Former President Donald Trump filed a notice of appeal against the verdict in his New York fraud trial on Monday, prompting legal experts to debate what, if any, is his legal strategy.
When asked about the filing, former federal prosecutor Glenn Kirschner summed it up: "It says absolutely nothing."
The problem, they said, was that Trump can't actually really appeal until he pays up. And he has shown no way to be able to do that.
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"'The litigant' — in this case that's Trump — 'will receive an automatic stay' — in other words, will not have to pay the monetary judgment, 'if he puts up the monies or other assets or posts a bond sufficiently to satisfy the judgment in the event the appeal is unsuccessful,'" New York Court rules say, according to Kirschner.
"He hasn't done that," Kirschner explained. "He hasn't hinted at how he will have the assets to do that or if he will be able to find a bondsman, an insurance company, anybody who is willing to say, 'Yeah, Donald Trump is good for it — for $155 million in the event he loses the appeal. Who is going to vouch for Donald Trump in that regard? This appeal means nothing. It means he has technically filed a notice of appeal."
Trump was hit with $355 million in damages after being found liable for fraud after inflating property prices to secure loans and insurance. On Friday, he was given 30 days to pay it, with hefty amounts of interest being added to the amount every day.
He was also banned from doing business in New York for three years, and getting loans from banks that do business in New York — meaning finding a way to secure the money would be tricky.
Host Chris Jansing asked what Trump's strategy is in filing the notice of appeal when he hasn't paid the bond.
"I'm trying to figure out what the strategy is because it does keep going up every day, right, the amount that he owes?" she asked.
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"I don't know what the strategy is," Kirschner quipped. "There doesn't appear to be a strategy. The one thing I'm fairly confident of is that because Donald Trump said recently, I believe in a deposition, that he estimates he has about $400 million in liquid assets on hand. I'm quite confident that he doesn't have $400 million of liquid assets on hand because of the way he overinflates the value of everything."
That deposition came in the E. Jean Carroll defamation trial, where Trump was fined an additional $83 million.
"I think he is now struggling on the financial front to find a way to secure this judgment, to secure this amount so his appeal can even proceed," said Kirschner. "His appeal can proceed, but he will be made to pay the monetary judgment while the appeal is pending or New York Attorney General Letitia James can put liens on property and garner wages if he has any. Things will get very exciting for Donald Trump very soon."
See the discussion in the video below or at the link here.
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