Trump wins versus Letitia

Headline (probable paywall):

Appeals Court Tosses Trump’s $500 Million Civil Penalty in Business Fraud Case
A judge said the penalty violated the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on excessive fines.

President Donald Trump has scored a significant win, with a New York appeals court throwing out the half-a-billion-dollar penalty he received in his business fraud case.

The decision on Aug. 21 was issued after a hearing last year in which the appeals court seemed skeptical of the case against Trump.

A concurring opinion from Justice Peter Moulton said that the lower “court’s disgorgement order, which directs that defendants pay nearly half a billion dollars to the State of New York, is an excessive fine that violates the Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution.”

New York Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron ruled against Trump in February 2024, leaving him with a judgment exceeding $460 million with interest accruing. Trump posted a bond of $175 million, with the appeals process playing out in the New York Appellate Division, First Judicial Department.

As a whole, the appeals court ultimately affirmed the judgment from Engoron, but the panel of five judges was divided, with three separate opinions, including partial dissents. The court also allowed a path forward for another appeal before New York’s highest court, the Court of Appeals.

Two of the judges–Moulton and Justice Dianne Renwick–said they thought Attorney General Letitia James “acted well within her lawful power in bringing this action, and that she vindicated a public interest in doing so.” Both, however, disagreed with the high penalty.

Justice David Friedman was more critical of the Supreme Court’s ruling and James’s action, accusing her of being interested in “political hygiene, ending with the derailment of President Trump’s political career and the destruction of his real estate business.”

He said that the court’s decision “unanimously derails the effort to destroy his business.”

In a post declaring “TOTAL VICTORY,” Trump said on Truth Social that he was “so honored by Justice David Friedman’s great words of wisdom, which should be read by everyone.”

Acting U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Alina Habba, who also represented Trump in his fraud trial, praised the appeals court ruling on social media.

“Today’s ruling by the New York appeals court is a resounding victory for President Trump and his company,” she said in a statement posted to X.

“The court struck down the outrageous and unlawful $464 million penalty, confirming what we have said from the beginning: the Attorney General’s case was politically motivated, legally baseless, and grossly excessive. President Trump won - and justice won with him.”

I somehow doubt this is over. It won't be over until Letitia James explodes into bloody fragments. But how do you appeal an appeals court's decision? I agree, though: James's assessment of a $464 million penalty for real-estate fraud that never happened was ridiculous on its surface. Dozens of people and firms testified that Trump's assessment of his property's value was fair, and many businesses that had worked with Trump said they'd do so again. They wouldn't say that if they didn't trust the man.

And fuck that Engoron guy.