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Donald Trump

Legal experts weigh in on Trump’s options after failure to

secure $464M appeal bond: ‘uncharted territory’
Legal experts called the ruling unprecedented given the size of the bond
By Bradford Betz Fox News

Published March 18, 2024 9:51pm EDT

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Trump attorney says he will pay $400 million bond to appeal NY ruling 'prank'
Constitutional attorney Mark Smith joined 'Fox & Friends First' to discuss the latest on Trump's legal woes and the news that the former president is
challenging Judge Engoron's 'fraud' claims.

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Legal experts are weighing in on Donald Trump’s options after attorneys for the former
president said he has not been able to secure a $464 million appeal bond he needs
following a New York civil fraud judgment against him.

Trump’s lawyers wrote in a Monday court filing that obtaining the nearly half-a-billion
appeal was a "practical impossibility under the circumstances presented."

David Gelman, a criminal defense attorney and a former deputy district attorney, called the
judgment a "unicorn." He argued that the judge should give Trump a lot more leeway to
satisfy the bond because "not even the richest man in the world has $464 million lying
around."

Former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a Buckeye Values PAC Rally in
Vandalia, Ohio, on March 16, 2024. (KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI/AFP via Getty Images)

A New York Appeals Court judge denied Trump’s request late last month to delay payment
of the $464 million owed as a result of the lawsuit brought by New York State Attorney
General Letitia James, but said he would temporarily allow the 2024 front-runner and his
sons to continue running their business during the appeals process.

A New York Appeals Court judge previously ruled that the former president must post a
bond for the full amount of the judgment and that an independent director of compliance
will be appointed.

That ruling comes after New York Judge Arthur Engoron handed down his decision earlier
in February after a months-long trial beginning in October in which the former president
was accused of inflating his assets and committing fraud in financial documents.

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Engoron ruled that Trump and other defendants were liable for "persistent and repeated
fraud," "falsifying business records," "issuing false financial statements," "conspiracy to
falsify false financial statements," "insurance fraud" and "conspiracy to commit insurance
fraud."

Gelman told Fox News Digital that "everyone needs to realize how unprecedented this is."

"There has never been a judgment of this magnitude against a company or individual in
the history of New York, so we are really in uncharted territory."

New York Attorney General Letitia James speaks during a news conference, Sept. 21, 2022, in New York. (AP
Photo/Brittainy Newman, File)

Gelman said Trump has three options: not appeal, ask the court to allow Attorney General
James to use his property as collateral, or take it to a federal court and say the New York
law is unconstitutional on its face.

"Courts really don’t deny bonds when there are other ways to pay. Again, because this is so
unprecedented, and I don’t care how rich you are, nobody has that much liquid cash. So if
a court had the option to allow a defendant to use some other collateral to satisfy the
bond, they will," Gelman said.

He added that there was no reason for the judge or Attorney General James to say no.

"You’re dealing with Trump. He’s not going anywhere. He’s the most famous and well
known person in the world. It’s not like he can just disappear and can’t be found," Gelman
said.

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Former federal prosecutor Andrew Cherkasky told Fox News’ The Story with Martha
MacCallum that he "would not count Trump out yet."

Cherkasky said that even if the court denies Trump’s appeal, he "still has paths to move
forward through federal court – ultimately to the Supreme Court to complain about Eight
Amendment violations."

Per the Eighth Amendment, which deals with cruel and unusual punishment, "excessive
bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments
inflicted."

Laura Trump speaks at the NCGOP state convention with former U.S. President Donald Trump on June 5, 2021 in
Greenville, North Carolina. (Melissa Sue Gerrits/Getty Images)

Cherkasky argued that the fines imposed on Trump were so "astronomically high here that
it seems unbelievable for the Constitution to permit it under these circumstances."

"I think – and I hope – that the New York Court of Appeals looks at it appropriately,"
Cherkasky said. "But like I said, I think even the Supreme Court would have an interest in
this case on Eighth Amendment grounds."

Trump attorney Alina Habba told the X22 report Monday she was "confident" Trump's debt
would be dismissed.

"Despite the fact that witnesses frankly had said that they were great clients, we all made
money, they did nothing wrong, we got slammed with this egregious number, and I'm
confident we'll overturn it," Habba told the online podcast.

Writing on his Truth Social platform later Monday, Trump called the bond set by Engoron
"unconsitutitonal, 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," Trump wrote.

Fox News' Greg Norman contributed to this report.

Bradford Betz is a Fox News Digital breaking reporter covering crime, political issues, and much more.

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