WASHINGTON – Former President Donald Trump faces challenges in securing a nearly half-billion-dollar appeal bond imposed in his New York civil fraud trial.
Trump’s legal team deems obtaining the bond a “practical impossibility.”
They claim to have approached 30 underwriters for backing but request the court to postpone posting the bond until the appeal process concludes.
In February, Trump was instructed to pay $464 million after being found liable for fraud. The ruling cited his organization’s inflation of net worth by over $2.2 billion, achieved by overvaluing assets for decades to gain favorable loan and insurance terms.
Trump faces scrutiny for remarks made during a recent campaign event, where he discussed imposing a 100% tariff on imported cars. His campaign asserts that Trump was referring to the auto industry, not inciting political violence.
“We’re going to put a 100 percent tariff on every single car that comes across the line and you’re not going to be able to sell those cars and if I’m not elected it’s going to be a bloodbath,” he said. “That’s the least of it, it’s going to be a bloodbath for the country.”
U.S. Rep. Mike Johnson warned others of potential industry upheaval due to Biden administration policies.
“If these misguided policies the Biden administration are allowed to continue, not only will we see a bloodbath in the auto industry which we are seeing, we will see a bloodbath in our energy industry as well,” said Johnson.
President Biden rebuffed Trump’s defense, stating that Trump has consistently condoned and encouraged political violence.
“The Trump campaign can try to spin all they want, but the context is clear: Their candidate has spent every moment since his first campaign encouraging and excusing political violence,” they said.