Former President Donald Trump is appealing the civil fraud ruling that demands he pay over $450 million.
The former president’s legal team filed paperwork with a mid-level appeals court in New York on Monday, calling Judge Arthur Engoron’s ruling in February “draconian, unlawful, and unconstitutional.”
“Such an outrageous miscarriage of justice is profoundly un-American, and a complete reversal is the only means available to restore public confidence in the integrity of the New York judicial system,” Christopher Kise, a lawyer for Trump, said.
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Republican presidential candidate and former president Donald Trump speaks during the final day of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
Trump’s lawyers argue that the lawsuit decision gives New York Attorney General Letitia James “limitless power to target anyone she desires, including her self-described political opponents.”
“We won this case based on the facts and the law, and we are confident we will prevail on appeal,” the attorney general’s office said in a statement.
Engoron ruled in February that Trump and other defendants were liable for persistent and repeated fraud, falsifying business records, issuing false financial statements, conspiracy to falsify false financial statements, insurance fraud and conspiracy to commit insurance fraud.
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Justice Arthur Engoron presides over the civil fraud trial of the Trump Organization at the New York State Supreme Court in New York City, New York. (ERIN SCHAFF/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
In September 2023, before the non-jury trial, Engoron ruled that Trump and the Trump Organization had committed fraud while building his real estate empire by deceiving banks, insurers and others by overvaluing his assets and exaggerating his net worth on paperwork used in making deals and securing financing.
Trump was hit with an initial penalty of $355 million. That sum is quickly increasing via interest accruals of approximately $112,000 a day until paid in full, now sitting around $470 million.
Trump’s team has called Engoron’s decisions “legally bereft” and “untethered to the law or to commercial reality” due to the unprecedented severity of the nearly half-billion dollar financial penalty currently attached, as well as arguments that some charges are beyond the statute of limitations.
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Attorney General Letitia James speaks during a press conference following the verdict against former President Donald Trump in a civil fraud trial in New York City. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
If Trump loses his appeal, the former president may be liable for the full $454 million. His real estate portfolio may then be exposed to seizure by James.
The Appellate Division can rule that Engoron’s verdict stands, adjust the penalty, or overturn the conviction.
If Trump’s appeal is unsuccessful, he will be able to ask the Court of Appeals, New York’s highest court, to take the case.
Fox News Digital’s Landon Mion and Brooke Singman contributed to this report.
