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- Knight Specialty Insurance Co provided Donald Trump with a $175 million bond.
- This is so he can appeal his New York civil trial verdict of $454.2 million.
- The company affirmed that it was authorised to issue the bond.
The company that provided Donald Trump with a $175 million bond in his New York civil fraud case said it had "substantial financial credibility", and rejected a suggestion by the state's attorney general that it wasn't qualified to provide help.
Trump obtained the bond from Knight Specialty Insurance Co as a guarantee so he could appeal a $454.2 million verdict that state Attorney General Letitia James won in February.
James objected to the bond on 4 April because Knight lacked a "certificate of qualification", and demanded that the insurer or Trump's lawyers "justify" the bond within 10 days.
The insurer is owned by billionaire Trump supporter Don Hankey.
In a Monday night filing in a state court in Manhattan, Knight said the bond was fully backed by cash in a Charles Schwab account, and that it could access nearly $2.2 billion of assets at its parent company if something went wrong.
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Knight, which is licensed in Delaware, also said it has since 2021 had authority in New York to provide the type of bond Trump secured.
Knight said:
"KSIC was and is authorised to issue the bond."
Lawyers for Trump, his adult sons and the Trump Organisation signed Knight's filing.
James' office declined to comment on Tuesday.
A hearing is scheduled for 22 April.
Hankey made his fortune in subprime car loans, with some regulators criticising his companies' debt collection tactics. He is worth $7.4 billion, according to Forbes magazine.
Justice Arthur Engoron issued the $454.2 million verdict after finding that Trump fraudulently inflated his net worth and real estate assets to deceive banks and insurers into providing better terms.
Trump was originally required to obtain a guarantee for the entire verdict while he appeals, but a state appeals court let him post a smaller bond.
