An odd provision hidden in the details of the contract that got ex-president Donald Trump off the hook for the $175 million bond in his New York fraud case makes the deal worth roughly the value of the paper it was printed on.
An analysis conducted by reporters at The Daily Beast revealed that the contract doesn’t bind Knight Specialty Surety Co., the private bond company tied to a Trump-fan billionaire, to paying the $175 million in the event that Trump would try to welch out of his obligations.
“Getting into the weeds, the company undertakes that Trump will pay,” one bond industry source told the outlet.
That, in essence, is no different than what would have been the case if Trump, who is on the hook for a $464 million judgment in the fraud case, and had been ordered to post bond for that entire amount to be able to file an appeal, had not lined up a bonding guarantor.
The contract should have read that the bond company and Trump would be responsible “jointly and severally,” meaning they’d both be on the hook for the total.
Under that arrangement, if Trump doesn’t pay, the bond company does.
The bond language agreed to by the appeals court in New York only obligates Trump.
And what happens if the serial-welcher-on-debts, shockingly, fails to come forward with the money?
You guessed it: you have to take him to court.
Another delay tactic.
There is a double standard for Trump in the U.S. legal system, as he often whines about, except that, it’s in his favor.
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Chris Graham
