'Wrong on the law': Prosecutors slap back at Trump's latest effort to dodge $464M payment
New York prosecutors this week hit back at former President Donald Trump and his attempts to get out of paying $464 million in fraud damages, court records show.
Attorney General Letitia James' office delivered Wednesday a 168-page argument to the New York Court of Appeals detailing the many reasons they believe Trump's appeal of his civil fraud case doesn't pass muster.
"For years, the Trump Organization and its top executives engaged in a fraudulent and illegal scheme to misleadingly inflate the net worth of defendant Donald J. Trump," James' team writes.
"Defendants do not meaningfully dispute that they engaged in most of these deceptions to falsely inflate the values of Mr. Trump’s assets. Instead, they rely on speculative and unsupported contentions."
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Trump's appeal of the landmark rulings — Justice Arthur Engoron found the former president liable for fraud in 2023 before his trial then demanded the multi-million dollar payment upon its conclusion — will head to the First Department appellate division on Sept. 26, court records show.
Trump submitted a $175 million bond in the spring and mounted an appeal, which is not expected to conclude before the 2024 presidential election.
The Republican presidential nominee denies wrongdoing and argues that because no one was harmed, the judgment was unconstitutional, court records show.
On Wednesday, the New York Attorney General's office dismissed the question of harm as immaterial and reiterate the initial argument that Trump for years inflated the value of his assets to defraud lenders and investors.
"On appeal, defendants tellingly ignore almost all their deceptions," the filing states. "It is well-established that neither reliance nor victims’ losses— which are elements of common-law fraud—is required...Indeed, one of § 63(12)’s core remedial purposes is to protect the honesty and integrity of commercial marketplaces in New York by stopping fraudulent and illegal practices before they cause financial losses to market participants or broader harms to the public."
Put more simply, prosecutors' argument boils down to "Defendants are wrong on the law."