Donald Trump secured a $91.6 million bond to delay paying the verdict in the E. Jean Carroll defamation case while he appeals, putting to rest questions about whether he could come up with the funds amid a cash crunch.
The bond, arranged with Federal Insurance Co., covers 110% of the $83.3 million award levied against him in January by a New York jury, his lawyer Alina Habba said in a court filing Friday in Manhattan. Trump had a March 11 deadline to pay the verdict or post a bond.
Trump, campaigning to return to the White House amid a torrent of legal troubles, is facing a cash squeeze after losing two high-stakes trials.
In addition to the Carroll verdict, a judge last month ordered Trump to pay $454 million to New York state for inflating his net worth by billions of dollars a year to get better loan terms. He'll need to post a bond in that case by March 25.
The former president also filed a notice of appeal in the Carroll case on Friday and asked the court to put the verdict on hold during the challenge, a request that's bolstered by his posting of the bond. Courts generally require such bonds to ensure the money is available to pay the trial winner if the appeal fails.
"A bond has been filed in the full amount of the baseless judgment in the Democrat-funded Carroll Witch Hunt, which is being appealed and litigated," Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said in a statement.
Carroll's attorney Roberta Kaplan declined to comment.
'Least Trustworthy of Borrowers'
Carroll went public in 2019 with a claim that Trump had raped her in the 1990s in a department store dressing room in Manhattan. She sued him for defamation after he accused her from the White House of lying to sell a book and to advance a political agenda.
According to her complaint, she suffered emotional distress and loss of reputation amid waves of social media attacks by Trump supporters.
Last month Carroll objected to Trump's attempt to delay posting the bond, which hinged on his guarantee that he is rich enough to pay her if he loses the appeal. Her lawyer called his request "the court filing equivalent of a paper napkin, signed by the least trustworthy of borrowers."
