11 million for harm to her reputation. They also awarded her $65 million of punitive damages.

Trump has said he shouldn't owe anything, and alternatively that both sums should be reduced substantially.

In seeking a new trial, lawyers for Trump said the verdict was tainted by Kaplan's decision to strike Trump's testimony about his state of mind when he disparaged Carroll.

According to the lawyers, Trump's statement that "I just wanted to defend myself, my family, and, frankly, the presidency" was relevant to whether he had acted maliciously, and that excluding it "all but assured" a big punitive damages award.

The lawyers also said Kaplan erred in instructing jurors about the burden of proof needed to show malice.

Last May, a different jury ordered Trump to pay Carroll $5 million over a similar October 2022 denial, finding he had defamed and sexually abused her.

Trump is appealing that decision, and set aside $5.55 million with the Manhattan court for that process.

(Reporting by Alexandra Ulmer in San Francisco and Jonathan Stempel in New YorkEditing by Jonathan Oatis and Peter Graff)

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