Below is my column on Fox.com on the demand for roughly a $455 million dollar deposit or equivalent bond for Donald Trump to be able to seek appellate review of the recent judgment against him. The combination of the fine and the deposit rule highlight the confiscatory elements of this judgment.
Here is the column:
In the wake of the massive judgment against Donald Trump, many in New York are celebrating the prospect that the former president could be forced to sell off his property just to be able to appeal the $355 million judgment against him. While Trump has good grounds to object to this excessive fine, he still has to come up with close to a half billion dollars just to make his arguments to the New York Court of Appeals.
In order to file an appeal, the courts require a deposit for the full amount of the damages or a bond covering the full amount. Even with escrow options, the call for cash or collateral can be enough to put some executives in a fetal position.
It can be challenging enough for many companies drained from years of litigation. For Donald Trump, the demand for $355 million plus $100 milion in interest could force a fire sale on properties to pony up just the deposit.
Many of us have been critical of the ruling of Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron who imposed the astronomical fine despite finding that Trump’s “victims” not only did not lose a single dollar but made handsome profits. Indeed, these banks testified that they wanted to continue to do business with Trump as a “whale” client, but Engoron is now barring them from doing so.
Putting aside the merits of this judgment, the threshold deposit rule magnifies the unfairness of this New York law that does not require that anyone actually lose money to claim hundreds of millions from a company.
One can argue that, if upheld, any insolvency is the fault of the company. However, this rule can force insolvency just to seek review of a judgment.
For Trump, even this fine would only amount to roughly 14-17% of his wealth. The addition of the recent $83.3 million in damages imposed in a separate New York courtroom for defamation would bring the demand to over half a billion dollars in deposits with interest.
So, by making the fine so large, Engoron not only makes an appeal difficult, but could guarantee that Trump will lose tens of millions even if his judgment is dramatically reduced or tossed out.
On top of this looming penalty, however, he already owes the writer E. Jean Carroll $83.3 million in damages from a separate defamation case that concluded in January. His legal fees are also mounting as he battles four criminal cases at the federal and state level.
There is already speculation of whether Trump will have to leverage or sell his iconic properties at distressed prices. He has 30-days to ante up with the court and buyers could use that deadline to their advantage. The added amount is due to another New York provision imposing a massive 9 percent interest rate on judgments.
That means that every day, Trump is being hit by roughly $90,000 in just interest increases.
Trump could secure a bond, but such a guaranty would come at its own premium price. However, a bonding company requires a defendant to put up 10% for the total and would lose that amount even if he prevailed. That is a roughly $45 million cost just to secure the right to an appeal. In this case, the cost could be higher given the judgment and the bar on Trump doing business for three years in New York.
Trump can move to ask the trial court (or the appellate court) to allow him to proceed without posting the money or bond. That, however, is up to the courts in granting an exception.
The expectation is that Trump can make the deposit or secure a bond to avoid what some gleefully called a “fire sale” on this properties. The deposit is now being celebrated as an added indignity and penalty.
However, as New Yorkers cheer this moment, many business are likely wondering “but for the grace of God go I.” Undervaluing or overvaluing property is a common practice, particularly in real estate. That is why representations, like the one made by the Trump Corporation, come with a warning that estimates are their own and that the banks need to make their assessments.
Faced with high crime and high taxes, the spectacle in Manhattan is only likely to accelerate the exodus of businesses and high-earners from the city. That prospect has already alarmed Gov. Kathy Hochul who declared “business people have nothing to worry about, because they’re very different than Donald Trump and his behavior.”
That sounds a lot like “you are fine so long as you are not Trump.” Yet, that is not reassuring to businesses who want a legal system that is based on something other than selective and arbitrary enforcement. Attorney General Letitia James campaigned on bagging Trump without even bothering to name the offense. She also sought to dissolve the National Rifle Association.
The line between doing business and a public execution appears to be the dubious discretion of Letitia James.
That is not the type of assurance that most businesses would accept in risking billions in investment. Despite the high taxes and falling services in New York, the city remained a draw for business as a commercial and legal center. The experience and objectivity of courts in dealing with business disputes was a selling point for companies.
That has been shattered by the James campaign and the Engoron ruling. Telling business to just “don’t be like Trump” is more menacing than consoling. Letitia James is now the face of New York corporate law — it is the “face that launched a thousand ships” . . . toward Florida. Businesses can get lower taxes, lower crime, better schools, and a better regulatory environment in virtually any other state. Fewer are likely to want to come for the shows, but stay for the disgorgement.
