Attorney General of New York Letitia James asked a judge on Friday to void former President Donald Trump’s bond in his civil fraud case, questioning whether the company that issued the bond has the money to back it.
In a 26-page filing ahead of a pre-scheduled hearing on Monday, James raised concerns about whether Knight Specialty Insurance Company would be able to secure the $175 million bond. She also argued that the former president’s collateral should be under the company’s full control.
One of James’ concerns about KSIC is that the insurer “is not authorized to do business in New York and thus is not regulated by the state’s insurance department.” She added that the company “had never previously written a bond in New York or in any other jurisdiction in the previous two years, and has a total policyholder surplus of only $138 million.”
James also criticized the Trump team’s apparent hold on the collateral posted to back the bond.
“KSIC now has no exclusive right to control the account and will not obtain such control unless and until it exercises the right to do so with a notice period of two days,” she wrote.
Neither Trump’s lawyers nor KSIC immediately responded to a request for comment.
Trump attorney Alina Habba said earlier as the former president’s bond was set that he “looks forward to defending his rights on appeal and overturning this unjust verdict.”
The new filing comes after James filed a notice earlier this month seeking more information about the former president’s bond. In that filing, she asked Trump’s lawyers or the insurance company to “file a motion to justify the bond” or provide additional information about Trump’s stated collateral within 10 days.
An appeals court lowered bail for Trump and his co-defendants from $464 million to $175 million in March. Trump was liable for $454 million, the vast majority of the original amount. The former president has repeatedly pushed the case against him and denied any wrongdoing.
James’ filing comes as Trump was in court for his criminal hush-money case in New York, where he faces 34 charges of falsifying company records, and as a state appeals court judge rejected Trump’s request for a emergency suspension of the trial. A jury has been seated in the case and oral arguments will begin Monday. Trump has pleaded not guilty on all counts.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
