A New York appeals court on Monday reduced the $454 million that former President Donald Trump was required to put up while he appeals his civil fraud case. Now Trump must put up, by April 4, a mere $175 million. The trouble is, he may not get a bond for that amount, either. Should that happen, this act of judicial mercy will end up feeling to Trump like a curse.

The stay deprives Trump of the only argument on which he was gaining any traction at all—that the amount the court required him to put up was excessively high. Four hundred and fifty-four million was indeed an unusually large judgment against a private corporation or individual. (The distinction between Trump and the Trump Organization is paper-thin.) Monday’s appeals court decision doesn’t reduce that judgment, as New York State Attorney General Letitia James pointed out in a written statement. But it does dramatically reduce the amount Trump needs to turn over to the state while he pursues his appeal. It also gives us some hint that the appeals court may reduce Judge Arthur Engoron’s $454 million judgment to, well, $175 million.

  • gravitas_deficiency@sh.itjust.works
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    7 months ago

    I’m just completely flummoxed as to how judges keep playing right into Trump’s hand on shit like this and then expect the rest of the general public to treat them - and by extension, the entire court system - seriously.

    Like, he’s got an obvious, provable, and systematic tendency to straight up not pay for shit, and it’s documented as a matter of public and legal record. It’s not a mystery. It’s not ambiguous. It’s not justifiable beyond “he doesn’t like giving money to people that are not himself”. It’s an unavoidably clear pattern and practice.

    something something leopards eating faces

    I’m glad he’s probably gonna get fucked on the appeal bond, but jesus tapdancing christ the amount of categorically unjustifiable lifelines he has repeatedly gotten handed to him by the courts is simply indefensible.