Former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to the media as he arrives at a Manhattan courthouse trial in a civil fraud case brought by state Attorney General Letitia James against him, his adult sons, the Trump Organization and others in New York City, U.S., October 4, 2023.
Mike Segar | Reuters
Donald Trump should have pledged real estate he owns as collateral against a $464 million business fraud judgment if he were “truly unable” to secure an appeal bond for that amount, the New York attorney general’s office said in a court filing Wednesday.
Trump also failed to provide evidence supporting his claim this week that it was “impossible” to obtain an appeal bond by using the properties as collateral, a lawyer for AG Letitia James wrote.
“Defendants supply no documentary evidence that demonstrates precisely what real property they offered” to potential insurers,” wrote Dennis Fan, senior solicitor general in the AG’s office, in the filing to Manhattan appeals court judges.
Nor did they report “on what terms that property was offered, or precisely why” bond insurers “were unwilling to accept the assets.”
The office made these arguments as it asked the judges to reject Trump’s request to stop his massive fraud judgment from coming due.
Unless a court intervenes, James could start collecting on the judgment — by seizing Trump’s assets— as soon as next week.
One reason why bond insurers might have turned down offers of Trump’s properties as collateral, wrote Fan, was out of concern that the real estate would turn out to be less valuable than Trump claimed it was.
But even that line of thinking takes for granted that Trump had actually made reasonable offers to potential bond insurers.
Neither Trump’s attorneys nor his bond broker have so far produced hard evidence of any offers that were made, and any rejections that followed.
Instead, the account of Trump’s struggle to obtain a bond came entirely from two people who, Fan alleged, have serious conflicts of interest and credibility problems.
Gary Giulietti, the bond broker who claimed 30 different insurers had turned him down, is also a personal friend of Trump’s who has a long-running business relationship with the Trump Organization.
Not only that, said Fan, but Giulietti also served as an expert witness for Trump in the very same fraud case Trump is now trying to appeal.
The other person who backed up Giulietti’s claims to the appeals judges was Alan Garten, a lawyer for the Trump Organization.
Garten told the court that Trump faced “insurmountable” difficulties getting an appeal bond.
Fan argued that Garten is conflicted because he works for Trump, and that Garten was “personally involved in the fraudulent and illegal conduct” at the heart of Trump’s fraud case.
Garten denied this on Wednesday. “The court found no such thing, the AG’s statement is reckless and completely untrue.” he said in a statement to NBC News.
Fan also noted that Garten’s claims about how hard it was to get a bond relied mostly on things Giulietti had said.
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