A judge ordered Donald Trump’s corporation Thursday to notify a court-appointed financial watchdog of any attempts to acquire an appeal bond.
Judge Arthur Engoron’s order came three days after Trump’s lawyers stated in an appeals court filing that the former president had found it “impossible” to obtain such a bail for a civil business fraud case he lost.
Trump obtained the bond to prevent New York Attorney General Letitia James from collecting on a $454 million civil fraud judgment against him, which he is appealing in Manhattan Supreme Court.
According to his lawyers, more than 30 surety companies declined to write a bond for Trump because they refused to accept real estate as collateral.
Trump has petitioned the appeals court to prevent the ruling from taking effect without a bond. The court has yet to rule on his motion.
Engoron issued an order Thursday directing the Trump Organization to notify its financial overseer, Barbara Jones, “in advance, of any efforts to secure surety bonds.”
The company must also inform Jones of any claims made by the Trump Organization in order to obtain the bonds, any personal guarantees provided by Trump or other defendants, and any conditions imposed on the company.
That degree of disclosure would far outweigh what Trump has revealed regarding a $91.6 million appeal bond he recently secured from a Chubb insurance company to secure a civil defamation verdict in favor of writer E. Jean Carroll.
Engoron nominated Jones, a retired federal judge, to serve as the Trump Organization’s financial overseer. Her oversight has irritated the corporation, as evidenced by complaints filed with Engoron.
Engoron ruled last month that Jones would serve as the monitor for three years after determining that Trump, his two adult sons, his firm, and two executives were civilly accountable for years of illegally inflating Trump’s asset values for profit.