Is this a total vindication for Donald Trump? Not exactly. But any day a court puts $527 million back in your pocket and keeps your business license in place is a very good day indeed.
The New York state appellate court finally issued its decision on Trump’s appeal of the verdict and judgment in the civil fraud lawsuit brought by Letitia James, after a delay of nearly a year. The court declined to reverse the verdict, but called Judge Arthur Engoron’s judgment a violation of the Eighth Amendment. The appellate court reversed the entire monetary penalty and kept the business restrictions on hold:
An appeals court has thrown out the massive civil fraud penalty against President Donald Trump, ruling Thursday in New York state’s lawsuit accusing him of exaggerating his wealth. …
“While the injunctive relief ordered by the court is well crafted to curb defendants’ business culture, the court’s disgorgement order, which directs that defendants pay nearly half a billion dollars to the State of New York, is an excessive fine that violates the Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution,” Judges Dianne T. Renwick and Peter H. Moulton wrote in one of several opinions shaping the appeals court’s ruling.
Engoron also imposed other punishments, such as banning Trump and his two eldest sons from serving in corporate leadership for a few years. Those provisions have been on pause during Trump’s appeal, and he was able to hold off collection of the money by posting a $175 million bond.
The court declined to reverse the verdict itself, which may disappoint Trump. However, the panel essentially kicked that can to the state supreme court instead, which the New York Times describes as a stain on Trump’s reputation:
Thursday’s ruling handed Mr. Trump a financial victory and represents a major setback for the New York attorney general, Letitia James, who is one of the president’s foremost adversaries. The case had been a career-defining victory after she campaigned for the attorney general’s office promising to bring Mr. Trump to justice.
However, the decision fell short of the legal vindication the president had been seeking in his fight against Ms. James. In denying Mr. Trump’s bid to throw out the case, the court kept in place the ruling that he had committed fraud, an ignominious distinction for a sitting American president.
Ahem. First off, the court specifically left that issue to further appeals, in what was certainly not a Profiles In Courage moment. Let’s remember that Engoron started the ‘trial’ with a positive finding of fraud, which was an absurd decision in and of itself, on the way to imposing an even more absurd penalty for supposed fraud in which no one lost a dime. The lenders that Trump supposedly defrauded explained that they did their own due diligence on valuations, lent Trump money with full understanding of the assets, and had been repaid in full. The lenders also told the court that they would do business with Trump again.
Two of the judges on the panel underscored these abuses in dissents:
Two judges wrote that they felt New York Attorney General Letitia James’ lawsuit against Trump and his companies was justifiable and that she had proven her case but the penalty was too severe. One wrote that James exceeded her legal authority in bringing the suit, saying that if any of Trump’s lenders felt cheated, they could have sued him themselves, and none did.
One judge wrote that Engoron erred by ruling before the trial began that the attorney general had proved Trump engaged in fraud.
In fact, the decision didn’t actually produce a majority decision on the case itself, which is why the panel kicked it upstairs. A majority found the judgment to violate Trump’s constitutional rights, however, which is why they vacated it entirely. The NYT’s ignominy detector might be better applied to James, who couldn’t get a majority decision to support the verdict or her case.
This case isn’t over yet, in other words. Both sides will appeal it to the state supreme court (called the Court of Appeals in the state of New York). If Trump doesn’t have the entire case tossed at that point, he will likely take it to the US Supreme Court, and the abuses of Engoron and James will not sit well at that level. But in the meantime, Trump gets his money back, and James and Engoron have egg dripping off their faces.
Editor’s Note: Help us continue to report the truth about corrupt politicians like Letitia James, Alvin Bragg, Fani Willis, and corrupt judges like Arthur Engoron. Fight back against the lawfare of the Democrat establishment.
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