Appeals court tosses Trump’s $500M civil business fraud fine

A New York appeals court on Thursday overturned the over $500 million penalty against President Donald Trump, his children, and other associates for civil business fraud. The five-judge panel ruled that the $454 million fine imposed on Trump was excessive and therefore violated the Eighth Amendment protections against cruel and unusual punishment. Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Arthur Engoron ordered Trump to pay after his business fraud conviction. With interest, the collective fines against Trump and his associates reached over $550 million, Trump said. The divided appeals panel ultimately ruled that while Trump’s fraud did cause harm, a nearly half-billion dollar fine is not commensurate with that harm. The ruling only removed the financial penalty Trump received for the fraud conviction, not the conviction itself.

How has Trump responded? Trump released a lengthy statement Thursday declaring victory against the prosecuting attorney, New York State Attorney General Letitia James. He described the court’s decision as courageous and reaffirmed his innocence of any business fraud. Trump insisted that James brought the case to damage him politically and described both James and Engoron as corrupt.

Donald Trump Jr. also described the case as a witch hunt while celebrating the Thursday ruling. Even a left-leaning appeals court agrees that the case was a total miscarriage of justice, he wrote. Justice prevailed after five years in court, Eric Trump wrote on Thursday.

Has the prosecution responded? The decision upheld the lower court's ruling that Trump and his associates are indeed liable for fraud, according to James’ Thursday statement. She did not acknowledge the overturned penalties, but noted that the injunctive relief limiting Trump’s ability to do business in the state still stood. James also planned to petition the New York State Court of Appeals for a ruling, the statement added.

Dig deeper: Read Josh Schumacher’s report for more background on Trump’s civil appeal.