Shark Tank’s Kevin O’Leary said Monday that he would “never” invest in New York after this absurd judgment.
Creating an ad hoc business code for Trump undermines the city’s reputation as a premier jurisdiction for corporate and tax law. If the rate of exit increases, it will impact not just employees working for these companies (like the Trump companies) but the vast network of supporting businesses, including law firms.
As New York politicians campaigning on “eat the rich” platforms, the confiscatory Trump judgment leaves many in the city wondering if they could be the next course.
Hochul: “business people have nothing to worry about, because they’re very different than Donald Trump and his behavior.”
She’s right. They are not the leading opposition candidate. And they know how to genuflect.
A prophecy being fulfilled?
“We are five days away from fundamentally transforming the United States of America”.
Someone said something about not being black if you don’t vote for me. Maybe we should all consider we’re not American if we don’t vote for Trump in an effort to end the madness and instability the nation has fallen into?
I’d like to find some humor in all this but the best I can come up with is Haley more and more reminds me of Margaret Hamilton.
To All:
Late last night I posted an apology for an incorrect statement I made under thee “Blind Rage” posting.
Today, processing my mistake and re-reading my comment(s) from yesterday, I think my comments were directed toward disgorgement (used in both civil and criminal cases, and no intent/scienter to commit fraud need be established, as it is used for both illegal and “unethical” business transactions… especially in SEC actions (which I am familiar with). so I am correct that the equitable remedy of disgorgement can be used without attempted or actual fraud.
But where I goofed is where I quoted 175.45 as an example?????.
—N.O.T.
Yikes. I likely was quickly referring to 175.15 (no intent/scienter) in my quick perusal of the 175 violations, but even a full reading of that requires an absence of personal benefit. Luckily I never made a mistake like that in my actual court dealings over the years, but I guess we can hastily shoot from the hip on a blog. Thanks, everyone, for considering my mistake and hopefully forgiving me.
This is what I said last night:
lin says:
February 19, 2024 at 10:16 PM
To All:
Before I go to bed tonite, I wish to apologize for a mistaken statement I made earlier today, to wit, that “some” of the noted violations did not require intent/scienter/ or reliance. I have now reviewed the entire 92 pages and the appurtenant laws/statutes.
True about reliance. Not so true as to intent, and I have NO idea what I looked at this morning that led me to that statement. NowI cannot find or remember what I saw/read. Somewhere I was certain that making a false statement or submitting a false document did not require intent. I have no idea where I saw that, cannot find it now, and I apologize to all. More than an “ooops.” (Everything else I said, I stand by.)
Now I lay me down to sleep.
I Pray my error you do not keep
And if I die before I wake
I pray you do not send me to NY.
yours truly, lin.
Lin, what do you think of Trump asking a Federal court to stay the judgment under 42 USC 1983 or something similar? This appears to be a likely violation of both the 14th and 8th amendments.
I think the 8th Amendment is a better shot. From my limited experience, equity courts are the places where you go to do divorce proceedings. There is usually no jury involved. So New York may be okay not allowing a jury trial, which I am not sure would have made a difference, Trump lost in jury trial to a ridiculous E. Jean Caroll, fwiw.=ive
BUT that being said, where punitive damages are involved, it should not be an equity matter. Where there are punitive damages, that is quasi-criminal in nature, and I think a person has a right to due process, under the 14th, and the right to a jury, under the 6th.
Due to James’ “Get Trump” campaign for attorney general, which was in my opinion, a very unethical thing to do, and a violation of professional standards, then 14 USC comes in, as a violation of right thru color of law. Or, more specifically:
This statute makes it a crime for any person acting under color of law, statute, ordinance, regulation, or custom to willfully deprive or cause to be deprived from any person those rights, privileges, or immunities secured or protected by the Constitution and laws of the U.S.
The problem is, does SCOTUS have the balls to get involved, in a big way, and shut down the whole lawfare thing, not just in NY, but across the country. I look for SCOTUS to keep it narrow.
Do you mean 42 USC 1983? That has an exception for injunctions against judicial officers, unless they are acting in violation of a declaratory order or where a declaratory order is not available. So my question is whether this vehicle would work here to permit Trump to access Federal court.
Daniel asked me a question whether Trump can sue Engeron and/or James under 14 USC 1983.
I have never sued a judge or prosecutor, so there is that. BUT, the way I read the statute, it does not say that no judge or prosecutor, can be sued. It simply says that injunctive relief can not be granted against them. That does not mean that an action can not be commenced against them. Plus, I do not think that a prosecutor is a judicial officer in the legal sense.
