An appeals court has thrown out the massive civil fraud penalty against President Donald Trump, a huge win for Trump over the lawfare waged against him in the run-up to his 2024 election victory.
A panel of five judges in New York’s mid-level Appellate Division ruled Thursday that the original verdict secured by New York Attorney General Letitia (Tish) James in Judge Arthur Engoron’s court was “excessive.”
The fine could have cost Trump well over half a billion dollars, the Associated Press reported.
“While the injunctive relief ordered by the court is well crafted to curb defendants’ business culture, 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,” Judges Dianne Renwick and Peter Moulton wrote in an opinion shaping the appeals court’s ruling.
“The judge ruled the penalty was cruel and unusual, violating the Eighth Amendment,” Breitbart News Editor-in-Chief Alex Marlow posted on X after the decision. “This is EXACT argument I made in my NYT bestseller BREAKING THE LAW!”
Marlow has called for James, the New York Attorney General, to be investigated.
This is a developing story.
Bradley Jaye is Deputy Political Editor for Breitbart News. Follow him on X/Twitter and Instagram @BradleyAJaye.
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