On July 22, lawyers for former President Donald Trump appealed to a New York court to overturn the $454 million civil fraud judgment issued earlier this year.
In court documents filed with the Appellate Division of the State Supreme Court’s First Department, New York’s mid-level court, Trump’s lawyers argued that Manhattan Judge Arthur Engoron’s February 16 ruling, which claimed former President Trump made false statements about his wealth to insurers, banks, and other entities, was incorrect.
“Based on the ruling in this case, no company will want to come to New York to do business, and many businesses are fleeing,” his attorneys wrote. “The economic aspects of this decision are a disaster for New York.” The New York Attorney General’s office “has used the statute in a way never seen before,” they added.
The lawyers said “there were no victims and no losses,” adding that the former president’s business partners “raved internally about their business with him and were eager for more.”
In their appeal, Trump’s lawyers argued that the judge made an “erroneous” decision and “struggled to understand basic banking concepts” during the case before issuing the fine. They also claimed he wrongly disregarded an earlier appeals court decision on the statute of limitations, asserting that New York Attorney General Letitia James’ civil lawsuit should have been dismissed.
Trump’s legal team argued that Justice Engoron’s decision grants the state attorney general’s office “limitless power to target anyone,” including “political opponents,” according to their 116-page filing.
“If Appellants’ conduct constituted ‘fraud’ […] then that word has no meaning, and [New York Attorney General’s] power to seize and destroy private businesses is boundless—and standardless,” the attorneys added.
Before the trial, Justice Engoron dismissed many of the objections raised by Trump’s attorneys, at one point likening their arguments to the movie “Groundhog Day” and fining some of the lawyers $7,500 each for “repetitive, frivolous” claims.
The Appellate Division had earlier rejected Trump’s attempt to dismiss the case on statute of limitations and other grounds.
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