Trump calls on New York court to toss ‘legally and factually baseless’ fraud ruling

Donald Trump is once again appealing a blockbuster fraud penalty against the president and his real-estate empire after his political adversary Letitia James won a multi-million dollar verdict against his sprawling family business.

Last year, a fractured state appeals court tossed a $500 million penalty against Trump and his associates after judges determined the penalty, which has ballooned with interest, was “excessive.”

But the court upheld Justice Arthur Engoron’s findings that the president and his business partners committed brazen fraud, falling short of the vindication that the president sought through the courts to save him.

The president is now asking to throw out the remaining fraud ruling, which his legal team claimed is based on politically motivated and “legally and factually baseless” and “demonstrably wrong” arguments.

The 119-page appeal called on the court to “put an end to this legally deficient case.”

They accused James — who was targeted by Trump’s Department of Justice after her victory in the fraud case — of “unconstitutional selective enforcement.”

“The reason here was pure politics, as Attorney General James’s own statements make clear,” they wrote.

In 2024, Engoron’s verdict in Manhattan determined that Trump and his co-defendants in his Trump Organization empire had illegally enriched themselves by defrauding banks and investors as part of a decade-long scheme to secure favorable financing terms for some of his brand-building properties.

The decision followed a bench trial and three-year investigation under James’s office, who had accused Trump and his associates of fraudulently convincing banks and lenders to give them favorable financing terms based on bogus and inflated financial statements.

This is a developing story