Trump celebrates as victory court ruling that found he engaged in fraud

A New York appeals court on Thursday, August 21, rejected a $500 million civil fraud penalty against President Donald Trump and his companies for routinely over-valuing their properties in financial statements. However, some judges of the state Appellate Division’s First Department agreed that Trump and his companies had engaged in fraud.

“While harm certainly occurred, it was not the cataclysmic harm that can justify a nearly half-billion-dollar award to the State,” two of the judges wrote. Judge Arthur Engoron had ordered Trump to pay the fee for massively inflating the value of the Trump Organisation’s properties to secure favourable loans. In the case, Judge Engoron had ordered Trump to pay $355 million, which, with interest, grew to more than $500 million.

However, in the lengthy ruling released on August 21, judges on the New York Supreme Court’s Appellate Division stated that while Trump was liable for the fraud, the fine of nearly half a billion dollars was excessive and probably violated constitutional protections against severe punishment. In a highly unusual move, the two judges who had wanted a new trial, John Higgitt and Llinét Rosado, signed off on the opinion by the judges who upheld the fraud finding to end the stalemate on the court and allow the parties to take their case to the Court of Appeals.

‘A remarkable situation’

“Under the truly extraordinary circumstances here, where none of the writings enjoys the support of a majority, we are moved to take this action to permit this panel to arrive at a decision,” Higgitt wrote, explaining why he and Rosado effectively sided with Justices Peter Moulton and Dianne Renwick even though they disagreed with much of their decision. “A remarkable situation has necessitated a remarkable solution,” Higgitt wrote.

The Trumps celebration

“TOTAL VICTORY in the FAKE New York State Attorney General Letitia James Case!” wrote Trump on Truth Social. “I greatly respect the fact that the Court had the Courage to throw out this unlawful and disgraceful Decision that was hurting Business all throughout New York State.” He went on to say “It was a Political Witch Hunt, in a business sense, the likes of which no one has ever seen before,” and then linked it to the 2020 elections. “This was a Case of Election Interference by the City and State trying to show, illegally, that I did things that were wrong when, in fact, everything I did was absolutely CORRECT and, even, PERFECT.”

Eric Trump also celebrated the ruling in a phone interview with NBC News. “This is the biggest victory in the world,” said the president’s son, who is the executive vice president of the Trump Organisation. “We always knew this was going to happen. The case is totally won, and it’s a big day for us.”