Donald Trump’s appeal was heard in the business fraud case brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James.
During the trial, I believed Trump had no chance because of the clear bias of the judge, Judge Engoron.
But I had been firm all along that I thought Trump had a great chance to have the sentence overturned or the penalties lessened on appeal, and that does appear to be what is going to happen here.
Extreme Verdict
If there was one common theme from the judges hearing the appeal, it was that they all seemed to believe the penalty issued was way over the top.
For instance, Justice Peter Moulton told prosecutors, “The immense penalty in this case is troubling.
“How do you tether the amount that was assessed by the Supreme Court to the harm that was caused here where the parties left these transactions happy?”
Another judge questioned some of the charges since there was no clear victim in the case.
Justice David Friedman stated, “It hardly seems to justify bringing an action to protect Deutsche Bank against President Trump which is what you have here.
“You have two really sophisticated players in which no one lost any money.”
The initial judgment against Trump was for $354 million as well as roughly $100 million in interest, which has been accruing at more than $100,000 per day.
The current value of the judgment is more than $478 million, and I just don’t see any way the appeals court allows that to stand.
I doubt they will let Trump off the hook, but I would be surprised to see him have to pay any more than a third of the initial judgment.
