Calling the judgment “draconian,” the lawyer argued there were no direct victims since banks were satisfied with the transactions.
Lawyers for Donald Trump asked a New York appeals court on Thursday to overturn a $489 million civil fraud ruling, arguing that the penalty is excessive and based on flawed legal reasoning.
At least two of the justices from the five-justice panel from the Appellate Division, First Judicial Department—the state’s second-highest court—seemed skeptical about the enormity of the judgment handed down in the case, which has ballooned to $489 million.
During the hearing, Trump lawyer John Sauer argued that the judgment was “draconian” and suggested that there were no direct victims since the banks involved in the transactions were satisfied. Sauer also questioned the state’s reliance on the “continuing wrong doctrine”, which allowed for the consolidation of multiple alleged frauds over several years.
An attorney for New York state countered that the figure accurately represents the size of Trump’s profits from fraud. “There was a lot of fraud and illegality. It went on for seven years”, Deputy Solicitor General Judith Vale said, highlighting that Trump’s businesses gained significant financial benefits from the alleged scheme.
The state claims Trump inflated his net worth on financial statements by as much as $800 million to $2.2 billion per year. Trump’s legal team has consistently challenged a ruling by New York Judge Arthur Engoron, which found that Trump deceived banks, insurers and others for years by inflating his wealth on documents used to secure deals and loans.
