by Arjun Singh
Former President Donald Trump on Friday posted a civil bond of $91.6 million as he appeals a defamation award against him obtained by Elizabeth Jean Carroll.
Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee in the 2024 election, was sued by Carroll, a columnist for Elle magazine, on allegations that he defamed her in verbal attacks during a separate legal proceeding, where she sued him for civil damages over an alleged sexual assault in the 1990s. Carroll obtained a judgment of $83.3 million against Trump in January, which Trump has appealed, and posted a “supersedeas” bond of that amount, plus anticipated interest and other costs, on Friday, in a filing submitted to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
“I submit this declaration in support [of] the instant Motion for an Order recognizing the supersedeas bond obtained by President Trump in the amount of $91,630,000.00, and to approve it as conforming to the requirements outlined in [Federal Rule of Civil Procedure] 62 to stay enforcement of the Judgment herein,” wrote Trump’s attorney Alina Habba in the declaration submitted to the court.
“Approval of the bond by this Court is requisite to formalize the stay of enforcement, as the bond secures President Trump’s monetary obligations under the Judgment and serves as a guarantee for the satisfaction of the same, should the appeal not prove meritorious,” the filing reads.
A separate document, attached to the filing as “Exhibit A,” lays out Trump’s monetary obligations under the bond, which will last until Trump either succeeds in his appeal or exhausts all judicial remedies.
Trump has previously called the verdict “[a]bsolutely ridiculous” and accused it of being a “witch hunt” directed by President Joe Biden, the leading candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination. He has also attacked the trial judge overseeing the case, Senior U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan, an appointee of President Bill Clinton, for not admitting evidence of an interview that Carroll previously gave where she allegedly said “rape is sexy.”
Carroll’s attorneys did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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Arjun Singh is a reporter at Daily Caller News Foundation.
