Judge wants details on any Trump Organization attempts to secure a bond in its civil fraud case

The judge who handed down a $464 million judgment against Donald Trump, his company and co-defendants in a civil fraud case has ordered the Trump Organization to keep the court closely informed about any efforts to secure a bond ahead of Monday’s deadline.

Judge Arthur Engoron said Thursday that Trump's company needs to provide details to a court-appointed monitor on attempts to obtain a bond that would stop authorities from collecting on the judgment while it appeals last month's ruling. The monitor, former federal Judge Barbara Jones, is to report regularly to Engoron.

"The Trump Organization shall inform the Monitor, in advance, of any efforts to secure surety bonds," Engoron said in his order, as well as "any personal guarantees made by any of the Defendants," which would include the former president.

The order — part of a larger ruling detailing and expanding the monitor's duties — comes days before the deadline for Trump and his co-defendants to secure a bond that would stop New York Attorney General Letitia James' office from being able to collect on the judgment while they appeal Engoron's ruling.

In a court filing this week, lawyers for Trump said they had been trying to get a bond for weeks but have been unsuccessful.

“Defendants’ ongoing diligent efforts have proven that a bond in the judgment’s full amount is ‘a practical impossibility,’” Trump's attorneys said in their filing, pleading with an appeals court to pause Engoron's judgment without posting a bond while they appeal the award.

It's unclear why the judge waited until now to make the request for the additional information, but the language in Engoron's order suggests he wants to make sure the company, which he found had engaged in "persistent" fraud