Trump gets bad news amid effort to appeal $83 million verdict

Summary

Legal experts Glenn Kirschner and Brian Tyler Cohen analyze a court case in which Donald Trump was ordered to pay E. Jean Carroll $83 million in damages for defaming her. They discuss the appeals process, noting it will likely take 6 months to a year. They also examine whether Trump will be able to post an appeal bond to avoid paying immediately, given his lack of sufficient assets. Additionally, they critique Trump lawyer Alina Habba's poor performance in court and doubt Trump has learned his lesson about attacking Carroll.

Takeaways

• 😲 Trump was ordered to pay $83 million in damages to E. Jean Carroll
• 🤔 Trump will likely appeal, but may have difficulty posting an appeal bond
• 💸 Trump would need to put up $83 million in unencumbered assets for a bond
• 🏛️ The appeals process could take 6 months to a year
• 🚫 The Supreme Court is very unlikely to hear Trump's appeal
• 😠 Trump attacked the judge and Biden, but not Carroll, after the verdict
• 🤥 Habba's poor performance further damages her reputation as a lawyer
• 💡 Carroll could potentially file another defamation suit against Trump
• 📺 Cohen and Kersner will continue covering the case on their YouTube channels
• 💰 The total awards from both trials against Trump total nearly $90 million

Q & A

What typically happens with the money damages awarded if the losing party appeals?

Ordinarily the losing party can put up an appeal bond so they don't have to start paying out the money damages until the appeal concludes. But most appeals fail, so the bond has to cover 100% of the award amount in case the losing party ultimately has to pay.

Why might it be challenging for Trump to find someone to put up an appeal bond for the $83 million judgment?

Because Trump would likely have to pledge $83 million worth of unencumbered assets to secure the bond, since he's notorious for not paying debts. So the bondsman risks losing that much money if Trump's appeal fails.

Could Trump just put up 10% of the $83 million judgment as a money bond?

No, because there's a very high chance he'll lose the appeal and owe the full amount. So a bondsman would likely require 100% collateral.

What court would hear Trump's appeal of this judgment?

The federal circuit court of appeals, since this was a federal case tried in New York.

How long might the appeals process take?

The federal appeals courts tend to move faster than state courts. But it will likely still take 6 months to a year to get a final ruling.

Does this verdict hurt Trump lawyer Alina Habba's reputation?

No, because she didn't have much of a reputation as a real lawyer to begin with. She's seen more as a PR flack.

Why didn't Trump attack Carroll in his comments about the verdict?

Possibly because attacking her again could prompt Carroll to file another defamation lawsuit using his statements as evidence.

What was the damages award progression over Carroll's two trials?

The first trial awarded Carroll $5 million. The second trial awarded her $83 million. So the total is nearing $90 million now.

Could there be further lawsuits between Trump and Carroll?

Yes, Trump's continued attacks on Carroll during the latest trial could potentially form the basis for a third defamation suit if she chooses to pursue it.

What happens if Trump loses his appeal?

If the appeals court affirms the $83 million judgment, Trump would have to pay Carroll that amount, unless the Supreme Court chose to hear the case. But that's very unlikely.

Outlines

00:00

😊 Overview of Trump's responsibility to immediately pay $83M damages and possibility of posting appeal bond

Trump was ordered to pay $83M in damages to E. Jean Carroll. Ordinarily he could post an appeal bond to delay payment during appeals. But he likely can't find someone to fully guarantee the bond due to his reputation, so he may have to start paying immediately. He could try to raise the full $83M from supporters but that seems unlikely.

05:02

😀 Details on timeline and process for Trump's appeals

Trump will appeal to the federal appeals court. It will likely take 6-12 months for a final ruling there. The case won't reach the Supreme Court. His lawyer Alina Habba performed poorly, violating rules and lacking legal skills, so hiring her is risky. Trump already attacked the judge but notably did not attack Carroll, perhaps learning his lesson.

Keywords

💡defamation

Defamation refers to making false statements that damage someone's reputation. This is the legal issue at the center of the lawsuits against Donald Trump by E. Jean Carroll. Trump made allegedly defamatory statements about Carroll after she accused him of sexual assault. The video analyzes the legal consequences Trump is facing regarding defamation damages and appeals.

💡damages

Damages in this context refers to the monetary compensation awarded to E. Jean Carroll for the harm caused by Trump's defamatory statements. The jury awarded Carroll $83 million in damages, a staggering increase from the $5 million in the first trial. This demonstrates the extent of harm caused.

💡appeal

After a court judgment, the losing party can appeal the decision to a higher court. Trump has said he will appeal the $83 million damages verdict. The video discusses the appeal process and what could happen with the damages money during the appeal.

