Pay to Play: Trump Faces a Staggering Cost for Appeal
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
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 businesses 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.
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By making the fine so large, Engoron guaranteed that Trump will lose tens of millions even if his judgment is reduced or tossed out. And Trump has only 30 days to come up with close to a half billion dollars in a deposit or bond just to file an appeal. The left is applauding.
The rest of us know how outrageous it is.
Looks like he may have a little hope and help on the horizon.......
Maybe he will go that way, but there is a lot of pride in building up a successful business. They are sometimes hard to give up.
wow that really sounds legit /s
A lot more legit than some crackhead being a $ million energy consultant.
Some reading for you........
He quipped. To which the rejoinder landed: "Perhaps Donald should try his hand as a crackhead."
Attorney General Letitia James campaigned on bagging Trump without even bothering to name the offense.
Let him go that way (if possible). It may mean he will not need to do any or less 'milking' of his MAGAs 'cows' for donations to keep him sitting 'pat.'
Afterwards, it will be interesting and telling if he keeps his big "F-ing" mouth off the affairs of others and his hands off other people's stuff. It's called discipline and Trump should take some prided in that! Nobody demanded Trump run afoul of the Laws of New York State. Now he can pay off the state of New York (as it is) and "go in peace" or he can squander yet another 'round' of beneficial funds and donations. . .and land back in another set of matching civil lawsuits.
AG James' aspiration has nothing to do with the justice system decisions and actions playing out right now before us.
Sounds more legit than the "investigations" that have been run against him for the past few years.
Really. So she isn't the one that brought a bogus civil suit against Trump when there was no victim? She definitely didn't campaign on "getting Trump" to get elected? She wasn't glaring at Trump throughout the entire trial when he was present? Must have been a different Letitia James.
The banks he had supposedly defrauded all testified in favor or Trump. They are now pissed they cannot loan him money for any new projects in NY since he in unable to do business for the next 3 years.
The banks will not be receiving any money from the fine- just New York. Funny how that works.
Almost like they planned it.
Get a clue. You seem to have a great many of them (clues) as to how the law works "perfectly" when it is democrats or the DNC under review or scrutiny.
Oh, of course it does.
How can one miss she campaigned on getting Trump?
She is an opportunist with political aspirations.
Denial of the facts is silly.
She had everything to do with it. She fulfilled her promise. The question is who oversees these unjust decisions.
Well, you can't get an indictment or a positive decision from a judge for your perspective based on aspiration. Well, MAGAs might be able to, but not many others.
As for the lack of justice you are pining away on an on about; it is clear MAGAs express feelings for Trump. I truly don't see why; he will throw MAGAs' butts under the wheels of his bus faster than MAGAs can say "Letitia James."
So what he is arguing is that in America there's nothing wrong with a "little" fraud, so how about a "little" rape, or a "little" murder? But don't worry, because there are enough Trump-Suckers in America to raise what's needed with a GoFundMe.
If the law doesn't apply equally to everyone, it loses its credibility. Along with most other institutions, Americans have lost faith in the legal system.
in the words of [Herbert] Marcuse, ‘working against the established institutions while working in them’. By this means—by insinuation and infiltration rather than by confrontation—the counter-cultural dreams of radicals like Marcuse have triumphed.”
The Successful Long March Through the Institutions - The American Vision
Lately there has been some discussion about whether the adage No man is above the law will be applicable to Donald Trump. The article linked in your comment seems to me to be a somewhat desperate prediction for right-wingers that America is being led to a dystopian future due to the education system. I was somewhat amused by the use of the words "The Long March" since it happens to describe a relatively famous event carried out by Mao's army.
The Long March is also the title of a book. It refers to "the long march through the institutions," which student activist Rudi Dutschke advocated for way back in 1967 when the leftist rabble was allowed to turn America upside down. He felt that the left would never take over America from the ground up. His strategy was for the left to infiltrate all of America's institutions and dominate it from the top.
Obviously, they succeeded.
At this point, I suppose so, but with the help of the chaotic disarray of the right.
We have to be as determined as they are.
"Where there's a will, there's a way." I believe that is an old Chinese proverb.
Wow. I guess you would know.
I was in my late teens when it happened.
'America turned upside down' - just because suppressed people wanted a way out or in depending on one's point of view.
