Trump Wins Lifeline in Fraud Case after Court Slashes Crippling Bond Demand
Former U.S. President Donald Trump was thrown a huge lifeline Monday when an appeals court slashed what could have been a crippling demand for a nearly half-billion-dollar bond payment and also gave him ten more days to pay.
The Republican presidential candidate got the unexpectedly positive news about his New York civil fraud case while he was sitting in court for another case — a hearing in his upcoming criminal trial overpaying hush money to a porn star.
The 77-year-old had been facing a Monday deadline to pay the huge original bond pending an appeal against a judge’s decision that he is liable for fraudulently conspiring to inflate his net worth.
Trump had made clear he was unable to find the $454 million and he risked seeing New York state confiscate parts of his property empire in response. Now with Monday’s decision, he will have 10 more days to pay just $175 million.
Writing on his Truth Social app, Trump said he would “abide by the decision of the Appellate Division and post either a bond, equivalent securities, or cash.”
“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.
