Donald Trump declared “total victory” over New York Attorney General Letitia James Thursday after a state appeals court tossed his bank fraud disgorgement.
In several lengthy Truth Social posts, the president incorrectly claimed that the court had voted “5 to 0” in his favor (it did not) and that “every single dollar was thrown out” (which is also untrue).
Trump also inanely suggested that the civil trial was yet another example of election interference, and that the attorney general’s case was the brainchild of former President Joe Biden and former Vice President Kamala Harris.
“It was a Political Witch Hunt, in a business sense, the likes of which no one has ever seen before,” the president wrote in a lengthy Truth Social post. “This was a Case of Election Interference by the City and State trying to show, illegally, that I did things that were wrong when, in fact, everything I did was absolutely CORRECT and, even, PERFECT.”
The president also posted a video of a still image of himself in court, set to DJ Khaled’s song “All I Do Is Win.”
What actually happened in the New York appeals court was, nonetheless, a major coup for Trump. Three judges on a five-judge panel voted to throw out Trump’s $500 million disgorgement Thursday, claiming the resulting penalty for the Trump Organization’s bank fraud case was an “excessive fine.”
At least two judges on the court agreed with the original ruling that found Trump and his codefendants liable for fraud, noting that the injunctive relief ordered by the presiding judge was “well crafted to curb defendants’ business culture.” However, the final page of the order stated that “three out of the five members of this panel clearly believe that the judgment should be vacated,” on the basis that the “attorney general has not yet proven her case.”
In her own statement, James underscored that the court had still affirmed that “Trump, his company, and two of his children are liable for fraud,” and that her office would appeal the ruling.
“The court upheld the injunctive relief we won, limiting Donald Trump and the Trump Organization officers’ ability to do business in New York,” she said. “It should not be lost to history: Yet another court has ruled that the president violated the law, and that our case has merit.”
The post Trump Is Already Lying About His New York Fraud Ruling appeared first on New Republic.
