Former President Donald Trump has taken steps to secure a bond to cover an $83.3 million jury award granted to writer E. Jean Carroll in a defamation trial.
Trump’s lawyer, Alina Habba, filed papers showing that Trump had obtained a $91.6 million bond from the Federal Insurance Co. Habba also filed a notice of appeal, indicating that Trump is appealing the verdict to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
This action comes after Judge Lewis A. Kaplan denied a request to delay the deadline for posting the bond. The bond is necessary to ensure that Carroll can collect the $83.3 million if the verdict remains intact following appeals, and to delay payment of the award until the 2nd Circuit can rule.
Trump is under financial pressure to set aside funds to cover both the judgment in the Carroll case and a larger one in a lawsuit where he was found liable for lying about his wealth in financial statements given to banks.
A New York judge recently refused to halt collection of a $454 million civil fraud penalty in the latter case, giving Trump until March 25 to pay up or buy a bond covering the full amount. Interest on the judgment continues to accrue, adding roughly $112,000 each day.
In the defamation trial, Carroll claimed that Trump raped her in 1996 in a Manhattan department store dressing room. Trump denied the claims, and a jury last May awarded Carroll $5 million, concluding that Trump had sexually abused her but rejecting her rape claims.
The defamation trial focused on statements Trump made in 2019, while he was president, about Carroll’s allegations. Kaplan, the judge in the defamation trial, attributed any financial harm to Trump’s slow response to the verdict and trial proceedings.
Trump’s behavior during the trial, including disparaging comments made loud enough for jurors to hear, prompted Kaplan to threaten to banish him from the courtroom.
