Trump appeals $454 million New York civil fraud judgment

A judge’s February ruling that found former President Donald Trump and his company committed hundreds of millions of dollars in fraud should be tossed out, attorneys for Trump said in an appeal filed Monday.

Trump’s lawyers called the $454 million judgment “draconian” and complained that the “case violates centuries of New York case law.” 

Judge Arthur Engoron found that Trump, his company and top executives, including his sons Eric and Donald Trump Jr., deceived banks and insurers for years, inflating Trump’s wealth on financial statements in order to obtain favorable deal terms they wouldn’t have otherwise received.

Engoron concluded the Trumps and their company benefited to the tune of $354 million in “ill-gotten gains” through the scheme, and ruled they must pay the state that sum plus interest of about $100 million.

In their appeal Monday, Trump’s attorneys repeated arguments they brought up frequently during the more than two-month-long 2023 bench trial. They claimed allegations made by New York Attorney General Letitia James were from outside the statute of limitations and revolved around deals that had “no victims and no losses.” 

“This appeal seeks reversal of the trial court’s legally bereft decisions which ignored the undisputed facts,” said Trump attorney Christopher Kise in a statement to CBS News. 

Kise added that Engoron “willingly allowed a reckless, politically motivated Attorney General to meddle in lawful, private, and mutually profitable transactions.”

Trump’s attorneys also made a claim they’ve been arguing since before the trial, writing that James’ office lacked standing under New York law to bring the 2022 suit against Trump and his company that led to fraud finding. 

Engoron sanctioned five Trump lawyers $7,500 each in September 2023 for “repeating these frivolous arguments” after they were rejected by courts multiple times.

A spokesperson for James noted those fines in responding to the appeal Monday night.

“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 spokesperson said.

Engoron in February issued a scathing ruling against Trump and his company, in which he wrote that Trump and other defendants’ “complete lack of contrition and remorse borders on pathological.” 

“They are accused only of inflating asset values to make more money. The documents prove this over and over again.”

Trump testified during the trial, claiming that if valuations of his properties or wealth were mistaken, it was because they were in fact undervalued. He also blamed his accountants for misleading financial statements at the center of the case.

Engloron concluded Trump and his company gave the accountants “blatantly false financial data.”

“When confronted at trial with the statements, defendants’ fact and expert witnesses simply denied reality, and defendants failed to accept responsibility or to impose internal controls to prevent future recurrences,” Engoron wrote.

He said the frauds in the case “leap off the page and shock the conscience.”

James’ office is expected to respond to the appeal in August, and an appellate court will consider the case during its fall term.