Trump appeals ‘egregious’ $454m civil fraud verdict

Donald Trump is seeking to overturn the $454m New York civil fraud ruling that threatens his financial health as he makes his third bid for the White House.

In February, Justice Arthur Engoron hit the former president, his sons Eric and Donald Trump Jr, and top executives at the Trump Organization with the multi-million-dollar judgment after finding that they lied to banks and insurers by inflating his net worth in order to secure more favorable loans.

On Monday, Trump’s legal team appealed the judgment, slamming it as “egregious”, “erroneous” and “draconian” and claiming that it handed New York Attorney General Letitia James “limitless power”.

In the 95-page filing, filed with the Appellate Division of the state’s trial courts, his attorneys claimed that the judgement “violates centuries of New York case law”.

His lawyers also argued that James, who brought the civil lawsuit against Trump in September 2022, was attempting to facilitate an “unauthorized, unprecedented power grab” and that failing to dismiss the judgement would bestow the attorney general “limitless power to target anyone she desires, including her self-described political opponents”.

In a statement, Trump’s attorney Christopher Kise said the appeal “seeks reversal of the trial court’s legally bereft decisions”.

James’ office responded to the appeal in a statement to The Associated Press: “We won this case based on the facts and the law, and we are confident we will prevail on appeal.”

Engoron presided over the civil fraud trial and ruled on February 16 that Trump must pay $355m in penalties after he had “blatantly false financial data” to secure favorable business terms.

Interest continues to accrue on the judgment, with the total sum growing to more than $454m.

Unless the verdict is overturned, that sum will continue to increase by more than $112,000 per day.

The judge also barred Trump from running any New York company for three years, while Eric and Don Jr were barred for two years.

“No party ever complained or alleged any default. Every loan payment was made on time, and all the loans were repaid in full – some before they came due,” Trump’s lawyers contested in Monday’s filing.

In April, Trump posted a $175 million bond to delay collection of the judgement and prevent James’ office from seizing his assets while he appeals.

The bond was reduced from $464 million after his lawyers said it was a “practicial impossibility” to come up with the money.

The Republican presidential candidate maintains that he is worth several billion dollars, while Forbes’ latest estimate pitted his net worth at $7.5bn – making him one of the top 500 richest people on the planet.

Trump’s appeal follows a string of recent successes in his legal cases.

The Supreme Court ruled on July 1 that the former president should have immunity from prosecution for “official acts” undertaken in office, further delaying his federal election interference case.

This also meant his New York hush money trial sentencing was pushed back several months to September 18.

Then, on July 15, Florida Judge Aileen Cannon tossed out Trump’s classified documents case altogether, after ruling that special counsel Jack Smith’s appointment to the case was unconstitutional.