NEW YORK: On Monday, an appeals court reduced what might have been a debilitating demand for a nearly half-billion-dollar bond payment and granted Donald Trump an additional 10 days to pay. This decision effectively provided Trump a big lifeline.
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. He now has ten more days to pay the meager $175 million following Monday’s verdict.
Trump declared that he will “abide by the decision of the Appellate Division and post either a bond, equivalent securities, or cash” in a post on the Truth Social app.
At a hearing to reschedule his trial on payments he made on the eve of the 2016 presidential election to ensure porn star Stormy Daniels did not publicize a sexual encounter, the 77-year-old Republican started his day of dual legal woes in a Manhattan courthouse.
Before entering the courtroom, Trump told reporters, “This is a witch hunt.”
Monday was supposed to be the start of the hush money trial, but it was abruptly postponed when prosecutors finally presented tens of thousands of pages of potential evidence.
While Trump’s attorneys have requested a minimum of three months, the Manhattan district attorney has informed Judge Juan Merchan that he would grant a delay of up to thirty days for the commencement of the trial.
