Questions are being raised about the details in Donald Trump's court filings stating that the $175 million bond he posted in his New York civil fraud case is financially sound, with one analyst describing the arrangement as "fishy."
In documents submitted late Monday night, lawyers for the former president said the cash sum Trump posted to stop New York Attorney General Letitia James from seizing his assets was secured by Knight Specialty Insurance Company (KSIC) and is collateralized by Trump's Charles Schwab account, which contains just over $175 million in cash.
Trump was fined $454 million after Judge Arthur Engoron ruled the former president had filed fraudulent financial statements that inflated the value of his properties and assets for years. An appeals court lowered the bond Trump needed to post to prevent his assets from being seized while he appealed the decision to $175 million, which Trump posted on April 1.
Details of how Trump and KSIC were able to secure the money and prove they could guarantee the cash have been revealed in the motion submitted on Monday night, shortly before the deadline. Former FBI General Counsel Andrew Weissmann suggested there was something "fishy" about the arrangement between Trump and KSIC to secure the bond.
"The $175 million bond is collateralized by $175,304,075.95 in cash held in a Charles Schwab account pledged to KSIC, and KSIC has the right to exercise control over that account," the court filings said.
"KSIC also independently maintains more than $539 million in assets and $138 million in equity and has access to more than $2 billion in assets and $1 billion in equity, of which nearly $1 billion is cash and marketable securities, pursuant to a reinsurance agreement with its parent company, Knight Insurance Company (KIC)."
The former president's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., signed off on the deal on behalf of the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust in March, which granted KSIC a security interest in the Schwab brokerage account. In return, the DJT Trust must maintain "no less than $175 million in cash or cash equivalents at all times," according to an affirmation filed in support of the bond by Gregory Serio, a former superintendent of insurance for New York state.
Reacting to the bond court filings, Weissmann posted on X, formerly Twitter: "Something's fishy here. If Trump has $175M free and clear, why not just directly post it and not pay a fee for a surety bond? And the agreement does not give Knight a lien on the account as collateral and seems to afford Trump a two-day window to dissipate the account."
In a series of posts, Allison Gill, who posts on social media using the account for the Mueller, She Wrote podcast, said that the documents appear "shady," while also asking why Trump doesn't just pay the bond outright if he appears to have the cash.
"The reason it seems shady to me is that Knight Specialty Insurance Company only has $138M in cash, and is relying on a Trump Schwab account that's supposed to be worth just about exactly $175M," Gill wrote.
"I'm no expert, but I think to back a bond, the guarantor has to have at least enough cash to cover it. But here, they say Trump is covering it and they have access to Trump's Schwab account."
Trump's legal team has been contacted for comment via email.
James' office had already raised questions about whether KSIC was authorized to underwrite a surety bond in New York, as it is based in California, and not licensed to issue surety bonds in New York state. Engoron has scheduled a hearing on whether KSIC can secure a bond in New York in the coming days.
Amit Shah, the company's president, previously told CBS News that New York's "surplus lines insurance laws do not regulate the solvency of non-New York excess lines insurers."
In their court filings, Trump's lawyers argued that a hearing on KSIC's validity isn't warranted.
"The documentary evidence in support of justification is overwhelming and obviates any need for a hearing to set aside the exception or to justify KSIC as surety," they wrote.
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Ewan Palmer is a Newsweek News Reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on US politics, domestic policy ... Read more
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