Trump posts $91 million bond to appeal E. Jean Carroll defamation verdict

Former President Donald Trump deposited a bond of more than $91 million on Friday to appeal the verdict that awarded more than $83 million to E. Jean Carroll, a writer he defamed after she accused him of sexual abuse, according to a court filing.

Trump’s attorneys notified the federal court in Manhattan that he had posted a bond of $91,630,000, coinciding with a notice that he had appealed the ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit. The bond payment is equal to 110% of the judgment against him, the amount he was required to provide in order to appeal.

The Jan. 26 decision was the second in less than a year in trials involving Carroll, who accused Trump of attacking her in a New York department store in the 1990s. In May 2023, a different federal jury awarded Carroll an additional $5 million in damages, finding Trump liable for sexual abuse and a separate defamation claim.

The verdict in Carroll’s second trial came just weeks before a New York judge ordered Trump to pay more than $450 million for fraud. The combined decisions plunged the Republican candidate for president into severe financial turmoil.