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The billionaire businessman who provided Donald Trump’s $175 million bond for his New York civil fraud appeal said he may not have charged enough.
Don Hankey, chairman of Knight Specialty Insurance, told Reuters he believed backing Trump carried little risk, but it has turned out otherwise.
As the sole provider of Trump’s bond, Hankey and his firm have faced intense scrutiny from New York AG Letitia James and other officials.
“We thought it would be an easy procedure that wouldn’t involve other legal problems and it’s not turning out that way. We probably didn’t charge enough,” Hankey said.
Though he supported Trump in 2016 and backs his reelection, Hankey said this scrutiny may be why other insurers declined to take on the bond’s risk.
While Hankey approached Trump given his wealth and political support, he noted Trump did provide cash collateral held by a brokerage, though its source between Trump and supporters was unclear.
“We have been getting a lot of emails, a lot of phone calls. Maybe that’s part of the reason he had trouble with other insurance companies.”
“I’m surprised they’re coming down harder on our bond or looking for reasons to cause issues with our instrument,” he added.
“I don’t know if it came from Donald Trump or from Donald Trump and supporters,” Hankey said.