The way I read the statute, it clearly contemplates an “action brought against a judicial officer”, i.e. a judge.
Here is the statute:
42 USC 1983
Every person who, under color of any statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage, of any State or Territory or the District of Columbia, subjects, or causes to be subjected, any citizen of the United States or other person within the jurisdiction thereof to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution and laws, shall be liable to the party injured in an action at law, suit in equity, or other proper proceeding for redress, except that in any action brought against a judicial officer for an act or omission taken in such officer’s judicial capacity, injunctive relief shall not be granted unless a declaratory decree was violated or declaratory relief was unavailable. For the purposes of this section, any Act of Congress applicable exclusively to the District of Columbia shall be considered to be a statute of the District of Columbia.
————-
However, I am retired, and I do not have access to all the research materials that I once did. And, I always preferred the written digests to computer searches, at least for the initial research, because I could scan multiple fine points quicker and easier than on the computer. Then, once I had the basic cases I wanted, I would sort of shep them in the computer search.
So, with that in mind, does anyone here have a better informed decision?
Only an idiot would think this has anything to do with law and order. If you haven’t been following the weaponization of our courts then you’re probably unaware of the coordinated assault by the Biden administration on President Trump. What we’re witnessing is collusion of a group of partisan hack lawyers and judges using the legal system to punish the opposition of the Democratic leadership (sic). This is retribution for exposing the unlimited corruption of Biden and running for office.
I find it amazing the those that oppose Biden call him all sorts of names, imply he is mentally deficient, dumb, stupid, doesn’t know what he is doing, etc. Then they give credit to Biden for being the mastermind behind multiple lawsuits in multiple jurisdictions against trump.
So which is it? is Biden a brilliant mastermind or an incompetent boob?
Then they give credit to Biden for being the mastermind behind multiple lawsuits in multiple jurisdictions against trump.
NOBODY, including honest Democrats believe Biden is making any decisions. It is the Obama Cabal pulling all the strings, running all the agencies, including the DoJ
“Then they give credit to” Obama, and his henchmen Brennan, Soros, et al. . . .
Now the statement’s accurate.
Sure, just make up more BS. At some point don’t you look back and think sheesh, I believed that? It’s always changing. It’s NATOs fault, Putin is bad, Putin is good. Soros is the cause of everything bad in the universe, Its a pice of pizza in the basement of a pizzeria in DC that doesn’t have a basement that is causing all the problems. No, it’s E. Jean Carol, Oh wait it’s Biden and Hunter. Darn it, Biden is not smart enough, must be Obama, No, its Michele Obama, wait, aren’t the Clinton’s running the show. No, I think it’s Goldwater, Wait, he’s dead, Must be JFK, but he would be well over 100 at this point. Oh well, they kept Lenin alive for 150 years, I suppose JFK could still be pulling the strings.
Get a life, conspiracy theories don’t work out, they always change. Who is the enemy today? Will it be the same enemy tomorrow?
Funny, almost EVERYTHING the left has called a conspiracy theory lately has turned out to be TRUE. Go back to your Progressive Utopia and cry harder. You are the party of corruption and lies.
“Sure, just make up more BS.”
Sticking your head in the sand is never a pretty sight. From either end.
He is an incompetent boob. The “real” President is unknown. The “real” President is very much at the center of an a anti-Trump cabal.
LOL that you don’t recognize Biden as the real President. Did you buy into the Pizzagate conspiracy too?
You honestly believe Biden is making any decisions? After his hasty spur of the moment, evening Presser last week? If you believe he is in charge. Your opinion carry’s zero weight.
Dude, who needs pizzagate??? Remember the Boy Scouts??? How all the”smart”and “cosmopolitan” people said there was no reason NOT to let gay men be scout leaders! How bitterly-clingerly to believe there was any danger! IIRC, Wesley Clark was one of those people.
Fast Forward a few years, and dang if the Boy Scouts ain’t bankrupt because of all the molestation. Let’s see, how many boys were molested??? 100? 500? 1000?
