Former President Donald Trump said Saturday that E. Jean Carroll can’t have it both ways in arguing that he was rich enough for the jury to award her $83.3 million in damages in her defamation trial but now saying he shouldn’t be permitted to delay posting bond because he hasn’t provided evidence of his wealth.
Trump’s lawyers called Carroll’s opposition to his request for a delay in posting bond “inconsistent.” Carroll, a former magazine columnist, opposed the request Thursday and told Judge Lewis Kaplan that Trump is the “least trustworthy of borrowers.” Her lawyers also argued the former president hasn’t provided information about his finances or the nature of his assets.
In a response to Carroll’s opposition, Trump’s lawyers wrote to Kaplan on Saturday that her “current position that President Trump’s ability to satisfy a judgment of $83.3 million is in doubt — is ‘clearly inconsistent’ with her position barely one month ago that President Trump has $14 billion in assets and can thus easily satisfy an enormous punitive award.”
Last month, Trump asked Kaplan, who is overseeing the defamation case, to give him 30 days to post bond or put up cash to cover the verdict after motions challenging the size of the damages award are decided. Trump’s attorneys said the post-trial briefs will be filed in five days.
Kaplan made the jury verdict official on February 8 and allowed Trump 30 days to post a bond to appeal. If the judge denies Trump’s request, based on the current schedule, Trump would need to post the bond in less than two weeks.
If Kaplan doesn’t delay Trump’s posting of the judgment, Trump’s lawyers ask that he allow the former president to post bond of $24.4 million, “which would be more than sufficient to secure any minimal risk to Plaintiff.”
Trump’s attorneys said they will argue in the post-trial motions that the punitive damages award was “excessive” and should be reduced. The former president is also challenging the size of the other damages awarded to Carroll.
Since the verdict in the defamation case last month, Trump’s financial condition has become more complicated, which Carroll’s lawyers pointed to in their objection.
The judge overseeing the New York attorney general’s civil fraud case entered a $454 million judgment against Trump last month, bringing the total the former president owes in judgments to over half a billion dollars. Trump offered to post a $100 million bond and asked an appeals court judge to delay the timing of the bond. The appellate judge denied his motion for a stay on Wednesday.
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