One line buried in the agreement may be cause for concern for James, according to a new report from The Daily Beast, which described the contact as “bizarre” and “shadier than it looks.”

The contract includes a line that if the judgment is “affirmed” or the “appeal is dismissed,” the defendants in the case “shall pay to Plaintiff…the sum directed to be paid by the Judgment plus interests and costs or any part of it as to which said Judgment is affirmed,” without a guarantee the insurance company would pay.

This essentially means that Trump will be required to pay the judgment if he loses the appeal but leaves questions about whether the insurance would pay if he is unable, essentially leaving James in the same position as before Trump secured the bond, according to the report.

  • DevCat@lemmy.worldOP
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    7 months ago

    Looks like a good reason to reject the bond in its entirety. It’s obviously a bad faith attempt to get around the rules.

      • themeatbridge@lemmy.world
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        7 months ago

        It’s bad news for everyone because he’s still getting away with it. Justice delayed is justice denied. James should be two weeks into the process of seizing his assets.

          • themeatbridge@lemmy.world
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            7 months ago

            Have his assets been seized? Is he in prison? Is he not the GOP frontrunner and leading Biden in electoral college polling?

            • gregorum@lemm.ee
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              7 months ago

              In the time between comments, he just had a third attempt to delay his criminal trial: Link

              Things may not move as fast as you want, but they’re moving.

              Edit: when he posted that BS bond, James immediately filed to oppose it, requiring Trump to explain/back it up, or it would be rejected and she can start seizing assets. Trump’s legal team has 10 days to legitimize the bond, or they’re fucked. (Spoilers: they can’t)

              There is procedure. Trump can try to delay, but now he’s reached the end of the line here, too.

              • themeatbridge@lemmy.world
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                7 months ago

                That’s also good news, but he’s still not in prison, he’s still the frontrunner to be President again, and he still has his empire.

                His ability to manipulate and stall the legal system, the same system that grinds poor people up and turns them into slaves and recidivists, is horrifying.

                • gregorum@lemm.ee
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                  7 months ago

                  His criminal trial is proceeding April 15th. He hasn’t been able to delay that.

              • themeatbridge@lemmy.world
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                7 months ago

                Fuck chill. Chill is how we end up electing fascists. They will apply constant, unyielding pressure to achieve political dominance, and it requires equal devotion and vigilance to prevent it.

                • stoly@lemmy.world
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                  7 months ago

                  And yelling at people on Lemmy will totally fix it. This has nothing to do with politics, this is all about your emotional disregulation.

  • 4am@lemm.ee
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    7 months ago

    Am I reading this correctly? Is this article claiming it’s bad for James and her case if Trump can’t pay?

    If he can’t pay doesn’t it just go back to being as if he never got the bond in the first place? So, she can just go after his assets?

    Why is this bad? Did I miss something or is this the weakest motherfucking spin I’ve ever read?

    • themeatbridge@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      It’s bad because if he cannot pay at all, then he cannot appeal.

      The idea is that you aren’t able to use the appeals process as a stalling tactic, so in order to appeal, you must either set aside the money or secure a bond for the amount.

      Trump has done neither. His “bond” isn’t a bond at all, because the contract states that the insurer will not be responsible for the judgement amount. His application to appeal should be rejected.

      • bostonbananarama@lemmy.world
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        7 months ago

        It’s bad because if he cannot pay at all, then he cannot appeal.

        This is patently false. He does NOT need to post a bond in order to appeal. He can absolutely appeal without posting a bond. The only purpose of the bond is to stay enforcement on the judgment.

    • bostonbananarama@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      It would be bad for James in that an insurance company isn’t going to pay $175m if the judgment is affirmed or the appeal dismissed. It’s obviously much easier to cash a check from an insurance company than it is to find assets, domesticate a judgment, and then to levy and sell those assets.

      • gregorum@lemm.ee
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        7 months ago

        That’s not bad for James if she can just argue to the court that this bond is blatantly invalid.

        • bostonbananarama@lemmy.world
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          7 months ago

          That’s not bad for James if she can just argue to the court that this bond is blatantly invalid.

          Between Knight not being approved in NY, not having adequate cash reserves, and writing a bond that just says Trump will pay, I don’t think that should be a problem.

          That being said, I would still prefer having a valid bond posted. Turning a judgment into liquid assets is not easy, and can be very time consuming.

  • ganksy@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    Yep we already knew this a few days ago. This article just reframed it in the title as a positive for Trump. In all likelihood he’s probably going to have to liquefy assets now.

    • KnightontheSun@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      This article just reframed it in the title as a positive for Trump

      It’s Newsweek. So…very much hot garbage yet the site gets referenced here several times a week. Can we please ban the site?

        • wolfpack86@lemmy.world
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          7 months ago

          Is there a summary here? I thought they had a reputable brand and must’ve missed when it turned to shit/why it turned to shit. Have seen several dragging them recently.

  • TimLovesTech (AuDHD)(he/him)@badatbeing.social
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    7 months ago

    The whole idea of the bond is that it covered the full amount of the judgment and is held in escrow, and would be turned over to the state when Trump loses his appeal. And it’s up to the bond issuer to make sure they have collateral enough from Trump to cover that bond (and full judgement ) should they need to pay up.

    The bond issuer not having the collateral to even cover the $175m, let alone the nearly $500m that would be due if he loses his appeal is the whole issue James raised with this bond to begin with (well and the fact that they didn’t have the right certification to even issue a bond in NY).

    EDIT - extra words 😩

  • vegeta@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    Bad news for James? If anything this makes it look like Trump/his lawyers/bonding co tried to commmit a fraud on the court by trying to slip in terms that actualy negate the whole purpose of a bond.

  • kikutwo@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    Let’s look more at the bond has been rejected and Knight didn’t even include financials. He has until Monday or James goes shopping in Trumpworld with a $175 million dollar kitty.