💡appeal bond

An appeal bond allows the losing party (Trump) to avoid paying damages while filing an appeal. But Trump would likely need to put up $83 million in unencumbered assets to guarantee payment if he loses the appeal.

💡money judgment

The $83 million damages awarded to Carroll is referred to as a "money judgment." Trump will likely have to begin paying this unless he posts an appeal bond, which could be difficult given the large sum.

💡defame

The video host notes that Trump continued to defame and savage Carroll during the trial itself. This could lead Carroll to file yet another defamation lawsuit and win additional judgments.

💡appeals court

After the initial trial judgment, the losing party can appeal to a higher appeals court. The video predicts a final appeals court ruling in 6 months to 1 year. Trump would likely appeal to the federal appeals court.

💡reputation

The video questions what reputation Trump's lawyer, Alina Habba, has left after badly losing the case. This analyses the impact on her professional credibility.

💡Supreme Court

The US Supreme Court is the highest level of appeal in the US court system. But the video argues the Supreme Court would not accept an appeal of this civil defamation suit.

💡third defamation suit

Given Trump's continued attacks on Carroll during the trial, she could potentially file a third defamation lawsuit citing his latest defamatory statements, as she did after the first trial.

Highlights

Carroll awarded $83 million in damages from Donald Trump.

Trump will likely appeal, but challenging for him to avoid paying damages immediately without someone to post a bond.

Appeal bond would likely need to be 100% of damages amount due to risk of Trump not paying.

Trump may lack sufficient unencumbered assets to post $83 million appeal bond.

Appeal to federal circuit court likely to take 6 months to 1 year for final ruling.

Supreme Court unlikely to accept review of this civil defamation suit.

Habba's reputation as a lawyer already damaged from poor performance in trial.

Trump defamed Carroll again during trial, potential basis for third lawsuit.

Trump conspicuously did not attack Carroll in response to verdict this time.

Carroll won nearly $90 million combined from two trial verdicts.

Trump's continued defamation of Carroll during trial admissible as evidence.

Unclear if Carroll wants a third trial, despite likely winning again.

Trump took only 24 hours to defame Carroll again previously.

Trump could face another lawsuit if he defames Carroll again now.

Outcome of any Trump appeals to be closely watched.

