If Donald Trump can’t make the bond, can he still appeal the fraud judgment?

Illiberalism

Gilead

Donald Trump

Finances

Fig. 1. Trump International Hotel, Las Vegas, undated image credited to https://www.flickr.com/photos/glynlowe/ [bad link], via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.

I’m probably not understanding correctly, but I thought that Donald Trump’s ability to appeal the fraud judgment hinged on his posting the bond. He’s now admitting he can’t post the bond.^[1] So does that mean he can’t appeal the fraud judgment?

The Wall Street Journal article^[2] here is probably the most informative.

James Fanelli and Corinne Ramey, “Trump Says He Can’t Secure Bond for $454 Million Civil-Fraud Judgment,” Wall Street Journal, March 18, 2024, https://www.wsj.com/us-news/law/trump-cant-secure-bond-for-454-million-civil-fraud-judgment-6c6fb7f1

Tori Otten, “Broke Donald Trump Admits He Can’t Post That Massive $464 Million Bond,” New Republic, March 18, 2024, https://newrepublic.com/post/179901/trump-cant-secure-fraud-bond

Adam Reiss and Dareh Gregorian, “Trump has been unable to get bond for $464 million judgment, his lawyers say,” NBC News, March 18, 2024, https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-unable-get-bond-464-million-judgment-lawyers-say-rcna143860

Matt Stieb, “Trump Says He Can’t Pay His $464 Million Bond. Now What?” New York, March 18, 2024, https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/trump-says-he-cant-find-a-usd464-million-bond-now-what.html

Coup attempt

2024

Fig. 2. Cartoon by Ben Jennings, January 24, 2024, via the Guardian,^[3] fair use.

On Monday [March 18], the nation’s conservative-majority high court upheld a ban preventing former New Mexico official Couy Griffin from running for office within the state again due to his specific criminal history: In 2022, Griffin was convicted on misdemeanor offenses for his role in the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, ultimately costing him his job as county commissioner.

It’s the Supreme Court’s first decision on the Fourteenth Amendment since it axed a Colorado decision earlier this month to keep Trump off the state’s GOP presidential primary ballot, and the first time that the “insurrectionist clause” has been used to bar someone from office since it was created to keep ex-Confederates from reattaining high office following the Civil War. By allowing the Fourteenth Amendment to be used against Griffin, the Supreme Court seems to have, circuitously, deemed the January 6 riot an insurrection.^[4]

Jon Allsop, “Context collapse,” Columbia Journalism Review, March 18, 2024, https://www.cjr.org/the_media_today/trump_ohio_speech_bloodbath_media_broadcast_live.php

Ellie Quinlan Houghtaling, “Supreme Court Upholds Insurrection Ban on Official Who’s Not Trump,” New Republic, March 18, 2024, https://newrepublic.com/post/179895/supreme-court-insurrection-ban-january-6-rioter-new-mexico

Migration

Fig. 1. Photograph credited to “ProtoplasmaKid,”, November 9, 2018, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Devan Cole and John Fritze, “Supreme Court blocks Texas from enforcing controversial immigration law for now,” CNN, March 18, 2024, https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/18/politics/supreme-court-texas-immigration-sb4/index.html

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1. ^[1]James Fanelli and Corinne Ramey, “Trump Says He Can’t Secure Bond for $454 Million Civil-Fraud Judgment,” Wall Street Journal, March 18, 2024, https://www.wsj.com/us-news/law/trump-cant-secure-bond-for-454-million-civil-fraud-judgment-6c6fb7f1; Tori Otten, “Broke Donald Trump Admits He Can’t Post That Massive $464 Million Bond,” New Republic, March 18, 2024, https://newrepublic.com/post/179901/trump-cant-secure-fraud-bond; Adam Reiss and Dareh Gregorian, “Trump has been unable to get bond for $464 million judgment, his lawyers say,” NBC News, March 18, 2024, https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-unable-get-bond-464-million-judgment-lawyers-say-rcna143860; Matt Stieb, “Trump Says He Can’t Pay His $464 Million Bond. Now What?” New York, March 18, 2024, https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/trump-says-he-cant-find-a-usd464-million-bond-now-what.html↩
2. ^[2]James Fanelli and Corinne Ramey, “Trump Says He Can’t Secure Bond for $454 Million Civil-Fraud Judgment,” Wall Street Journal, March 18, 2024, https://www.wsj.com/us-news/law/trump-cant-secure-bond-for-454-million-civil-fraud-judgment-6c6fb7f1↩
3. ^[3]Ben Jennings, “Ben Jennings on Donald Trump’s progress along the Republican nomination trail – cartoon,” Guardian, January 24, 2024, https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/picture/2024/jan/24/ben-jennings-on-donald-trumps-progress-along-the-republican-nomination-trail-cartoon↩
4. ^[4]Ellie Quinlan Houghtaling, “Supreme Court Upholds Insurrection Ban on Official Who’s Not Trump,” New Republic, March 18, 2024, https://newrepublic.com/post/179895/supreme-court-insurrection-ban-january-6-rioter-new-mexico↩