Judge schedules a hearing to find out if Trump's bond sponsor is properly backed

Judge Arthur Engoron responded to a brief filed by New York Attorney General Letitia James asking for financial information that can confirm the company that insured Donald Trump's bond was solvent.

Donald Trump was found liable for damages of $454 million, which ballooned after interest. He then asked the court to reduce the bond amount to $175 million, and the court agreed. He then secured a bond sponsor from the Knight Speciality Insurance Company.

The filing said she, “Hereby takes exception to the sufficiency of the surety,” noting the Knight Specialty Insurance Company is trying to operate “without a certificate of qualification.” In New York, state regulators require surety firms to meet certain standards, guaranteeing they are “solvent, responsible and otherwise qualified to make policies or contracts of the kind required.”

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Since the company is out of California, New York doesn't have that information. James explained in her filing that the company must prove that they are financially able to cover Trump's hefty sum if he loses the appeal.

When it fronted the money, it gave the court documents Thursday showing its assets amounted to $537 million as of Dec. 31, 2023.

"What are the specific identifiable assets that Donald Trump posted to ensure that if they win on appeal, they will get back this $175 million and up to the value of the judgment that Judge Arthur Engoron had ordered, which at this point stands over $454 million if that judgment's upheld?" asked MSNBC legal analyst Lisa Rubin.

Knight Speciality Insurance has ten days to respond to the Attorney General's Office, but Engoron has called for the parties to appear in court for a hearing April 22 at 10 a.m. E.S.T.

Trump has tangential political connections to the Knight company's CEO, who is a majority stockholder in Axos bank, which has refinanced two Trump properties.