Evan Greenberg, president and chief executive officer of Chubb Ltd., arrives for the morning session of the Allen & Co. Media and Technology Conference in Sun Valley, Idaho, U.S., on Wednesday, July 10, 2019.
Patrick T. Fallon | Bloomberg | Getty Images
The CEO of the Chubb insurance company on Wednesday defended providing former President Donald Trump with a $91.6 million appeal bond in the case where he was found civilly liable for defaming writer E. Jean Carroll after she accused him of rape.
Chubb CEO Evan Greenberg, in a letter to investors, customers and brokers who expressed concerns about the bond, wrote that the decision to give Trump the bond “has nothing to do with the underlying merits” of the appeal, “or with favoring any of the parties in the case.”
“As the surety, we don’t take sides,” Greenberg wrote in the letter, which was obtained by CNBC.
“It would be wrong for us to do so and we are in no way supporting the defendant,” he wrote. “We are supporting and are part of the justice system plumbing included in this case.”
“I fully realize how polarizing and emotional this case and the defendant are and how easy it would be for Chubb to just say no,’ Greenberg wrote. “However, we support the rule of law and our role in it. We considered this the right thing to do and we frankly left our own personal feelings aside.”
Greenberg was named by then-president Trump as a member of the Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations in October 2018. He continued serving on that panel under President Joe Biden until March 2023.
Chubb has been under fire since last week when Trump revealed he had obtained the appeal bond from the company.
If Trump loses his appeal of the defamation judgment, Carroll can demand payment from Chubb. But in the meantime, Carroll cannot collect on the damages awarded her in the case.
Greenberg in his letter Wednesday said that Chubb had protected itself by requiring that Trump’s bond, like any others issued by the company, is “fully collateralized.”
“If the bond is called, then Chubb takes the collateral which is intended to make us whole,” Greenberg wrote. “We hardly support or subsidize defendants or take ‘one for the team.’ “
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