Trump Business Fraud Case Appeal Heard

From day one, I believed that Trump would lose the fraud case because of the clear bias of Judge Engoron.

However, I also stated that I expected Trump to prevail on appeal by having the penalty significantly reduced or overturned.

After listening to the appeals court judges during Thursday’s hearing, I am more convinced than ever that I got this one right.

Seem Accepting

The ruling against Trump was unprecedented. It slapped him with more than a $350 million fine and penalties that now exceed $100 million and continue to accrue at more than $100,000 per day.

Trump is now facing a $454 million penalty, which will likely decrease significantly.

The judges on the appeals panel seemed very concerned about the magnitude of the ruling when cases like this are generally a small fine, penalty, back taxes, and a slap on the wrist.

As an example, Justice Peter Moulton told prosecutors, “The immense penalty in this case is troubling.

“How do you tether the amount that was assessed by the Supreme Court to the harm that was caused here where the parties left these transactions happy?”

Most of the case rests on Trump’s financial statements and internal property valuations, but the bank is also required to do its due diligence.

To be clear, the banks did not in any way express any issues or claim to be harmed here, which led to Trump’s attorneys wondering what crime was committed.

There is simply no way you can justify this type of fine in a case such as this that we have seen settled time and again for a small fraction of what James was awarded by Engoron.

The ruling was ridiculous, as were the charges, and this verdict will not stand.

And that, of course, does not even take into account the obvious bias of Judge Engoron.