Massive civil fraud verdict against Trump gets frosty reception at New York appeals court

A panel of judges voiced skepticism about the size and validity of the nearly half-billion-dollar judgment.

Vale disputed that suggestion,saying “there was absolutely a public impact and a public interest here,” but she continued to field similar questions from other judges.

“I think you hear underneath all these questions, the question of mission creep,” Associate Justice Peter Moulton said. “Has 6312” — the statute in question — “morphed into something that it was not meant to do?”

“I will stress, your honor, that this does have harm to the public and to the markets,” Vale said in response.

Trump’s lawyer, D. John Sauer, also fielded questions about his arguments as the former president seeks to eliminate one of his most serious financial burdens as he heads into the final stretch of the presidential race.

Sauer argued that in the deals in question, there were “no victims, no complaints.” But Moulton wondered, “What about deterrence?”

Even if the transactions at issue in the Trump case “went down fine,” Moulton said, similar fraudulent conduct in the future “might not go down well, and someone would be harmed by that.”

The panel didn’t rule Thursday.

The former president hasn’t had to turn over the full amount of the judgment because a panel of state appeals judges allowed him to put up only a $175 million bond while he appeals the verdict.

https://www.politico.com/news/2024/09/26/trump-civil-fraud-appeal-oral-arguments-00181339