In a huge blow to Letitia James and Biden’s prosecutors, a New York Appeals Court threw out the massive civil fraud penalty against President Trump on Thursday.
The AP reported:
An appeals court has thrown out the massive civil fraud penalty against President Donald Trump, ruling Thursday in New York state’s lawsuit accusing him of exaggerating his wealth.
The decision came seven months after the Republican returned to the White House. A panel of five judges in New York’s mid-level Appellate Division said the verdict, which stood to cost Trump more than $515 million and rock his real estate empire, was “excessive.”
After finding that Trump engaged in fraud by flagrantly padding financial statements that went to lenders and insurers, Judge Arthur Engoron ordered him last year to pay $355 million in penalties. With interest, the sum has topped $515 million.
Marxist New York Attorney General Letitia James sought $370 million in ‘damages’ when there is no victim in this fraud case and she also sought to ban Trump and his sons from operating any businesses in New York. She accused Trump of inflating his assets and defrauding lenders and insurance companies.
Last year Judge Engoron ordered Trump to pay more than a $355 million fine and barred Trump “from serving as an officer or director of any New York corporation or other legal entity in New York for a period of three years.”
Engoron claimed Trump and each of the defendants “participated in aiding and abetting the conspiracy to commit insurance fraud by their individual acts in falsifying business records and valuations, causing materially fraudulent SFCs to be intentionally submitted to insurance companies.”
Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump were also ordered to pay millions of dollars in fines.
Trump Org. CFO Allen Weisselberg was ordered to pay $1 million.
The $355 million judgment PLUS daily interest swelled to more than $500 million.
Letitia James even took the initial step to seize President Trump’s assets after he was unable to secure a bond or pay the outrageous judgement.
Appeals Court Lays Waste to Letitia James’ Legal Assault on Trump
Somebody might want to check on New York Attorney General Letitia James. An appeals court just threw out the $500 million civil fraud penalty against President Donald Trump that resulted from James’ lawsuit against him during the 2024 campaign.
From the Wall Street Journal:
The decision from a five-judge panel provides a significant legal boost for Trump in the case, which was brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James.
“The 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,” Justice Peter Moulton wrote in one of three opinions, none of which commanded a majority.
James, a Democrat, sued Trump in September 2022. She said her office had uncovered “incredible fraud and illegality,” alleging that Trump, his two eldest sons and former Trump Organization executives had lied to lenders to get cheaper real estate financing.
Her lawsuit claimed that Trump’s financial statements systematically overestimated the value of his marquee Manhattan skyscrapers, golf courses and other properties in financial statements to lenders.
James filed the lawsuit against Trump in September 2022, claiming that Trump, his company, his three eldest children, and others had engaged in a decades-long scheme to “falsely inflate his net worth by billions of dollars.”
The attorney general accused Trump of providing false information to secure favorable loan conditions, insurance terms, tax benefits, and continued access to credit by misrepresenting the size and values of his assets.
After an 11-week trial that wrapped up in early 2024, anti-Trump Judge Arthur Engoron found the president and his associates liable for fraud. He ordered a $354 million penalty, along with interest, which brought the total to just under $500 million.
The judge also imposed a three-year ban on Trump barring him from serving as an officer or director of his New York companies. He also prohibited him from receiving loans from New York financial institutions and mandated government supervision of the Trump Organization.
Unfortunately for James and Engoron, the appeals court understood that the penalty was far too harsh.
The lawsuit was one of several efforts Democrats made to influence the outcome the 2024 election by weaponizing the legal system against Trump.
Meanwhile, James is facing her own investigation into allegations of mortgage fraud.
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Jessica Tarlov Deletes Post Defending Criminal Illegal Alien After Intense Backlash
New details have emerged on the viral arrest of a man who attempted to flee from a group of federal agents not far from the National Mall on Wednesday afternoon, prompting a deleted X post from Fox News contributor Jessica Tarlov after she initially defended the suspect.
Footage obtained by NBC Washington shows a group of federal agents and D.C. Metropolitan Police officers stopping a Hispanic man driving a blue SUV. Almost immediately after exiting the vehicle, the man attempted to flee and was subsequently tackled by one of the agents.
As he was being restrained, the man yelled, in Spanish, that he was “not a criminal” and wanted to be with his family. “Just saw DC Police + federal agents detain a man on the National Mall. He appeared to try to escape, then was quickly tackled to the ground by several agents + was screaming in Spanish ‘please, I’m not a criminal, I work here, I want to be with my family,’” NBC’s Aimee Cho reported, providing a sympathetic overview of the situation.
Details of the arrest, nor the suspect, were not immediately available. The Department of Homeland Security provided additional details in an X post a few hours later, however.
“This illegal alien from Mexico was previously arrested in January 2024 in Fairfax County for aggravated sexual assault of a child under 13,” the department posted on X alongside a meme mocking Cho’s post.
“He entered and had a final order of removal and chose to voluntary return- twice. Illegally entered 3 times. Thank you to law enforcement for getting him off of Washington DC’s streets.”
Fox News contributor Jessica Tarlov was among the handful of liberals who criticized the arrest without knowing any details of the case. “This doesn’t make D.C. safer,” Tarlov posted on X. “The cruelty is always the point.”
Tarlov found herself on the receiving end of intense backlash once details surrounding the arrest were released to the public. “Fox News’ Jessica Tarlov rushed to the defense of an illegal alien who was arrested for s*xual assault on a child under the age of 13. She really is the worst,” said Florida’s Voice contributor Eric Daugherty.
White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller also weighed in on the controversy in a post of his own. “Why are you defending a criminal illegal alien invader charged with sexually assaulting a child?” Miller wrote.
“I didn’t know he was – the DHS memo on him came out hours after the video,” Tarlov responded after deleting the initial post. “Wouldn’t ever defend such a person! Hopefully you guys will only go after these types versus hardworking folks that have committed no crimes! Will delete my original tweet.”
The viral arrest was made as part of the Trump Administration’s crackdown on crime in Washington D.C.
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The Media Thought This Story Would Make Immigration Enforcement Look Bad. They Were Wrong
Without fail, these stories end up exposing that we’re awash with illegal aliens, and that Immigration and Customs Enforcement, along with other law enforcement entities, are doing the Lord’s work in nabbing these people. Take this clip shot in DC and posted by NBC Washington’s Aimee Cho. A Hispanic man, who was later revealed to be an illegal alien, was stopped, taken out of his vehicle, and then detained by federal agents. He tried to flee but failed.
“Please, I’m not a criminal, I work here, I want to be with my family,” he said in Spanish. Not true—the man is an illegal alien child rapist. He was arrested in January of 2024 in Fairfax County, Virginia.
And the Left is retreating.
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