NEW YORK — An appeals court on Thursday tossed a roughly $500 million civil fraud judgment against President Donald Trump and his family business, marking a significant victory for the president in a case that he repeatedly derided as a political stunt by state Attorney General Tish James.
The court, however, declined to overturn the fraud case against Trump, leaving open the possibility that he will seek to appeal the verdict to New York’s highest court. And the three separateopinions issued Thursday by the appeals court revealed disagreement within the five-judge panel that one judge described as “profound.”
“While the injunctive relief ordered by the court is well crafted to curb defendants’ business culture, the court’s disgorgement order, which directs that defendants pay nearly half a billion dollars to the State of New York, is an excessive fine that violates the Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution,” one of the judges, Peter Moulton, wrote.
A spokesperson for James didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
In February 2024, a Manhattan trial judge found that Trump and other defendants — including his adult sons, Don Jr. and Eric, along with several business associates — fraudulently inflated his net worth and the value of his real estate properties to obtain favorable rates from banks and insurers.
The three-month trial proved contentious, with Trump repeatedly lashing out at James and the judge, Justice Arthur Engoron, and earning himself a gag order as well as two fines for violating it.
Though the decision to throw out the massive judgment against Trump was unexpected, the judges signaled during oral arguments nearly a year ago that they had serious questionsabout the legitimacy of the case.
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