No, Vic, it's not Chinese, It comes from ancient Rome. The original expression in Latin is "Velle Est Posse", which translated is "To will is to be able" and that is interpreted to be "Where there is a will, there is a way." The reason I know that is because it was the motto of the high school I went to, a private English-style boy's day school, and appeared on the school's coat of arms.
Now you know why I so enjoy the movie Goodbye, Mr. Chips, which is about an English private boy's school and particularly about the life of a teacher named Mr. Chipping, who got to be known as Mr. Chips. There was a teacher at the school who was MY Mr. Chips, and about 10 years ago we corresponded, which was soon before his death.
America's wealthiest children were never among the suppressed.
I kind of envy that. That must have been quite an experience. An experience shared by the likes of William F Buckley, Gore Vidal and Tucker Carlson.
Now you know why I so enjoy the movie Goodbye, Mr. Chips, which is about an English private boy's school and particularly about the life of a teacher named Mr. Chipping, who got to be known as Mr. Chips. There was a teacher at the school who was MY Mr. Chips, and about 10 years ago we corresponded, which was soon before his death.
And that is a nice story.
Don't know what that has to do with my comment, Sorry! Please elaborate.
We are being repeatedly told that "everyone does it", meaning cheating.
Perhaps that was trump's excuse for committing tax fraud over the years, everyone (smart) is doing it.
a sorry state of affairs.
but lets make sure to crack down more on welfare cheats.
Meaning only one person gets prosecuted for it, if it actually is an "overvaluation." There are empty lots near Mara Largo that are appraised at far more than $ 18 million.
Perhaps that was trump's excuse for committing tax fraud over the years, everyone (smart) is doing it.
Only one person is saying he committed tax fraud.
but lets make sure to crack down more on welfare cheats.
Nate Silver is right. It's going to put him right into the White House.
BTFW: Any thoughts of what Turley had to say about the outrageous fine and the malicious attempt to bankrupt Trump? (You know, THE TOPIC)
The New York Times proved in 2019 that trump and his family had committed tax fraud for years
you can look it up
And yet no charges ever brought or jail time ever spent.
I get the Times every morning. I have to pick out the lies.
They also supposedly proved he was colluding with Russia.
Playing fast and loose with the word "proved" I see.
Must be the colloquial definition of tax fraud.
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Really interesting how you can, with a straight face, compare the "Times", a strong left leaning newspaper, with the IRS, a "professional" agency in work performance.
So far, the IRS HAS NOT found Trump guilty of tax fraud/evasion.
What do you know that they don't?
Has Trump ever been convicted of tax FRAUD or tax EVASION?
Most knowledgeable corporations and wealthy individuals arrange their business affairs to pay the minimum amount of taxes. It's called tax avoidance and is completely legal
All this litigation against Trump and the outrageous fines and conditions for an appeal amount to selective persecution and interfering in an election. This is becoming more and more obvious as election day approaches and the left is trying everything it can to discredit Trump and get him off the ballot.
Nothing the progressive radicals have done since Trump came down the escalator has worked, and these latest abuses of the law and the courts is not going to work either. The voters can see what's going on and the end result of all these shenanigans will be to get Trump elected.
Interesting how the IRS hasn't found the "tax fraud" after all these years.
Maybe your newspapers and their due diligence should be replacing the IRS - ya think?
Or the IRS should just subscribe to the New York Times and forget the 3700 they want to hire.
And why wouldn't we?
The shit hits the fan when New York begins seizing Trump property to obtain the settlement. Engoron structured the judgement in such a way to almost guarantee that will happen. Let's see if Letitia James is stupid enough to try to seize Mar-a-Lago.
Flaunting the New York government's power over the people of the state won't end well. It certainly looks like Engoron backed liberals into the fan and, eventually, the shit is gonna fly.
I would love to see New York trying to seize out of state property that Trump owns. The law suits those states would bring would cripple New York forever.
The other funny part is when New York goes to liquidate Trump's assets- and they sell them all for far more than the tax estimates Engoron used to base their worth on.
Engoron will have to explain to everyone one (except the TDS driven lunatics) how that happened?
yeah, that's how property sales work...
You keep thinking along the lines of circumvention; the law follows what is written, what is legal, not what is aspirational.