Appeals court has lowered Trump's bond in civil fraud case to $175 million
Former President Trump had a mixed day in court Monday: A judge rejected his motion to sanction prosecutors and said jury selection in his hush money trial will start April 15; separately, a New York appeals court reduced the amount Trump must post as bond from nearly half a billion dollars to $175 million — and gave him another 10 days to post it to meet the civil fraud judgment against him.
Last week, Trump argued to an appeals court that a bond to cover $454 million was "a practically impossibility," because he doesn't have the cash to guarantee it right now. Trump had been facing a deadline Monday to post the $454 million bond or else face seizure of his assets.
In a statement, Trump said he will "abide by the decision of the Appellate Division, and post either a bond, equivalent securities, or cash." The statement was highly critical of Judge Arthur Engoron, the judge who presided over the civil trial case, and called his $454 million judgment "ridiculous and outrageous."
Separately, a New York judge on Monday set April 15 as the new start date in Trump's hush money case. Jury selection will begin April 15, and all prospective jurors will be informed that court will not convene on any date the jury is unable to attend due to Passover or other religious observances. Jury selection in the trial had been scheduled to start Monday, but in recent weeks federal prosecutors released more than 100,000 documents that could be related to the case. Trump, who has pleaded not guilty, called that release malfeasance, though the court finds that District Attorney Alvin Bragg was not at fault for the late documents.
Trump is accused of multiple counts of falsifying business records to keep an alleged affair secret at the end of the 2016 campaign. Although his criminal trial in New York is perhaps relatively less serious in scale, it would be a historic first trial against a sitting or former president.
The trial will coincide with the presidential campaign. Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, is running against the man who defeated him in 2020, President Biden.
Outside the court, Trump accused Bragg of timing the trial with the election. "This is election interference. That's all that is," he said.
Trump's legal troubles are entwined with both the 2020 and the 2016 campaigns: He faces state and federal charges related to trying to overturn the results in 2020. He also faces federal charges related to his handling of classified documents.
During the 2016 campaign, Michael Cohen, then Trump's personal attorney, learned that Stormy Daniels, the adult film actor, was planning to go public with news of an alleged affair with the real estate mogul. This was potentially damaging for Trump given that it came soon after the release of the Access Hollywood tape was released where Trump talked about grabbing women's genitals because "when you're a star they let you do it."
Cohen, who has since turned against Trump, has said he didn't think the campaign could withstand another blow of this kind. Consequently, he set up an LLC to pay Daniels to keep quiet. Trump allegedly agreed to a scheme to pay Cohen back by calling the reimbursements a "legal retainer," which they were not — a felony if District Attorney Bragg can prove Trump falsified the records to cover up another crime: making an illegal payment to benefit his campaign, in this case, the hush-money payments.
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Transcript
LEILA FADEL, HOST:
Two of Donald Trump's legal battles collide today - one criminal, one civil, both in New York City.
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
OK. A judge holds a hearing in the criminal hush money case, which involves Trump's longtime fixer, Michael Cohen and adult film star Stormy Daniels. That hearing could lead to a start date for the trial. Today is also the deadline for Trump to pay almost half a billion dollars in his civil fraud trial. If he does not do that, the New York attorney general could start the process of seizing his properties.
FADEL: NPR's Andrea Bernstein joins us now to sort out everything Trump faces today. Good morning, Andrea.
ANDREA BERNSTEIN, BYLINE: Good morning.
FADEL: So let's start with the criminal case. What is Donald Trump facing here?
BERNSTEIN: So this was the first case to be indicted of the four and dates back to the 2016 campaign. In late October of that year, Michael Cohen, who was then the personal attorney for Donald Trump, got wind that Stormy Daniels was planning to go public with news of an alleged affair with Donald Trump. This was pretty soon after the Access Hollywood tape was released where Trump talked about grabbing women by the genitals because when you're a star, they let you do it. Cohen has said he didn't think the campaign could withstand another blow of this kind, so he set up a limited liability corporation to pay Daniels to keep quiet. And then Donald Trump allegedly agreed to a scheme to pay Cohen back by calling the reimbursements a legal retainer, which they were not. That's a felony. If the DA can prove that Trump falsified the records to cover up another crime, that is the crime of making an illegal payment to benefit his campaign, in this case, the hush money payments.
FADEL: And this trial was supposed to start today, but it's already been pushed back. Remind us what happened.
BERNSTEIN: Yeah. So there was a hearing last month where Judge Juan Merchan was firm that he wanted to start today. But then DA Alvin Bragg made public that there had been a last minute production of over 100,000 documents from the federal prosecutors who had prosecuted Michael Cohen. Trump is calling this malfeasance, but Bragg says there's not much new here. Merchan is expected to let us know today if he'll keep his current trial date, April 15. If that is the case, Trump will be in court most days for the following two months, tried on 34 felony counts, which could bring jail time.
FADEL: So there's a lot to keep straight here. Trump also faces the deadline to post a bond for the penalty in his civil fraud case, too, for engaging in fraudulent business practices, right?
BERNSTEIN: Yeah. It's kind of mind-boggling that both of these things are happening today, but it's a coincidence.
FADEL: Has Trump been able to come up with the money?
BERNSTEIN: So Trump has appealed the judgment in the civil fraud case, but he still has to put the money aside. Last week, he argued to an appeals court that to cover the bond, to get a bond, was a practical impossibility because he doesn't have the cash to guarantee it right now. Here is his son, Eric Trump, speaking on Fox News yesterday.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
ERIC TRUMP: They're trying to put my father out of business. They're trying to take all his resources that he would otherwise put into his own campaign for presidency.
BERNSTEIN: Part of the reason Donald Trump may be having trouble getting a bond is 'cause he already had to come up with $100 million in liquid assets to cover his judgment in a separate civil case, the E. Jean Carroll defamation suit. He's appealed that one, too. The appeals court in the fraud case hasn't acted yet. And if it does nothing, there is nothing to prevent the attorney general, Letitia James, from starting to seize Trump's properties this week, which she said she'll do.
FADEL: NPR's Andrea Bernstein. Good luck covering all this today. Thank you so much.
BERNSTEIN: Thank you, Leila. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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