If Trump’s appeal fails, the bond ensures payment to Ms. Carroll of the damages awarded by a jury in January.
A federal judge on Tuesday approved the $91.6 million bond posted by former President Donald Trump to delay payment of a defamation judgment awarded to writer E. Jean Carroll, according to court documents.
President Trump posted the supersedeas bond on March 8, seeking to pause enforcement of the judgment against him while awaiting the appeal’s resolution. Such a bond is required when appealing.
U.S. District Court Judge Lewis Kaplan granted the request to stay the execution of the judgment pending appeal in his order on Tuesday, saying the bond was “deemed sufficient.”
“Enforcement of the Judgment, to the extent that the Judgment awards damages, is STAYED pending the final disposition of the appeal by the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit,” the judge wrote in his order.
If the appeal fails, the bond ensures payment to Ms. Carroll of the damages awarded by a jury in January. The bond was filed a day after Judge Kaplan denied Alina Habba, one of the former president’s attorneys, permission to delay posting the bond.
The appeals bond was secured from the Virginia-based Federal Insurance Company, totaling $91,630,000 to cover the $83 million judgment in the case plus interest, per a court filing.
The conditions of the bond did not specify what assets President Trump used to secure the bond.
On March 8, President Trump filed a notice of appeal of the judgment with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. This required him to either pay the judgment or post a bond for the full amount of the judgment in order to proceed.
According to a court filing, if the appeal is successful, then the bond “shall be null, void, released, and discharged.”
Ms. Habba expressed confidence that the appeals court would overturn the judgment.
“Due to the numerous prejudicial errors made at the lower level, we are highly confident that the Second Circuit will overturn this egregious judgment,” Ms. Habba said in a statement.