Try this:
On February 18, 2020, the Boy Scouts of America filed for a Chapter 11 financial restructuring to offer “equitable compensation” to survivors and their families. The BSA cited approximately 200 pending lawsuits in state and federal district courts across the United States and 1,700 potential claimants in total. In May of that same year, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware set November 16, 2020, at 5pm EST as the bar date for all survivors of sexual abuse; 92,700 sexual abuse claims were filed with the bankruptcy court by the deadline.[8]
———-
Not all of that was post “official” gay-scoutmasters, and that makes the whole thing even worse. There was ample reason to know of the problem, and still, the “Smart Set” egged it on. So no, I would not attack the pizza parlor with my AR-15 Anti-Aircraft Flak Gun, which one bullet will cut a body in two, but I do believe that there are organized pedophile rings operating in this country. (If they had any sense, they would operate offshore somewhere, maybe on an island, where the only was in was by plane or boat.)
Hillary and Barack. Co-Presidents.
Traveler said, “If you haven’t been following the weaponization of our courts then you’re probably unaware of the coordinated assault by the Biden administration on President Trump.”
He never said Biden himself. Your reading comprehension is questionable.
Biden is not mentally competent to stand trial.
We never thought he was a brilliant mastermind.
We have always question his mental competence since his election.
Biden just does what his handlers tells him to do, and as we have seen, he even still has difficulty. He reads whatever the teleprompter says to include direction like, end of quote.
I’m one endictment away from being re-elected.
The ‘objectivity of the courts to business’ is an old expectation. Judges come from a far left group of lawyers who hate business now and will say it out loud. One smirking, power hungry man without a jury can destroy you financially. In essence, no appeal either because who can afford it?
The Big Apple = The Big Bad Apples
The Appeal Analysis is appreciated Jonathan.
IMO: Donald should not appeal the Decision, but instead wait, wait until he becomes President and then when the CRE Syndicate goes crying to the Treasury for a Bailout (again…), He should simply tell them; No Soup For You NYC.
This would be my position no matter Whom may be President. Why should I have to pay for the Bad Debts of Commercial Real Estate in New York City? I don’t live even close to NYC, I have nothing to Gain, and the CRE Syndicate is a Moral Hazard. Also a number of CRE players are Foreign Players. You have nothing to do with or gain from a group of Players that Bet on Buildings and Loose.
CRE (Commercial Real Estate)
The last time this happened large scale (there have been several smaller scale defaults since) You know what happened.
The Dot.Com Bubble Bust occurred (2000), the Valuations of the Bank Loans were Sky High on CRE (and Home Loans which became a crisis by 2008)
They dropped 9-11 and started a War in Iraq (2003-2011 The Iraq War – George W. Bush & Co.)
Commercial Real Estate (CRE) is a RICO Syndicate, The CRE Industry works together in a syndicated manner with 3 usual Player types:
1. Real Estate Owners (the Front Company)
2. Commercial Asset Managers (the Arrangers)
3. Bankers (the Funding Facilitators)
They work together in concert to Pump-N-Dump Commercial Real Estate and use Refinance to keep the Cash Flow steady between Trades (Building Sales & Purchases) into their pockets. There are; Private Investors (Domestic & Foreign), Private Companies, REITs, Foreign REITs, Foreign Companies, even Countries involved in this Racketeering.
These CRE Whales will be back at the Tax Payers Trough, awaiting ‘Their’ Bailout once again.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission will do nothing,
Judge Arthur Engoron and NY Attorney General Letitia James will do nothing,
I have doubts that a President Donald Trump will do anything, giving his penchant for Goldman Sachs kinda Guyz.
Back in the Day, Arianna Huffington had a good book similar to this coming event:
𝐏𝐢𝐠𝐬 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡: 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐂𝐨𝐫𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐏𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐂𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐮𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐔𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚
By: Arianna Huffington ~ January 27, 2004
https://www.amazon.com/Pigs-Trough-Corporate-Corruption-Undermining/dp/1400051266
The future of NYC if Engoron and James treated Everyone Equal under this prosecution.
This a stark reminder to anyone wanting to do business in New York to stay away. For any business now doing business in New York, it is time to flee. The legal system has gone off the deep end.
Criminal gang thugs can beat up the New York Police and get out of jail free. They were so thankful they gave the authorities the middle finger while sneering at them in scorn.
The message is crystal clear.
so when Wall Street BANKS poorly value assets there companies should be destroyed….hmmm that didn’t happen in 2007?
Democrat Fascism is REAL!
Just a thought here. Don’t be a lying fraud that defames people and stiffs all sorts of contractors through your life thinking your above the law.
trump has one person to blame for every single one of his problems. Look in the mirror donald. The fault of all your woes is staing right there.
I think you miss the point.
Don’t think so. JT even throws in his nearly $90 million to E. Jean Carol. Like I said, not a good idea to defame the woman you raped.
