A New York appeals court is scheduled to hear oral arguments on Donald Trump’s appeal regarding the $454 million civil fraud judgment against him on September 26, which makes it unlikely that a decision will be reached before Election Day. Trump is contesting Judge Arthur Engoron’s ruling, which found him liable for fraud and imposed a $354 million penalty plus interest, bringing the total to over $100 million. In his appeal, Trump claims the judgment is unconstitutional, argues that no actual harm occurred, and asserts that the case should be dismissed because the alleged misconduct occurred too long ago.
In April, Trump posted a $175 million bond after the appeals court reduced the amount, which temporarily paused any actions by New York Attorney General Letitia James’ office to seize properties or bank accounts.
Recently, the attorney general’s office filed a brief urging the appeals court to uphold Engoron’s verdict. They argue that there is “overwhelming evidence” proving Trump deliberately inflated the value of his properties on financial statements. The attorney general’s office criticizes Trump’s appeal for focusing on what they describe as “meritless legal arguments” instead of addressing the substantive evidence of fraud. They highlighted specific examples of deception, such as the inflated valuation of Trump’s Mar-A-Lago estate, which they argue exaggerated its value by hundreds of millions of dollars on financial statements.
The attorney general’s office defended the initial judgment, asserting that the $363.8 million figure was a reasonable estimate of the illicit profits resulting from the fraud. They countered Trump’s claims that the judgment improperly included loans beyond the statute of limitations and that profits from property sales were double-counted. According to the attorney general’s office, the judgment accurately reflected distinct categories of ill-gotten gains linked to the fraudulent statements.
