Insurance giant Chubb has declined to handle former President Donald Trump's $464 million bond that he now needs in his New York civil business fraud case.
The insurance company previously provided Trump with a $91.6 million appeal bond in writer E. Jean Carroll's civil defamation case.
Chubb Declines to Handle the Higher Appeal Bond of Donald Trump
According to one of the lawyers of Donald Trump, Chubb backed out days after the company was under fire for handling the former president's bond in E. Jean Carroll's civil defamation case.
In a New York appeals court filing Monday, Trump's legal team said Chubb was one of over 30 firms that refused to underwrite the nearly half-a-billion dollar appeal bond that would put the business fraud judgment on pause.
Trump Organization lawyer Alan Garten said in the filing that Chubb was the only company considering crafting an appeal bond secured by a combination of liquid assets and real estate.
Other firms, including Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, Liberty Mutual, Allianz, and Travelers, preferred only cash or other liquid assets as collateral for an appeal bond.
After coming close to underwriting the bond "within the past week," Garten said that Chubb "notified Defendants that it could not accept real property as collateral."
An appeal bond would prevent Trump from using the appeals process to delay or avoid paying his penalties and ensure he can quickly receive the award if the appeal is unsuccessful.
Chubb's decision to cease negotiations with Trump and his co-defendants came after initially engaging in discussions regarding the bond, only to reverse course later.
Garten expressed disappointment but noted that Chubb's hesitation was not surprising given it's the "only surety willing to even consider accepting real estate as collateral."
In the filing, Trump's attorneys then asked the appeals court to pause the judgment before New York Attorney General Letitia James starts the process of seizing the former president's assets to cover the judgment if he fails to pay next week.
READ NEXT : Donald Trump Fails to Block Michael Cohen, Stormy Daniels From Testifying at Hush Money Trial
Chubb Under Fire for Handling Donald Trump's Bond in E. Jean Carroll's Civil Defamation Case
Since Donald Trump revealed last week that he had obtained the appeal bond in E. Jean Carroll's defamation case from Chubb, the company has been under fire.
Trump was found liable for defaming the writer after she accused him of rape. Chubb CEO Evan Greenberg has defended the company's decision to provide the former president with the $91.6 million appeal bond.
In a letter he sent last week to investors, customers, and brokers who had expressed concerns about that bond, Greenberg said the company's issuance of the appeal bond to Trump had "nothing to do with the underlying merits" of the appeal," or "making judgments about the claim," or favoring any of the parties in the case.
"As the surety, we don't take sides... It would be wrong for us to do so and we are in no way supporting the defendant. We are supporting and are part of the justice system plumbing included in this case," Greenberg wrote in the letter.
Greenberg's ties to the Trump administration, including his appointment as a member of the Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations in 2018, have also raised questions about potential conflicts of interest.
Trump also named Greenberg and several other business executives and experts to the Great American Economic Revival Industry Groups to help the US recover from the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
However, Greenberg defended himself and the company, saying, "We support the rule of law and our role in it. We considered this the right thing to do, and we frankly left our own personal feelings aside."
Join the Conversation