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Donald Trump (March 25 in New York City)
Photo: Mary Altaffer / UPI Photo / IMAGO
Hardly a day goes by without movement in one of the four court cases that Donald Trump is currently facing. On Monday (local time) there were notable developments in two cases within a few hours. The former US president has provided a security deposit of $175 million (163 million euros) in a civil case for business fraud to prevent seizures of assets. This emerges from a published court document.
Trump had appealed the conviction for business fraud and had until Thursday to post the security deposit, which is equivalent to a bail, backed by an insurance company.
In the civil case for business fraud, Trump and his sons were found guilty of artificially inflating the assets of their real estate empire over the years in order to obtain favorable conditions from banks and insurance companies. Trump was therefore sentenced in February to a fine of around $355 million plus interest, which totals around $454 million.
Trump appealed the verdict and therefore did not have to pay the fine for the time being. However, he had to provide security so that an appeal process could take place.
Trump was originally given a bail amount of $454 million. However, his lawyers said last month that the billionaire was unable to do so. The background is that most of Trump's assets are tied up in real estate and are not immediately available to him in cash. An appeals court in New York then significantly reduced the security required to be provided to $175 million.
Trump is no longer allowed to publicly attack families
In another case, the conditions against Trump were tightened. In addition, he is now no longer allowed to badmouth the families of Judge Juan M. Merchan and public prosecutor Alwin Bragg.
The
gag order
extended by Merchan - colloquially roughly translated as a muzzle - from Monday evening refers to the hush money proceedings that will be heard in New York from April 15th. The former US president faces charges of falsifying business documents to cover up a hush money payment to a porn star before the 2016 election. There has never been a criminal trial against a former president in US history.
Trump's recent statements, the judge said, made it clear that everyone involved in the proceedings "must worry not only about themselves, but also about their loved ones." This is a direct attack on the jurisprudence.
At the end of March, it was decreed that Trump was no longer allowed to publicly comment on witnesses, jurors, court employees, prosecutors or anyone else involved in the trial. This is intended to prevent him from attacking witnesses or revealing the identity of the jury.
There is a solid reason why the families are now included: Trump recently worked on Judge Merchan's daughter and also called her by her full name on social media. Trump can still take legal action against the judge's decision. He has so far invoked his right to freedom of expression and described his statements as political.
jok/AFP