 "Relief for Donald Trump in $454 million civil fraud case")
A massive lifeline was provided to Donald Trump. On Monday, an appeals court granted him an additional 10 days to pay and reduced what could have been an extremely high demand for a bond payment of about half a billion dollars.
While the Republican presidential candidate was in court for another case, a hearing in his forthcoming criminal prosecution over paying hush money to a porn star, he received the unexpectedly good news regarding his New York civil fraud case.
In order to file an appeal against a judge’s ruling that he is accountable for deceitfully colluding to inflate his net worth, Trump had been facing a deadline of Monday to pay the substantial initial bond.
Trump ran the possibility of having portions of his real estate empire seized by New York state once it became apparent that he was unable to locate the $454 million. After Monday’s ruling, he will now have ten more days to pay the meager $175 million.
Trump announced on his Truth Social app that he would “abide by the decision of the Appellate Division and post either a bond, equivalent securities, or cash.”
In a Manhattan courthouse, the 77-year-old Republican started his day of dual legal issues with a hearing to reschedule his trial about payments he made the night before the 2016 presidential election to ensure porn star Stormy Daniels did not disclose a sexual encounter.
Impact Shorts
More Shorts“This is a witch hunt,” Trump told reporters before walking into court.
The hush money trial had been scheduled to begin on Monday but was delayed at the last minute because tens of thousands of pages of potential evidence were belatedly produced by prosecutors.
The Manhattan district attorney has told Judge Juan Merchan he would accept a delay of up to 30 days for the start of the trial while lawyers for Trump have asked for at least three months.
On Truth Social, Trump denounced both cases as a politically motivated attack ahead of the November 5 presidential election when he will likely again face incumbent Democrat Joe Biden.
“These are Rigged cases, all coordinated by the White House and DOJ for purposes of Election Interference,” Trump wrote. “No crime. Our Country is CORRUPT!”
Trump regularly rails against a judicial system he claims is “fixed” against him.
He has said that New York Attorney General Letitia James – who is Black – is “racist,” and accused Judge Arthur Engeron in the civil fraud case of being “crooked.”
Trump got some positive financial news last week when it was announced that Truth Social would finally go public through a merger, a transaction that could net him billions of dollars.
He cannot tap into the funds for six months, but it potentially could help him secure a bond.
However, in case of non-payment, James could still order a freeze on his bank accounts, or move to seize some of his New York properties.
Trump’s lawyers have pursued every avenue to delay his many trials – if possible until after the presidential vote.
In the trial involving Stormy Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, Trump is accused of illegally using campaign funds to secure her silence about an alleged sexual encounter back in 2006.
If she’d spoken out, the fallout could have been ruinous for Trump’s presidential hopes, coming right on the heels of another scandal over the married businessman’s boasting, caught on tape, that as a celebrity he was freely able to “grab” women by their genitals.
Trump is accused of making the hush money payments in an illegal manner involving falsification of business records.
The former president potentially could face a prison sentence of up to four years if convicted.
(With agency inputs)
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