Trump asset seizure paused as appeals court cuts bond to $US175 million

Washington: A New York appeals court has more than halved the $US454 million ($694 million) bond Donald Trump faced for civil fraud, halting the seizure of his assets and handing the former US president another election-year lifeline.

Instead, Trump will have 10 days to come up with a reduced bond of $US175 million, staving off a potential financial disaster that went to the heart of his reputation as a successful businessman.

The five judges of the appeals court did not explain their reasons for reducing the bond in the two-page order they released on Monday (US time). But the decision is nonetheless a victory for Trump, weeks after a Manhattan judge found he fraudulently inflated his net worth while building the real estate empire that helped catapult him into the White House.

If the court had not intervened, Trump risked losing control over his bank accounts and some of his marquee properties, which Attorney General Letitia James could have begun the process of seizing as early as this week.

Among those properties is Trump Tower, the 68-storey skyscraper on Fifth Avenue where he lived for decades; the 18-hole Trump National Golf Club Westchester just outside of New York City; and the financial district building known as 40 Wall Street in Manhattan.

“Trump Tower remains mine!” Trump wrote in a campaign memo seeking donations immediately after the decision.

Trump Tower in Manhattan.Credit: The New York Times

At a press conference moments later, he told reporters: “I greatly respect the decision of the appellate division and we will abide by that. We’ll put up securities, cash or bond, whatever it is. We’ll put it up very quickly.”

The victory came while Trump was in court for another legal drama over hush money allegedly paid to porn star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election to cover up an affair they’d had shortly after his wife Melania had given birth to their son.

Had news of that affair erupted at the time, it could have derailed Trump’s campaign against Hillary Clinton, particularly after he was caught on tape bragging about grabbing women by their genitals.

Trump had sought to delay the hush money trial as he campaigns for a second term in office against US President Joe Biden, after new evidence was discovered by prosecutors.

However, Judge Juan Merchan dismissed this attempt and set a start date of April 15 – making it the first criminal trial he could face this year.

Trump’s lawyer Todd Blanche said: “We very much believe that starting this trial in April, or even starting this trial at any point before the election is completely unfair to president Trump and is completely unfair to the American people who are evaluating who they want to be the next president.”

Trump is also seeking to delay three other looming trials: one in Washington DC for trying to subvert the 2020 election, one in Florida for mishandling of classified documents, and one in Georgia for interfering in the election in that state.

The civil fraud trial in New York, however, is the one that Trump has been most invested in because it undercuts the reputation he has spent years crafting, personally, and politically, as a billionaire businessman.

Trump’s criminal case relates to alleged hush-money paid to Stormy Daniels and others, plus charges of falsifying business documents.Credit: AP

It came to a head last month after Judge Arthur Engoron ordered Trump to pay more than $US363 million – plus interest amounting to more than $US454 million. The judge also barred him from running a business in New York for three years, while his sons Eric and Donald Jr were barred for two years.

Trump, however, had insisted that he never committed fraud and that there was no crime because the banks made money on his investments.

He also had been unable to secure the full bond, having been refused by 30 companies who would not accept commercial real estate as collateral.

Despite his many legal woes, Trump has been able to leverage them to fundraise for his election campaign, painting himself as the victim of a political witch hunt orchestrated by Democrats.

Asked if a conviction could cost him the November 5 election, Trump replied: “It could also make me more popular because people know it’s a scam.”

However, James Singer, a spokesman for the Biden-Harris campaign, said Americans deserved better.

“Donald Trump weak and desperate – both as a man and a candidate for president,” he said.

“His campaign can’t raise money, he is uninterested in campaigning outside his country club, and every time he opens his mouth, he pushes moderate and suburban voters away with his dangerous agenda.”

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