President Donald Trump is appealing a divided New York court decision that upheld fraud findings against him but erased a half-billion-dollar penalty, setting up another showdown in the state’s highest court, The Hill reported.
Trump’s attorneys filed a notice Tuesday to appeal in New York’s Court of Appeals, challenging a midlevel ruling that left intact a civil fraud case but tossed out a financial judgment exceeding $500 million.
The case, brought in 2022 by New York Attorney General Letitia James, accused Trump, his sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, and another executive of inflating his net worth for tax and insurance advantages.
Judges on the Appellate Division’s First Department upheld the lower court’s determination that Trump engaged in fraud for decades, but struck down what they called an “excessive” $464 million penalty, which, with interest, had grown to more than $515 million.
The five-judge panel issued a fractured 323-page decision that included three separate opinions. Two favored a new trial, and one wanted the case dismissed outright.
Ultimately, only three judges agreed on the order affirming the fraud ruling while voiding the penalty. Judges John Higgitt and Llinét Rosado, writing for the majority, called it “a remarkable situation” that required “a remarkable solution.”
While Trump and his family declared the outcome a “TOTAL VICTORY” and “massive win,” the ruling also preserved other penalties. Trump and his sons remain barred from serving as top executives in New York companies for a set period.
James, who has built her profile on aggressively pursuing Trump, vowed to appeal the midlevel ruling. She stressed last week that “yet another court” had found Trump to have broken the law, asserting that the case retains legal strength even with the financial sanction erased. Her office declined to expand on that statement after the appeal was filed.
Trump, 79, seized on the voided penalty during a Thursday appearance with law enforcement officers in Washington, D.C. “I had a victory today. You know, they stole $550 million from me with a fake case, and it was overturned,” he told the group, tying the ruling to his broader narrative of political persecution.
The original judgment stemmed from a bench trial before Judge Arthur Engoron, who imposed the $464 million penalty that later swelled with interest to $527 million by the time of the appeals decision. Engoron had ruled that Trump’s inflated valuations undermined the integrity of New York’s financial system and merited sweeping punishment.
With appeals now active on both sides, the case is set to move to the Court of Appeals, New York’s highest judicial body, where Trump and James will continue their high-stakes battle.
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