An appeals court judge has thrown out a $500 million penalty that Donald Trump was ordered to pay after losing a fraud case in New York last year.
Judge Arthur Engoron ordered the fee after Trump was found liable for inflating the value of the Trump Organization’s properties to secure loans. Engoron had ordered Trump to pay $355m, but with interest, that grew to more than $500m.
On Thursday, judges on the New York Supreme Court’s Appellate Division ruled that while Trump is liable for fraud, the $500M penalty is excessive and likely unconstitutional.
“While harm certainly occurred, it was not the cataclysmic harm that can justify a nearly half billion-dollar award to the state,” wrote Judge Peter Moulton.
On Truth Social, Trump lauded the ruling as a “total victory.”
“I greatly respect the fact that the Court had the Courage to throw out this unlawful and disgraceful Decision that was hurting Business all throughout New York State,” he said. “It was a Political Witch Hunt, in a business sense, the likes of which no one has ever seen before.”
Trump has had an adversarial relationship with New York Attorney General Letitia James, who had accused Trump and his sons of “persistent and repeated fraud” in the case. He has consistently claimed that she has a political bias against him.
Several judges in the case have said that James was within her rights and lawful ability to bring the suit against Trump, while one jurist felt the case should have been dismissed and two believe that the case should be retried with a less broad scope.
However, the judges agreed with Moulton on the excessiveness of the fee in question.
The New York Attorney General’s office has not yet responded to the ruling.
