Donald Trump Jr. told Newsmax on Friday the $363.8 million penalty issued by a New York judge in a civil fraud case regarding his father, his brother Eric Trump, himself and The Trump Organization is "absolute insanity" and "absolutely despicable."
Judge Arthur Engoron issued his decision after a 2½-month trial to determine how much of a penalty the Trumps and their business would face. Engoron issued a pre-trial summary judgment in the $250 million civil lawsuit brought by Democrat New York Attorney General Letitia James that Trump committed fraud in overvaluing his assets to earn favorable loan deals.
Engoron also fined Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, the executive vice presidents of The Trump Organization, each $4,013,024.
"The reality is, what we complain about in Russia is happening right here in the United States of America," Trump Jr. told "Eric Bolling The Balance." "The facts of the law don't matter. Your party affiliation and where you live is going to be the determining factor from now on in our courts of law.
"They've shown that now, time and time again, and it's absolutely disgusting."
The former president's legal team said it was going to appeal even before Friday's ruling because of Engoron's pre-trial summary judgment. The legal team argued that most of the claims in James' lawsuit should have been dismissed for falling outside the statute of limitations.
"It's still New York, right?" Trump Jr. said. "So, you never know. You've got to remember that half of the [fine] that you're talking about ... was already ruled inadmissible because of statute of limitations in the [state] court of appeals.
"The court of appeals has already ruled that, and this judge simply decided to ignore that because, again, it's not about the law. It's not about the facts. It's about penalizing Trump, trying to hurt Joe Biden's No. 1 political rival.
"That couldn't be more clear. Imagine, just ignoring the appellate division that's already ruled on these things.
"They're just like, You know what? I'm going to pretend like they don't matter. ... It's just absolute insanity."
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Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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