Three people with knowledge of the situation told Reuters that some big Republican donors were working together to help U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump pay the original bond amount needed to cover his $454 million civil fraud judgment before the deadline on Monday.
In a legal case in New York, former Republican President Trump was found guilty of lying about his net worth by billions of dollars to get better loan and insurance terms. He has to pay a bond.
On Monday, he won a bid to delay the ruling if he posts a smaller $175 million bond within 10 days. But until that last-minute reprieve, it looked like he was having a hard time getting the original amount of money together and his properties were at risk of being taken away.
Two people who spoke to Reuters said that donors worried about Trump’s legal problems and wanted to help raise money for the bond worked behind the scenes with John Paulson, the head of the billionaire hedge fund Paulson. One of those people said that oil and gas mogul Harold Hamm was also involved.
So they could talk freely about the matter, which hasn’t been reported before, the people asked not to be named.
Paulson, who started Paulson & Co., did not answer right away when asked for comment. When called and asked about his role, Hamm, the head of the oil company Continental Resources, seemed to hang up. A representative for Hamm did not answer when asked for comment.
When asked for a reaction, Steven Cheung, a spokesman for the Trump campaign, said, “There was no coordinated effort.” Besides that, he said Trump had “more than enough cash” to pay the whole amount.
A fourth person, a supporter of Trump, said he knew of a donor who gave more than $10 million to the bond over the weekend but was told they didn’t need to.
Trump said he would be able to pay now that the court had agreed to a smaller bond on Monday.
Trump told reporters in New York, “I’ll quickly post either the $175 million in cash, bonds, securities, or whatever is needed.”
His lawyers say that surety companies would have wanted Trump to put up about $558 million as collateral for the first bond, which is 120% of the ruling.
Full information about the billionaires’ attempts to raise money, like how much each donor might have promised, wasn’t available right away. Someone in the group said that they had pooled the whole amount that was due on Monday. It wasn’t clear if the big donors would offer to help pay for the new bond.
Also, it wasn’t clear if Trump would have to give the donors collateral or some other kind of security.
Trump’s possible support from his rich friends shows that he still has some wealthy backers who want to help him win the White House back against Democrat Joe Biden on November 5.
It also shows how big donor money might be playing a different role in this presidential election, since Trump is having a hard time paying his bills and facing many lawsuits.
Paulson and Hamm are both planning to help Trump’s campaign with a fundraiser that has nothing to do with the bond work. Paulson is listed as the host on the invitation, and Hamm is named as the co-chair.
The invite says that the event in Palm Beach, Florida, on April 6 will raise money for Trump’s campaign, the Republican National Committee, state Republican parties, and a group that has been paying some of Trump’s legal bills.
A different person with knowledge of the situation says that Trump has talked about naming Paulson as his Treasury secretary if he wins the election.
NOT A LOT OF INFORMATION ON THE BOND
There is no requirement to reveal where the money for a bond came from.
What Trump’s $91.6 million bond was for, like a defamation decision in favor of writer E. Jean Carroll, was not made public. Federal Insurance Co., which is part of Chubb, posted that bond on March 8. Chubb said that all bonds must be fully backed by collateral.
In Trump’s case of civil fraud, the bond would keep the state from seizing his property while he reviews Justice Arthur Engoron’s decision against him on February 16. Any payment Trump has to make if he loses an appeal and can’t pay would be made by a bonding company.
Donors who help pay for Trump’s bonds could be looked at closely by election officials or federal prosecutors if they give Trump amounts that are higher than the caps on campaign contributions.
The payment would not be a straight donation to Trump’s campaign, but federal law says that “anything of value” given to a campaign is a contribution.
His lawyers said earlier in March that 30 surety companies that Trump tried to get in touch with through four different brokers turned down his requests for the original bond that was needed to pay the $454 million award.
If the pause hadn’t been given and Trump hadn’t been able to post the original bond on Monday, Letitia James, the attorney general of New York, could have asked the court to start seizing Trump’s assets, such as 30 Wall Street in Manhattan and other valuable real estate.