Appeals Court Seems Open to Reversing or Lowering Trump Judgment

On Thursday, Donald Trump’s fraud case went before the appeals panel.

Trump did not attend the trial, but his attorneys and attorneys from Letitia James’ office were drilled on the scope of the investigation as well as the final judgment.

Most legal experts believe the court is leaning toward, at the very least, lowering the penalty, if not outright reversing the judgment.

Leaning In

If you follow CJR and BND on a regular basis, you know that from the very beginning of this case, I had stated that the deck was stacked against Trump and he was going to be found guilty.

However, after hearing the judgment as well as the conduct of Judge Engeron, I also stated that I believe the verdict would either be overturned or significantly reduced.

The court seems to be leaning that way. As an example, 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 justice questioned the intent of the case since Deutsche Bank suffered no harm in the case and the loans were fully paid off.

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.”

Trump’s attorneys also continued to make the same case they made during the initial trial.

Trump’s financial statements are only a reference for the banks, as the bank is expected to do its own due diligence in the matter.

In this case, the bank was obviously happy with the terms extended to Trump, and Trump paid back all the loans on time, so there was no “harm” committed to anyone.

His attorney added, “We have a situation where there were no victims, no complaints, no evidence of materiality or reliance.”

The judgment against Trump was for $354 million and an additional $100 million in interest, which is accruing at more than $100,000 per day while this appeal takes place. (The current total for the judgment is now more than $478 million).

No ruling is expected before the election, but that could change based on the urgency of the court.

If Trump loses this appeal, he can still take the case to the New York Supreme Court for relief.