What about that woman you raped in the same fashion. Remember, Bob, it happened over 30 years ago and she doesn’t remember the year it happened.
I think the state should foreclose on Bob’s house, if he has one.
S. Meyer,
Dont forget, she also claimed to be wearing a dress that was not made till several years later.
The NYT fact checkers even debunked her claim.
It was another sham trail to “Get Trump.”
Then Bob ran a gang rape group at parties, just like Brett Kavanaugh.
Wow! Thanks, Hullbobby, for letting me know Bob is a cereal rapist. Did he rape Snap, Crackle, and Pop?
I think Get Bob has a better ring to it and it would be a lot easier. Bob is stupid.
Upstate, that was me.
The conspiracy to destroy Trump arises solely from the fact that he challenges entrenched political forces which believe that they own the government.
“Just a thought here. Don’t be a lying fraud “
That is you Bob, a lying fraud, who is unable to defend his positions or facts.
One wonders if Dr. Robert Hare was thinking of anyone in this story when he wrote his compelling treatise on psychopaths, “Without Conscience?”
I would not be too concerned about Trump meeting his fiscal obligations for getting to the court of appeals. Just about every legal scholar from the left and right agrees that this judgment is “obscene” and ripe for reversal or major reduction. The other day, Trump introduced a new line of sneakers. Always the entrepreneur, each pair sold for $399 and a thousand pairs were sold in the first couple of days. That’s a net of $399,000. Thus, it took Trump two days or so to cover the New York judgment that he will get back with interest when the biased and improper verdict is reversed. Trump will make money on the New York fraud case. Besides real estate, Trump also sells other items of clothing and accessories and runs a popular winery and bottling company. All things considered, Trump not only will survive the financial attacks of the left but prevail in the end. Oh, and did I mention, he will be elected by a 47-state victory over Biden whose own brother will sink him tomorrow in his deposition before the House.
Check your math. 399,000.00 is not 400,000,000 dollars
Anon: Thank you for that correction. My error.
AND. Sales are not “net”. Your point is a good one, but most people dont understand economic terms.
New York has reached third world status with this decision
New York has the best judges money can buy.
It’s a beautiful plan. Completely immoral but genius. Destroy the city with rampant crime, illegal immigration, Stalinesque judicial system, drive everybody away at fire sale prices, buy up all the property (hello Blackrock?) restore order, and sell the city to its former owners at premium prices. If I were Satan, this would be my plan too.
According to the fbi, crime in NYC and NYS is down significantly.
There you are, spoiling all the fun with facts.
Wally: California shopwed us the duplicity of this ratio years ago. When you stop prosecuting people for shoplifting or theft under $1,000 or you legalize drugs and drug possession, not surprisingly the crime stats for theft and drug possession decrease. Of course crime stats are down in NYC and NYS according to the FBI because crimes are reported only after charges are filed and fingerprints taken and sent to the FBI. With prosecutors like Alvin Bragg and Letitia James only prosecuting political “crimes” and only those committed by Republicans, they have no time or inclination to prosecute murders, rapes, robberies, assaults, etc. Ask the people of NYC about crime – NOT the FBI.
According to the fbi, crime in NYC and NYS is down significantly.
Yeah, inflation too. And the border is secure. And people don’t kill people, guns do. Fairy tales.
Wally, according to your factless comment,even you dont believe your claim enough to use facts and defined terms
Of course crime is down in NYC.
The soft on crime DAs wont prosecute criminals. No prosecution, no crime.
If it were not for the national outrage, those thugs who beat those NY police officers, Bragg would of let them go free.
Excellent observation!
Could Trump sue in Federal court to stay the judgment claiming that the fine is excessive under the 8th amendment and that his due process rights have been violated under the 14th? This appears to be a violation of rights under color of law that gives rise to a Federal cause of action.
42 USC 1983 provides for this but appears to have an exception for suits against judicial officers unless they have violated a declaratory judgment or a declaratory judgment is unavailable. Not sure what that would mean in this case.
Congratulations Dems., this is what it looks like when the mob is now your elected government.
Cry harder.
Sad, sad day in America…Can you do an article on how this affects Trump’s campaign?
Trump’s legal bills were being paid by the RNC until he declared his run for President and since then he’s spent a couple hundred million of campaign contributions on his lawyers.
That certainly has to have a big impact on his campaign.
This is information I have not seen elsewhere. Absolutely insane. Even the average person knows you can’t sell real estate when “you have to get rid of it.” I wonder if Trump can sue the DNC, State of NY, DOJ……?