The former president filed an appeal in the case on Monday.
Lawyers for former President Donald Trump are seeking a moratorium on enforcement of fines in his civil fraud trial, telling the court that bail will be set at just $100 million, making Manhattan's highest court That's far short of the $464 million verdict ordered by a judge. Arthur Engoron.
The Engoron ruling ordered Trump to pay $355 million in penalties and interest and barred him from operating any New York-based companies, including his own, for three years.
Trump's lawyers argued in a court filing Wednesday that the fine is “unprecedented and punitive.”
“The exorbitant and punitive judgment amount and the illegal and unconstitutional blanket ban on lending transactions will make it impossible to secure and post a full bond,” the attorneys said in their filing. “Nevertheless, appellants plan to secure and post a bond of $100 million.”
Trump's lawyers say in a filing that setting bail to cover the entire sentence is not only impossible but unnecessary given existing oversight by the Trump Organization's independent watchdog. said. The filing says the current oversight and $100 million bail will ensure that New York State Attorney General Letitia James can collect the judgment if necessary.
“These assets are not going anywhere, and given the practical realities of monitor surveillance and the existence of highly public judgments, those assets cannot go anywhere,” the filing states. is stated.
In their motion for an injunction, defense attorneys Clifford Robert and Alina Haba called Engoron's order “harsh” and said the punishment would unfairly interfere with the Trump family's real estate business. Stated.
“The extraordinary relief granted by the Supreme Court is punitive, manifestly inappropriate, unsupported by the evidence, and/or unavailable under Presidential Law, and is considered time-barred by this Court. premised upon the determined claims,” the motion said.
The filing references statements made by New York Attorney General Letitia James in an interview with ABC News, saying, “The Attorney General's public statements that the appellant's property would be immediately seized in order to satisfy the judgment… “Threat” is cited.
“If we don't have the funds to pay off the judgment, we will ask the court for a mechanism to enforce the judgment and we will ask the judge to seize his assets,” James told ABC News last week.
The defense motion states, “The Supreme Court's staggering $450 million award not only ignores this court's governing ruling in this very case, but also violates the excessive fines and due process provisions of the U.S. Constitution and the New York Constitution. It also violates the provisions.”
“Therefore, this untenable ruling renders a beneficial arm’s length transaction between sophisticated commercial parties meaningless and subject to arbitrary and ex post facto review by the Attorney General and the courts,” the New York ” threatens the entire business community of the United States,” the motion asserted.
In a ruling earlier this month, Engoron said Trump, his adult sons and two former Trump Organization executives committed “numerous acts of fraud and misrepresentation” to inflate Trump's net worth for profit. The court found that the company was responsible for 10 years of fraudulent business activities. More favorable financing conditions. He ordered the defendants to pay a total of $464 million in disgorgement and prejudgment interest.
Trump's lawyers requested a stay pending their appeal of Engoron's ruling, which they filed on Monday.
