(Photo
by
Win
McNamee/Getty
Images)
Even
as
Trump’s
first
criminal
trial
gets
underway
in
New
York,
we’re
still
dealing
with
fallout
from
the
civil
fraud
case
which
wrapped
up
in
February.
The
parties
are
still
arguing
about
the
bond,
which
the
First
Judicial
Department
reduced
to
$175
million
from
somewhere
north
of
$500
million
including
interest.
Specifically,
Trump
says
that
Knight
Specialty
Insurance
Company
(KSIC),
a
company
owned
by
Don
Hankey,
a
rando
billionaire
from
California,
is
qualified
to
underwrite
it.
And
Attorney
General
Letitia
James
says
he
isn’t.
On
April
1,
Trump
announced
on
social
media
that
he’d
found
someone
to
guarantee
the
bond
which
would
stave
off
the
AG’s
effort
to
collect
on
the
judgment
pending
appeal.
“I’ve
just
posted
a
175
Million
Dollar
Bond
with
the
sadly
failing
and
very
troubled
State
of
New
York,
based
on
a
Corrupt
Judge
and
Attorney
General
who
used
a
Statute
that
was
never
used
for
this
before,
where
no
Jury
was
allowed,
my
financial
statements
were
conservative
and
had
a
100%
perfect
caution/non-reliance
clause,
there
were
no
victims
(except
me!),
there
was
no
crime
or
damage,
there
was
only
success
and
HAPPY
BANKS,”
he
howled.
But
the
state
rejected
the
paperwork
for
multiple
defects,
including
a
missing
financial
statement
—
kinda
on
the
nose
in
a
case
regarding
fraudulent
financial
statements,
but
the
writers
on
the
Trump
show
long
ago
wandered
off,
so
WYGD.
Knight’s
amended
filing
raised
a
lot
of
questions
already
answered
by
its
“Absolutely,
totally
qualified
to
underwrite
this
bond”
T-shirt,
and
so
the
AG’s
office
filed
an
exception
on
April
4
in
which
it
noted
that
providing
a
surety
bond
requires
a
certificate
of
qualification
from
New
York
State
Department
of
Financial
Services
under
Insurance
Law
§
1111,
and
Knight
doesn’t
have
one.
It’s
also
unclear
whether
Knight
is
adequately
capitalized
to
cover
the
note
if
Trump
loses
his
appeal.
Justice
Arthur
Engoron
set
a
hearing
for
April
22,
and
yesterday
Trump
and
Knight
responded
in
an
indignant
brief
demanding
sanctions
on
the
AG
for
daring
to
question
the
bond
at
all.
To
wit,
they
assured
the
court
that
the
surety
is
adequately
capitalized
by
Trump
himself,
who
granted
Knight
a
lien
on
an
account
at
Schwab
containing
$175
million,
“KSIC,
the
Trust,
and
Schwab
have
entered
into
a
Pledged
Asset
Account
Control
Agreement
(the
“Control
Agreement”)
whereby
Schwab,
as
custodian
of
the
Account,
has
acknowledged
KSIC’s
right
to
control
the
Account
within
two
(2)
business
days
of
receiving
notice
from
KSIC
of
KSIC’s
intent
to
activate
said
control,”
the
write,
adding
in
a
footnote
that
“Defendants’
deposit
and
dedication
of
$175
million
under
the
Control
Agreement
undoubtedly
qualifies
as
an
undertaking
in
its
own
right.”
This
sounds
a
lot
like
Trump
suggesting
that
he,
himself,
is
the
guarantor
of
his
own
surety
bond.
Also
the
motion
appears
to
fudge
the
distinction
between
KSIC,
which
is
on
the
hook
to
the
state
of
New
York,
and
the
affiliated
business
Knight
Insurance
Company,
which
is
not.
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”).
Trump
goes
on
to
insist
that
Knight
is
not
subject
to
the
same
certificate
requirement
as
a
domestic
entity,
and
he
argues
that
the
sufficiency
of
the
bond
is
so
facially
apparent
that
the
state
should
be
sanctioned
for
daring
to
question
it.
“While
a
certificate
of
qualification
obviates
the
need
for
justification,
CPLR
§
2507
permits
the
Court
to
justify
a
surety
in
the
absence
of
a
certificate,”
his
lawyers
huff,
adding
that
“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.”
“The
NYAG’s
exception
is
taken
unnecessarily
and
should
be
set
aside
with
costs.
Her
sparse
notice
identifies
no
insufficiency
other
than
the
failure
to
enclose
a
certificate
of
qualification,”
they
went
on,
arguing
that
“KSIC
was
and
is
authorized
to
issue
the
Bond
here,
and
the
Bond
is
more
than
sufficiently
collateralized
in
the
event
the
Court’s
judgment
is
affirmed.”
This
argument
provoked
skepticism
from
Diana
Florence,
who
spent
more
than
two
decades
in
the
Manhattan
District
Attorney’s
Office.
“The
whole
thing
is
very
unique,”
Florence
told
ATL.
“I
cannot
imagine
any
other
defendant
that
could
submit
a
bond
of
this
type
and
not
immediately
face
the
nuclear
option.
The
requirements
for
licensing
are
not
optional
and
exist
for
exactly
these
reasons.”
Thus
far,
Justice
Engoron
has not
seen
fit
to
take
the
case
off
his
calendar
for
April
22
and
order
the
state
to
pay
Trump’s
legal
fees.
But
hope
springs
eternal
in
MAGAworld.
Liz
Dye lives
in
Baltimore
where
she
produces
the
Law
and
Chaos substack and podcast.