NEW YORK – On Thursday, New York’s attorney general sought to have the state’s top court restore President Donald Trump’s substantial civil fraud penalty, contesting a lower-court ruling that reduced the potential half-billion-dollar fine to nothing.
Attorney General Letitia James’ office announced an appeal with the state’s Court of Appeals, aiming to overturn last month’s decision by the mid-level Appellate Division that deemed the penalty as violating the U.S. Constitution’s prohibition of excessive fines.
James, a Democrat, had previously said she would appeal.
Trump proclaimed “TOTAL VICTORY” after the Appellate Division removed his fine, though the five-judge panel upheld other sanctions and confirmed, albeit narrowly, a trial court’s conclusion that he committed fraud by overstating his wealth on financial documents presented to banks and insurers.
Last week, Trump, a Republican, submitted his own appeal, requesting the Court of Appeals to dismiss those additional sanctions, which include a multiyear prohibition against him and his two eldest sons, Eric and Donald Trump Jr., from occupying corporate leadership roles in New York.
These restrictions have been suspended throughout the appeal process, and the Appellate Division judges stated that Trump can request a court order to prolong this halt while further appeals are ongoing.
James’ appeal represents the latest development in a lawsuit she initiated against Trump in 2022, alleging that he overstated his net worth by billions on his financial declarations and consistently deceived banks and others regarding the value of key assets, including golf courses, hotels, Trump Tower, and his Mar-a-Lago estate.
After a trial that saw a sometimes testy Trump take the witness stand, Judge Arthur Engoron ruled last year that James had proven he engaged in a yearslong conspiracy with executives at his company to deceive banks and insurers about his wealth and assets.
Engoron ordered Trump to pay $355 million — payback of what the judge deemed “ill-gotten gains” from his puffed-up financial statements. That amount soared to more than $515 million, including interest, by the time the Appellate Division ruled.
The five-judge Appellate Division panel was sharply divided on many issues in Trump’s appeal, but a majority said the monetary penalty was “excessive.”
“While harm certainly occurred, it was not the cataclysmic harm that can justify a nearly half billion-dollar award,” two of the judges wrote.
___
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
