BREAKING: Appeals Court Tosses Letitia’s ‘Excessive’ Penalty Against Trump

Former President Donald Trump scored a massive legal win Thursday after a New York appeals court tossed out the staggering $515 million civil fraud penalty leveled against him, blasting it as unconstitutional and excessive.

The ruling, handed down by a five-judge panel in the state’s mid-level Appellate Division, gutted Judge Arthur Engoron’s order that threatened to cripple Trump’s real estate empire. Engoron had originally fined Trump $355 million last year — a figure that ballooned past $515 million with interest.

“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 T. Renwick and Peter H. Moulton wrote.

The decision also wipes away penalties levied against Trump’s sons, Eric and Donald Jr., which had pushed the combined total against the Trump Organization to more than $527 million.

Other restrictions imposed by Engoron, including temporary bans on Trump and his sons serving in corporate leadership, remain paused while appeals play out. Trump was able to fend off immediate collection of the fine by posting a $175 million bond earlier this year.

Former U.S. President Donald Trump attends the trial of himself, his adult sons, the Trump Organization and others in a civil fraud case brought by state Attorney General Letitia James, at a Manhattan courthouse, in New York City, U.S., October 3, 2023. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton/Pool

The appeals court left the door open for the state’s Court of Appeals — New York’s highest court — to weigh in later. But for now, Trump is free of the crushing financial penalty that Democrats had touted as a death blow to his business.

New York Attorney General Letitia James, who spearheaded the case, had accused Trump of “lying, cheating, and staggering fraud.” Her office had no immediate comment following the ruling.

Trump has repeatedly blasted the case as politically motivated. During closing arguments in January 2024, he declared, “I am an innocent man. This case is a fraud on me.”

His lawyers argued that his financial statements came with disclaimers noting they weren’t audited, that banks and insurers conducted their own due diligence, and that all loans were paid back in full. Far from inflated, Trump insisted, his reported net worth was actually “lowball.”

The appeals court took nearly 11 months to issue its ruling — an unusually long delay for such cases. That delay, and now the reversal, has fueled Trump’s claim that Democrats weaponized the legal system in a failed bid to stop his return to the White House.

The decision is the latest in a string of legal battles dogging Trump’s second term. But with the half-billion-dollar penalty wiped out, the former president has shown once again that his critics’ most aggressive attacks don’t always stick.

For Trump, it’s another headline-grabbing win — and for James and Engoron, a high-profile defeat in their war against him.