President Donald Trump wasted no time and pulled no punches in denouncing the "fake" case against him as the "$550 million" civil penalty was overturned Thursday by the N.Y. Appeals Court, hailing the "courage" of the court for throwing out the "unlawful" and "disgraceful" ruling.
"Total victory in the fake New York State Attorney General Letitia James case!" Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social on Thursday. "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."
A panel of five judges in New York's mid-level Appellate Division said the verdict, which stood to cost Trump over $515 million and rock his real estate empire, was "excessive."
Trump added the claim that the figure actually "was over $550 million" in just one of the many Democrats' "political witch hunt[s]" that sought – and failed – to keep him from the White House before the 2024 presidential election.
"The amount, including interest and penalties, was over $550 million dollars," Trump 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."
Judge Arthur Engoron, a frequent target of Trump's ire, was not sparred in the post either.
"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 continued.
"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.
"She is a Trump Deranged Lunatic!"
The effort to bleed Trump of cash before the election failed and should "never" happen to another political candidate again, according to Trump.
"They made me bond the outrageous sum, which never happened before, and which cost me millions of dollars a month," Trump's statement continued. "It should have never been allowed to happen, and everyone knew it!
"Importantly, the Vote was 5-0. I am so honored by Justice David Friedman's great words of wisdom, which should be read by everyone."
The ruling took "courage," Trump noted, adding there should be more to come in the "political persecution."
"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," he wrote. "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!' — even editorial boards said, 'DO NOT DO THIS!'"
Gagging then-President Joe Biden's leading political opponent was the "greatest conflict of interest," according to Trump.
"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 wrote. "Many lawyers said that his daughter and him created the greatest conflict of interest they had ever seen."
Judge Lewis Kaplan's ruling in the E. Jean Carroll ruling was not sparred Trump's ire either.
"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," Trump concluded. "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…."
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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