NEW YORK — Donald Trump has appealed his $454 million sentence in the New York civil fraud case, challenging a judge’s finding that the former president lied about his wealth as he grew the real estate empire that launched him to stardom and the presidency.
Lawyers for the former president filed a notice of appeal Monday asking the state’s mid-level Court of Appeals to overturn Judge Arthur Engoron’s Feb. 16 verdict in Attorney General Letitia James’ lawsuit.
Trump’s lawyers wrote in court papers that they are asking the appeals court to decide whether Engoron “made errors of law and/or fact” and whether it abused its discretion and/or jurisdiction.
Engoron concluded that Trump, his company and top executives, including his sons Eric and Donald Trump Jr., conspired for years to deceive banks and insurers by inflating his wealth in financial statements used to guarantee loans and close deals. Among other sanctions, the judge imposed strict limitations on the ability of Trump’s company, the Trump Organization, to do business.
TRUMP’S LEGAL FIGHT WILL CONTINUE INTO PRIMARY SEASON
The appeal ensures that the legal fight over Trump’s business practices will persist well into the presidential primary season, and likely beyond, as he tries to secure the Republican presidential nomination in his quest to retake the White House.
If upheld, the Engoron ruling will force Trump to give up a considerable portion of his fortune. Engoron ordered Trump to pay $355 million in fines, but with interest the total has risen to nearly $454 million. That total will increase by nearly $112,000 a day until he pays up.
Trump maintains he is worth several billion dollars and testified last year that he had about $400 million in cash, plus property and other investments. James, a Democrat, told ABC News that if Trump can’t pay, she will seek to seize some of his assets.
Trump’s appeal was expected. Trump had promised to do so, and his lawyers had been laying the groundwork for months by frequently objecting to Engoron’s handling of the trial.
Trump couldn’t immediately appeal the decision because the Engoron clerk of court’s office had to file paperwork known as a judgment to make it official. That was done on Friday.
THE ARGUMENT OF TRUMP AND HIS LAWYERS
Trump said Engoron’s decision, the costliest ruling in his recent legal troubles, was “election interference” and “weaponizing a political opponent.”
Trump complained that he was being punished for “building a perfect company, lots of money, great buildings, everything great.”
Trump’s lawyer, Christopher Kise, said after the verdict that the former president was confident that the appeals court “will finally correct the countless and catastrophic errors made by a trial court that is not bound by the law or reality.”
“Given the seriousness of the stakes, we are confident that the Appellate Division will overturn this egregious verdict and put an end to this relentless persecution of my clients,” said Trump attorney Alina Habba.
If the decision stands, Habba said, “it will serve as a signal to all Americans that New York is no longer open for business.”
Trump’s lawyers have already gone to the Appellate Division at least 10 times to challenge previous Engoron rulings, including during trial in a failed attempt to overturn a gag order and $15,000 in fines for violations after Trump made a post false and derogatory on social media about a key court official.
Trump’s lawyers have long argued that some of the allegations are time-barred, maintaining that Engoron failed to comply with an Appellate Division ruling last year that asked him to narrow the scope of the trial to eliminate outdated allegations.
If Trump is unsuccessful in the Appellate Division, he can ask the state’s highest court, the Court of Appeals, to consider taking his case.
TRUMP’S LEGAL PROBLEMS
The appeal is one of Trump’s many legal challenges. He has been indicted on criminal charges four times in the last year. He is accused in Georgia and Washington, D.C., of plotting to overturn his 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden. In Florida, he is accused of hoarding classified documents.
He is scheduled to go on trial next month in Manhattan for falsifying business records related to money paid to porn actress Stormy Daniels on her behalf to maintain her silence.
In January, a jury ordered Trump to pay $83.3 million to writer E. Jean Carroll for defaming her after she accused him in 2019 of sexually assaulting her in a Manhattan department store in the 1990s. This is on top of the $5 million which a jury awarded to Carroll in a related trial last year.
2024-02-26 16:30:26
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