Transcripts

you're watching the legal breakdown so

Glenn Donald Trump was just hit with a

staggering $83 million in Damages that

he has to pay to egene Carroll now first

of all he's already said that he'll

appeal what happens with the money in

the event of an appeal does Donald Trump

have to pay it immediately or does that

does that get put on hold until the

appeals process is done yeah great

question ordinarily somebody can put up

what's called an appeal Bond so that you

know the losing party Donald Trump in

this case doesn't have to start paying

out on that $83 million money damages

judgment that the New York jury just

awarded to eege Carrol but here is the

really challenging part for Donald Trump

ordinarily when you put up an appeal

Bond because the overwhelming majority

of cases on appeal get affirmed in other

words ultimately at the end of the day

when the appeal has concluded the losing

party generally has to pay um because of

that if somebody is going to guarantee

it is if somebody's going to put up a

bond for Donald Trump he would have to

pledge 100% of the value of the money

judgment in some kind of unencumbered

property I know that sounds like a

mouthful but basically he's going to

have to put up $83 Million worth of

assets that don't have any leans that

don't have any loans that he doesn't owe

a mortgage on for example in order to

guarantee

that if at the end of the appeal he

loses that the person who put up the

bond for him is not going to be out

millions and millions and millions of

dollars so I think the challenge for

Donald Trump will be who in the world

can he go to that will put up this bond

for him if he can take $83 Million worth

of his stuff and basically put it in

trust to guarantee that the bondsman

will not lose his or her shirt it's a

little bit of of a complex issue there

are lots of moving pieces but as of

right now I don't know if Donald Trump

is going to be able to stop or pause

having to begin paying out on this money

judgment that's something we're going to

learn more about in the days and weeks

to come Glenn just a quick question kind

of in the weeds a little bit here but

why why does he have to put up a bond um

backed by assets and why not just backed

by money like a money Bond yeah so you

can put up a money Bond and ordinarily

when you put up a money Bond you know

you're generally required to put up like

10% to kind of you know guarantee that

you know you're you're not going to flee

you're going to make good on the payment

when the time comes but but the problem

is you know if you go to the American

Bar association's discussion of appeals

bonds because the overwhelming majority

of the appeals are um are affirmed in

other words Donald Trump at some point

will have to pay out chances are he'll

have to pay out the whole 8 83.3

million um he could certainly take $

83.3 million and put it in trust to

guarantee that there will be a

sufficient pot of money to pay out at

the end of the day I don't think there

is a bondsman or an institution or an

insurance company in the world though

that will let him put up just 10% for

example I mean Donald Trump is notorious

for not paying his debt

so that's why you either I I would

suspect have to put up collateral like

real estate real property to secure that

Bond or if you want to find $83 million

and put it in trust so that there is

enough of a pot to satisfy that money

Judgment at the end of the day then I'm

sure somebody would be willing to put up

the bond but do you really think Donald

Trump has $83 million in loose change

that he can hold in trust to satisfy the

Judgment now we know what he's going to

do Brian he's going to turn supporters

and say look you know this was a Witch

Hunt this is unfair this is the Deep

State going against me this is a

horribly biased judge so here's what I

need yall to do I need you to send me

money that tallies up to $

83.3 million I have to believe that even

his base even his supporters are not

going to be willing or able to donate

83.3 million to Donald Trump yeah

nothing quite like a self-proclaimed

billionaire begging for scraps from his

base all the while calling himself a

populist I mean it just uh you couldn't

write it any any better than that Glenn

what is the appeals process now and how

long could this take from from beginning

to end and the end I'm assuming would be

Trump's inevitable appeal or effort to

appeal this thing up to the US Supreme

Court yeah the good news leaping forward

to the Supreme Court question I don't

think there's a chance on Earth that the

Supreme Court is going to accept review

of a civil suit a defamation suit where

you know money damages have been awarded

there's just no constitutional issue

involved there but he will appeal and

he'll appeal to the federal circuit

court of appeals because this was a

federal case in New York the good news

is the federal appeals courts are pretty

good pretty diligent about working

through their appeals in a timely manner

I think the state courts maybe move a

little slower primarily because they are

underst staffed and underresourced and

they have so many appeals that they have

to contend with but I suspect you're

going to see this thing move through the

Appellate process however you're

probably not going to see a final ruling

out of the federal circuit court of

appeals for I'm going to say six months

to a year okay now does this devastating

result and it was devast I mean this

this went from $5 million in the first

trial to $83 million in the second trial

if the guy does it again God knows how

much money he's going to be out but does

this devastating results for Trump's

lawyer Alina Haba have any impact on her

reputation as an attorney or was that

reputation already in the toilet the

moment she that she decided to make

herself a trump mouthpiece yeah not to

be snarky but the question is what

reputation I mean we saw judge Kaplan

you know ride her something fierce

because she didn't know how to conduct

her self in court she didn't know the

rules of evidence she didn't know how to

get a document admitted so that it could

go to the jury she violated the judge's

restrictions over and over and over

again you know she really is a PR Flack

she doesn't behave like a lawyer she

doesn't perform like a lawyer but will

she still be sought after in Maga world

will others perhaps want to hire her to

do for them what she did for Donald

Trump well what she did for Donald Trump

was lose him over 80 million when egene

Carroll was seeking 10 million so I

think you hire Elena habba at your own

Peril let's finish off with this Glenn

uh Donald Trump obviously already lashed

out um at the judge in this case and

also at Joe Biden somehow claiming that

Joe Biden was responsible for a jury uh

awarding awarding egene Carol $83

million but that's neither here nor

there um conspicuously absent in his

screed was any attack against egene

Carroll do you think he's learned his

lesson now do you think Donald Trump is

capable of learning from his mistakes I

doubt it but I noticed the same thing

that you did Brian he kept his his big

trap shut about egene Carol when he

started posting about the jury verdict

but I have a couple of thoughts about

that first of all he continued to defame

indeed Savage egene Carol during the

course of this trial guess what all of

that could serve as the basis for yet a

third defamation suit because it is only

the defamatory statements he made up

until the time she filed this suit that

were included in the suit proper now

some of the other defamatory statements

that Donald Trump was making during the

course of the trial did come into

evidence but they came in to evidence as

what's called 404b other misconduct that

kind of reinforces what Donald Trump has

been doing do I suspect that egene Carol

wants to go through a third round of

defamation trial with Donald Trump after

she's won almost $90 million in Combined

money damages when you take the two

awards from the two trials together I

can't imagine she does but you know what

if she does she'll probably win a third

judgment against Donald Trump and uh it

remains to be seen because last time it

took Donald Trump all of 24 hours before

he defamed her again that would

ultimately serve as the basis for this

second defamation lawsuit so uh you know

jury's still out uh so to speak in terms

of what Donald Trump will do from here

but so we'll obviously stay on top of

any appeals that happen in this case uh

with that said for those of you who want

to stay on top of this case please make

sure to subscribe the links to both of

our channels are right here on this

screen I'm Brian tyer Cohen and I'm

Glenn kersner you're watching the legal

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breakdown