President Donald Trump gloated in a 514-word social media post after an appeals court tossed out the massive judgment imposed on him for civil fraud, and he attacked other judges and their family members in other cases against him.
New York Judge Arthur Engoron found the president liable for fraud in September 2023 and imposed more than $500 million in penalties, accounting for interest, but an appeals court ruled Thursday the fine was "excessive," although they were split on whether the finding was justified – leaving the door open for New York Attorney General Letitia James to appeal.
"TOTAL VICTORY in the FAKE New York State Attorney General Letitia James Case!" Trump posted on Truth Social. "I greatly respect the fact that the Court had the Courage to throw out this unlawful and disgraceful Decision that was hurting Business all throughout New York State. Others were afraid to do business there."
"The amount, including Interest and Penalties, was over $550 Million Dollars," he added. "It was a Political Witch Hunt, in a business sense, the likes of which no one has ever seen before. 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. Every single Dollar was thrown out, even the penalties imposed on us by the Corrupt Judge, one of the most overturned in History, Arthur Engoron."
Trump complained about having a bench trial throughout the case, but court records show his attorneys never requested a jury.
"I wasn’t given a Jury and, during the course of the Trial, which lasted a long time, was not given one Ruling in my favor by this Political Hack, but worse than him, if that’s possible, was Letitia James, a Corrupt and Incompetent Attorney General who only brought this Case in order to hurt me politically," Trump posted. "She is a Trump Deranged Lunatic! They made me bond the outrageous sum, which never happened before, and which cost me Millions of Dollars a month. It should have never been allowed to happen, and everyone knew it!"
"Importantly, the Vote was 5 to 0," he added. "I am so honored by Justice David Friedman’s great words of wisdom, which should be read by everyone. I would also like to thank the Court for having the Courage to make this Decision, which is already going down as one of the worst business persecutions in the History of our Country."
The president then lashed out at the judge who presided over a trial that resulted in his conviction on all 34 counts of business fraud in the Stormy Daniel hush money case and the judge who oversaw trials in defamation cases brought against him by writer E. Jean Carroll, for which he was ordered to pay $88.3 million in damages.
"Sadly, there are other Cases against me that are equally disgraceful, including those headed up by Corrupt Judges, like Juan Merchan, whose daughter collected Millions of Dollars in Fees from Crooked Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, while her father shockingly REFUSED TO RECUSE himself from a vicious and corrupt trial, which is also under Appeal, one in which every Legal Pundit in New York said, 'THERE WAS NO CASE!'" Trump posted. "Even Editorial Boards said, 'DO NOT DO THIS!'"
"Judge Merchan gave me an unprecedented Gag Order, not letting me talk about him or his daughter, or the fact that the Appellate Judges thought he should not be doing the Case, but he did it anyway," Trump continued. "Many Lawyers said that his daughter and him created the Greatest Conflict of Interest they had ever seen."
"Judge Lewis Kaplan, the other remaining Case, whose wife, family, and friends attended his two trials, is as mean and nasty as anyone I have ever met," the president added. "That Case, also on Appeal, should also never have been brought, and he should be admonished for Abuse, and every other thing that can be thrown at a Corrupt Judge. He loved the publicity, and would not let us present the irrefutable evidence that we wanted to present. This Clinton appointed Judge should not be allowed to get away with this SCAM."