Attorneys for Donald Trump on Monday agreed to new bond conditions for his civil fraud trial in New York City. The agreement will prevent New York Attorney General Letitia James from seizing Trump’s assets or freezing his bank accounts while he fights the judgment. The new conditions were needed, prosecutors argued, because they didn’t trust the financial health of the insurance company, Knight Specialty Insurance, who posted the bond for Trump. They noted that Knight had violated federal law on multiple occasions and that they relied on risk-transfer practices to artificially bolster the surplus it used to cover Trump’s bond. Now, under the new conditions, Knight won’t be allowed to touch the funds it used to secure Trump’s release and will have to leave it in a money market account—only to be withdrawn from to pay Trump’s bond if needed. The conditions also require the company to provide the Manhattan District Attorney with monthly statements for the account so prosecutors can independently verify Trump and Knight are complying with their terms. A deadline has been set for Thursday for both sides to make the arrangement final.
