OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
As former President Donald Trump appeals a fraud judgment, a former federal prosecutor claims that an insurance company will not be able to post a $175 million bond while his case is appealed.
In response to another attorney, Dave Kingman, who stated that Knight Specialty Insurance would not be able to post the bond for Trump, Eric Lisann was responding, MSN noted.
According to Kingman, this means that Letitia James, the attorney general of New York, will be able to start enforcement actions against Donald Trump’s properties.
A New York court dismissed Knight Specialty’s filings, stating that it required additional documentation regarding its funding source. On April 4, the company submitted new documentation.
After a judge fined the former president $454 million in February for falsely inflating the value of his assets, Trump needs to post the $175 million bond to stop James from starting enforcement proceedings.
Former federal prosecutor Lisann stated on X, formerly Twitter, that Knight Speciality may not be able to post the bond for Trump and will be responsible for the entire amount since it had provided the court with a guarantee.
“Looks like there is a real possibility that this Don Hankey-owned Knight Specialty Insurance does not itself have liquidity, and did not get from Trump collateral, sufficient to provide legally cognizable assurance that it can pay $175 million on demand in the event of a judgment-affirming appeal,” he said. “Thus, NY AG James looks to be soon greenlit to execute on her $450 million judgment against Trump as if Trump posted no bond.”
“But the Trumpian part is that even though, or perhaps because, it may be part of a Trump scam, Knight now too may be on the hook for $175 million as it won’t automatically get out from underneath its own proffered surety,” he added.
The billionaire Hankey has previously stated that his business will be able to send Trump the funds.
In response to attorney Dave Kingman’s statement on X stating that Knight won’t be able to post the $175 million.
Recognize that Knight Specialty is experiencing issues. It is not possible to approve this bond. Until a replacement bond is filed, the surety is bound by the bond under the Civil Practice Laws and Rules (CPLR). It’s unlikely that Trump will receive a new bond. He wrote, “Trump won’t have a stay [on enforcement] AND Knight Spec will be liable.”
Whether Delaware-based Knight Specialty can post the bond in New York is the question.
The AM Best rating agency raised Knight’s financial strength rating from B++ (Good) to A-(Excellent) in April 2020.
The rating at the time was “These ratings reflect Knight’s balance sheet strength, which AM Best assesses as very strong,” according to AM Best.
To keep his assets safe while he attempts to appeal the civil fraud ruling against him, Trump posted a $175 million bond on April 1.
Trump, his adult sons Donald Jr. and Eric, as well as The Trump Organization, were previously found accountable by New York Judge Arthur Engoron for a scheme in which the value of Trump’s assets and net worth were fraudulently inflated to secure more advantageous business deals. Trump, the presumed GOP presidential candidate for 2024, has insisted on his innocence numerous times.
After deducting interest, Trump’s penalty came to approximately $454 million. To prevent the state from taking his numerous real estate holdings, he would have needed to post a bond slightly above that sum. But last week, an appeals court decided that he could instead pay a $175 million smaller bond.
Shortly after it was posted, the bond was rejected by the court filing system because certain documents were missing, such as a “current financial statement.”
Later, James, whose office oversaw the Department of Financial Services’ fraud case against Trump, questioned the “sufficiency” of the bond and pointed out that Knight Specialty Insurance Company (KSIC), the surety supporting it, is not admitted in New York and cannot receive a certificate of qualification from the agency. As a result, KSIC has refiled its documentation in an attempt to restart the process.
Last week, a Fox News contributor claimed that Trump has the right to sue AG Letitia James for allegedly violating the former president’s civil rights.
Political analyst and frequent guest on the conservative news channel Deroy Murdock made the statement following the decision of a New York appeals court to postpone the payment of Trump’s $454 million civil fraud penalty resulting from James’ lawsuit. Instead, the former president was instructed to pay a $175 million bond within ten days while he filed an appeal with the court.
Judge Arthur Engoron declared in February that Trump had been filing false financial reports for years, inflating the value of his properties and other assets to get favorable terms from lenders. James’ office was unable to begin the process of seizing Trump’s properties due to the Monday financial guarantee payment delay.
Murdock restated his recommendations from an American Spectator article that Trump should sue James for remarks she made in 2018 when she was a candidate for New York state attorney general, Newsweek noted.
He said that James declared that she was going to oppose the Trump administration because it was “too male, too pale, and too stale.”
“Now, you could talk about stale ideas, that’s fine, but too male and too pale, that constitutes, basically, sex and race discrimination. So I think what President Trump ought to do is sue her based on the 1964 Civil Rights Act,” Murdock told Fox News on Tuesday.
“Her office gets federal money for various subsidies for law enforcement activity. So federal money is flowing into her office and if she is engaged in that kind of sexual and racial discrimination and that kind of language, I think she’s wide open to exposure on the 1964 Civil Rights Act,” Murdock said.
“Donald J. Trump should sue Letitia James on the basis of Civil Rights,” Murdock added.
Trump has also accused James of conducting a “racist” and politically motivated investigation into him.
Writing in The American Spectator, Murdock suggested the former president should sue James as “what the hell does Trump have to lose?”
“He immediately should file a federal complaint and demand justice under America’s keystone civil-rights law. To see a white male multi-billionaire sue a [Black] female attorney general to secure his civil rights would be the ultimate man-bites-dog story,” Murdock wrote.
