Appellate Court Grants Trump Reprieve, Reduces Bond in New York Legal Battle

A state appellate court intervened on Monday to provide former President Donald Trump with a reprieve, just as the deadline loomed for him to post a $500 million bond required to forestall the New York Attorney General from seizing his assets.

In a succinctly worded two-page order, the court, comprising five judges, refrained from elaborating on their decision to grant Trump a last-minute extension. Instead, they stipulated that Attorney General Letitia James could not enforce the $464 million judgment against Trump at this juncture, provided Trump could furnish a considerably reduced bond of $175 million within the next 10 days.

Trump had recently disclosed his inability to secure the backing of any surety company willing to assume the financial liability of the original half-billion-dollar bond required to halt property seizures while the legal case is under appeal. The latest ruling substantially diminishes the amount needed to stave off the Attorney General’s actions, albeit temporarily.

Earlier in the month, James initiated procedures to potentially acquire Trump’s 212-acre wooded estate situated north of the city. This move was signaled through court filings in Westchester County, interpreted by clerks as a lien on his assets.

However, the Attorney General will now be compelled to delay any enforcement actions until April 4, at which point she could potentially employ the assistance of the local sheriff’s office to seize some of the real estate mogul’s diverse portfolio of properties, including buildings, golf courses, and mansions.

The order, signed by Justices Dianne T. Renwick, Anil C. Singh, Lizbeth González, Bahaati E. Pitt-Burke, and Kelly O’Neill Levy of the First Judicial Department Appellate, stipulated that Trump’s extended reprieve is contingent upon his continued pursuit of legal recourse against the trial judge’s ruling in February, which definitively established his involvement in bank fraud.

However, the appellate court opted not to intervene in Justice Arthur F. Engoron’s decision to grant enhanced authority to a former federal judge tasked with overseeing the Trump Organization. Last week, former federal Judge Barbara S. Jones assumed significant control over Trump’s eponymous firm, a development that has irked the former president.