Republican presidential candidate and former US President Donald Trump reacts on stage during a campaign rally in Richmond, Virginia, US on March 2, 2024.NEW YORK — Donald Trump on Friday posted a US$91.6 million bond to cover the defamation verdict in favour of writer E. Jean Carroll, and began his appeal of the case that arose from his branding her a liar after she accused him of raping her decades ago.
The appeal stemmed from a Manhattan jury's conclusion that Trump had defamed Carroll, a former Elle magazine columnist, in June 2019 by denying that he raped her in the mid-1990s in a Bergdorf Goodman department store dressing room in Manhattan. Neil Pedersen, who owns Pedersen & Sons Surety Bond Agency in New York and is not involved in the case, said Trump almost certainly put up liquid assets as collateral.
His lawyers have offered to post a US$100 million bond and called it impossible to post a bond for the full amount, which James is seeking. According to the lawyers, Trump's statement that "I just wanted to defend myself, my family, and, frankly, the presidency" was relevant to whether he had acted maliciously, and that excluding it "all but assured" a big punitive damages award.