Former President Donald Trump has filed an appeal against a $454 million civil fraud judgment issued by a New York court, arguing that the penalty is both excessive and unconstitutional. The appeal, lodged on Monday, challenges the ruling of New York State Judge Arthur Engoron. In February, Engoron found Trump, his sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, and their real estate business liable for fraud, stating they had inflated Trump’s wealth on financial statements to secure favorable loans from banks and insurers.

 

Trump’s legal team argued in their appeal, "The award of $464 million in a case with no victims, no proven injuries, and no losses is not remotely defensible." They noted that an additional $10 million of the judgment pertained to other defendants in the case. Engoron’s ruling stated that Trump and his company had gained $354 million through fraudulent means and ordered them to reimburse the state with an additional $100 million in interest. Additionally, the judgment barred Trump from conducting any business in New York for three years.

 

The appeal asserted that the judgment was both excessive and unconstitutional, contending that it fell outside the statute of limitations. Trump’s attorneys wrote, "Applying the correct statute of limitations eliminates $350,980,057 of the $464,576,229 judgment for the Appellants bound by the Tolling Agreement, and it eliminates all of the judgment for those not bound by the Tolling Agreement, including the Trust and the individual Appellant."

 

Furthermore, the appeal argued that the monetary award was a punitive measure imposed for retributive and deterrent purposes. Trump’s lawyers described the judgment as "grossly disproportional under the Eighth Amendment's Excessive Fines Clause and grossly excessive under the Due Process Clauses." Christopher Kise, one of Trump’s attorneys, criticized the judgment, asserting that Judge Engoron "willingly allowed a reckless, politically motivated attorney general to meddle in lawful, private, and mutually profitable transactions." Kise claimed that the allegations by New York Attorney General Letitia James revolved around deals with "no victims and no losses" and were drawn from outside the statute of limitations.

 

Kise added, "Such an outrageous miscarriage of justice is profoundly un-American, and a complete reversal is the only means available to restore public confidence in the integrity of the New York judicial system."

 

A spokesperson for Attorney General James responded to the appeal, stating, "Once again, the defendants are raising arguments that they were already sanctioned and fined for. We won this case based on the facts and the law, and we are confident we will prevail on appeal." The appeals court is expected to take up the case as early as September.

 

Credit: UPI 2024-07-24

 

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  Good luck with that Orange Man!!  

Edited July 23, 20242 yr by mushroomdave

Quell surprise 

He is quite right no one lost money ( not always the case with Donald's history) nevertheless I'm sure if successful first thing will be to track down the donors in Donald's never ending go fund me go fund me go fund me 

9 minutes ago, Dave0206 said:

He is quite right no one lost money

Nope, if you defraud the tax man, all taxpayers are victims as they could have paid less.

1 minute ago, FritsSikkink said:

Nope, if you defraud the tax man, all taxpayers are victims as they could have paid less.

I think the major bank was dausch bank (German) so they made less profit in theory Donald should have more profit I'm sure no reason to doubt his "honesty and integrity 😉 "

Even if it's reduced 50%, he'll still owe more than a quarter billion USD and won't be able to pay it.