Donald’s Million Dollar Mistake

Lost it all in just 6 words

Apparently being ridiculed on stage at the Oscars wasn’t enough punishment for Donald, so over the weekend, he defamed E. Jean Carroll yet again. By this point, I’ve lost count of how many times he’s done this, but E. Jean’s legal team – led by the fierce Roberta Kaplan – has not.

He may be looking at another serious legal setback that could add millions to his already astronomical fines, including his March 25 deadline to pay New York State nearly half a billion dollars for the fraud judgment entered by Judge Engoron – the same day his first criminal trial for election fraud is slated to start.

As a quick reminder, Donald was initially found liable for sexually assaulting E. Jean Carroll or, as Judge Lewis Kaplan made clear, “what the jury found Trump did was in fact rape, as commonly understood.” A jury awarded her $5 million in damages. Then, Donald defamed her again, and a second jury found him liable for another $83 million in damages.

On Saturday, while speaking at a campaign rally in Georgia, Donald idiotically repeated his previous claims that E. Jean Carroll had made up her story. His remarks sounded nearly identical to other comments that led to the two verdicts that have already gone against him:

“I just posted a $91 million bond, $91 million on a fake story, totally made-up story,” he said. “Ninety-one million based on false accusations made about me by a woman that I knew nothing about, didn’t know, never heard of, I know nothing about her.”

Then, during an interview with CNBC, Donald claimed that he “no idea who she is” when discussing Carroll.

Donald and his wife Ivana Trump, with E. Jean Carroll and her former husband John Johnson – US District Court in Manhattan

Every instance of defamation could lead to a new trial, and Robbie Kaplan said all options are on the table:

“The statute of limitations for defamation in most jurisdictions is between one and three years,” she said in a statement today. “As we said after the last jury verdict, we continue to monitor every statement that Donald Trump makes about our client.”

According to attorney George Conway, Donald’s decision to choose CNBC as the place to defame Carroll was a “highly significant” mistake.

Conway explained that the fact that Donald made his previous comments at his rally in Georgia, meant that Carroll would have to bring a new case to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.

But then, he did so on Squawk CNBC, which Conway said is “anchored in Manhattan.”

“[S]he may now sue in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.” That would mean the case would again “be assigned to Judge Lewis A. Kaplan as a case related to the earlier two cases that produced $88.3 million in damages."

Noting that the ink wasn’t even dry on his bond, MSNBC legal analyst Lisa Rubin said, “I'm struck by the fact… he said these things the night after he posted a bond.”

Realistically, if Carroll does bring another case, it would probably be a slam dunk.

Today, Carroll's lawyer wrote in a letter to Judge Lewis Kaplan that she forced Donald to change the terms of his bond as a result of discussions.

Carroll’s legal team didn’t oppose his proposed $91.6 million bond, but added a term so that it “reduces the amount of time between the resolution of Trump's appeal and Carroll's payment from an overall 60 days to 30 days.”

That means if Donald loses his appeal, Carroll will not have to wait longer than a month to get her money.

By the way, let’s look at where that money came from:

When I heard that Donald’s $92 million bond was guaranteed by the Chubb Corporation, the name immediately rang a bell. Chubb is the same insurance company that provided health insurance to my grandfather’s company and the family starting decades.

Before learning that, I wondered what legitimate company would guarantee a dime for Donald knowing he

1) has a problem paying his bills
2) owes half a billion dollars
3) doesn’t appear to have enough funds to cover it?

So, it makes sense that it would be a company with which he has a long-standing personal relationship.

A deeper look seems to confirm that Chubb CEO Evan Greenberg might be doing Donald a favor, as opposed to making a sound business decision. Donald appointed Greenberg to serve as a member of the White House Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations for a term of four years.

Recently, an allegation has been made about Chubb’s connection to Russia. This could raise grave national security questions about who is backing Donald and what he owes them.

Here’s what’s on Chubb’s website:

"Chubb Insurance Company of Russia is part of the Chubb Group of insurance and reinsurance companies. Chubb Insurance in Russia offers tailor-made insurance products secured by Chubb Group internal treaties to Russian clients having adequate Risk Management programs and requiring a western insurance product.”

This, in and of itself, isn’t necessarily nefarious. Chubb is a multi-national corporation that does business in countries all over the world.

I will be taking a closer look at this connection in the coming days. It’s important work, and if there’s fire amidst this smoke, I will make sure we give it attention.