CNN reports:
Lawyers for former President Donald Trump said his $175 million bond posted to satisfy the judgement in the New York civil fraud case is financially sound, and they asked the judge to set aside the attorney general’s challenge to the bond and award him costs and fees.
In court filings, Trump said the bond secured by Knight Specialty Insurance Company is backed by Trump’s Charles Schwab account with more than $175 million in cash. Knight Specialty can take control of the Schwab account and is fully backed by its parent company to assume any risk, one of Trump’s filings said.
Salon reports:
Trump’s latest set of filings “doesn’t address” the concerns with the bond, Gregory Germain, a Syracuse University College of Law professor, told Salon. The notion that the former president’s “reimbursement obligation to the insurance company,” that he alleges is secured in the account, sufficiently satisfies the bonding requirement is “simply incorrect,” he said.
“The insurance company must have sufficient capitalization and liquidity to immediately pay the bond amount if the judgment is affirmed, and the insurance company they utilized does not have that capacity,” Germain explained.
The insurer — based in California and registered Delaware — does not have a license to issue bonds in New York or have the necessary certificate of qualification from the state Department of Financial Services, which Germain notes are required by New York insurance law. Also of concern was Knight Specialty admitting that it only had $138 million in surplus capital in an April 4 filing.
New York Attorney General Letitia James has been granted a hearing by state judge Arthur Engoron to challenge the $175 million bond former President Donald Trump posted in his civil fraud case. https://t.co/Jm4w9vVlM6
— Jeffrey Evan Gold (@jeffgoldesq) April 16, 2024