In February, Justice Arthur Engoron, who presided over the non-jury trial, imposed the multi-million-dollar judgment after ruling that officials within the Trump Organization defrauded banks and insurers by inflating his net worth to obtain favorable loan terms. According to the legal brief submitted to the appeals court, Trump’s financial statements contained estimates for the value of his properties that considerably undervalued — not overvalued — his assets. “President Trump is worth substantially more, not less, than the statements reported,” according to the filing. “When those assets were sold in the marketplace, the only objective assessment of value — their sale prices — far exceeded [their] estimates.” The court filing also asserts that New York Attorney General Letitia James should not have been allowed to bring the case, arguing she "lacks authority to dismantle purely private, highly successful, complex transactions between sophisticated parties represented by elite law firms, accountants, and other service providers that implicate no public interest." Additionally, the filing claims the $464 million judgment is unconstitutional, imposed for retribution, and baseless, as there were no “ill-gotten gains” and thus no victim. James is also accused of targeting Trump for political reasons, having made statements for years showing her bias against Trump. “In fact, [James] campaigned on the promise that she would ‘get Trump’ and made this promise the single greatest point of her campaign,” the brief says. “No statute authorizes this power grab, so [she] had to invent that power by applying Executive Law § 63(12) in a way never seen before.” "This appeal seeks reversal of the trial court's legally bereft decisions which ignored the undisputed facts," said Trump attorney Christopher Kise in a statement to CBS News. Kise added that Engoron "willingly allowed a reckless, politically motivated Attorney General to meddle in lawful, private, and mutually profitable transactions." In April, Trump posted a $175 million bond in the case in order to prevent James from seizing his assets while the case moves through the appeals process.Former President Donald J. Trump has petitioned a Manhattan appeals court to overturn a $464 million civil fraud ruling against him, calling the decision an "unauthorized, unprecedented power-grab."
