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.
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 😩