From 'practical impossibility' to done deal: How Trump posted the $175 million bond in his civil fraud case

Lawyers for former President Donald Trump were in discussions to pull off what they'd described as a "practical impossibility" when a New York appeals court reduced the size of the bond they had to post because of a judgment in his civil fraud case by almost $400 million.

Don Hankey, the billionaire chairman of Knight Insurance Group, told NBC News he was negotiating to post a far heftier bond of $557 million with the Trump Organization when the state Appellate Division lowered the size of the required bond to $175 million.

A bond for that amount was posted Monday night, underwritten by Hankey's Knight Specialty Insurance Co. Hankey said the bond was fully collateralized by cash from Trump's company. "It was a good experience," Hankey said.

The posting of the bond prevents New York Attorney General Letitia James from collecting on the $464 million judgment against Trump and his co-defendants in a civil fraud case while the appeals process plays out.

Judge Arthur Engoron handed down the massive judgment — an award of over $350 million that ballooned to $464 million with pre-judgment interest — after finding Trump, his company and top executives had committed “persistent” fraud over several years.

Trump immediately appealed the award, arguing it was filled with errors and that the judge had double and triple-counted some of the damages. In New York, if a person or a company wants to pause a judgment while they appeal, they typically have to post security for the full award, and then some.

Because state law requires a 9% annual interest rate on judgments while a party appeals, courts in New York generally require a security of 120% of the award. For Trump and his co-defendants, that amount would total $557 million, their