A panel of appeals court judges decided Thursday that while President Donald Trump was found to have broken the law and guilty of felonies, the panel thought that the civil fraud penalty was "excessive" at $464 million.
Legal experts complained about the decision, noting that the penalties aim to stop the unlawful behavior.
University of Michigan Law School Professor Barbara McQuade said that while the penalty was dropped, Eric Trump shouldn't be celebrating, as he is on X.
"Total victory in the sham NY Attorney General case!!! After 5 years of hell, justice prevailed!" Eric Trump proclaimed.
But McQuade called it "anything but" a total victory.
"You can predict what the spin is going to be, you know, 'total exoneration,' etc.," said McQuade. "I have had a chance to skim this opinion, certainly not read every word of the 300-page opinion. But what's really important is, even though the court found that the fine was excessive and has eliminated that under the Eighth Amendment. What it said, most importantly, is that there was fraud. That the verdict was absolutely sound. That the evidence showed that the Trump Organization engaged in massive fraud, and that is not going anywhere."
Trump has been going after Attorney General Letitia James personally after she won the fraud case against him last year.
Bradley P. Moss, a national security lawyer, exclaimed, "So he did break the law but the penalty was excessive. OK, adjust the penalty."
He later added, "Trump is still adjudicated criminally as a fraud and civilly as a fraud. Get your act together."
"Pathetic really. At this point, a slap on the wrist isn't going to stop Trump's fraud. Is this an admission by the NY appeals court that the no law anywhere can hold him accountable?" asked tech lawyer Benjamin Kabak.
See the clip of McQuade below or at the link here.