President Donald Trump urged New York’s highest court on Wednesday to throw out the remaining findings in the state’s civil fraud case against him, escalating his long-running legal battle with Attorney General Letitia James and seeking to wipe away the case entirely.
In a 119-page filing submitted to the New York Court of Appeals, Trump argued that the case was driven by “political hostility” and should be dismissed in full, even after a major appellate ruling last year already eliminated the roughly $460 million financial penalty against him.
“This court should put an end to this politically motivated action,” Trump wrote.
The appeal marks an aggressive effort by the president to erase not just the monetary penalties, which were vacated by a midlevel appeals court in August as “excessive,” but also the underlying finding that he committed fraud by inflating the value of his real estate assets.
That fraud determination, handed down by New York Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron after an 11-week bench trial in 2023, still carries significant consequences. Trump and his two eldest sons remain subject to restrictions, including a three-year ban on serving as officers of New York businesses and limits on securing loans in the state, though those penalties have been paused during the appeals process.
Trump’s legal team argued that New York Attorney General Letitia James lacked the authority to bring the case under the state’s business fraud statute, known as Executive Law § 63(12), and accused her of selectively targeting him for political reasons as he prepared for his 2024 presidential campaign.
“The reason here was pure politics, as Attorney General James’s own statements make clear,” the filing said, pointing to past remarks in which she pledged to investigate Trump and his business practices.
The president also argued that the case was unprecedented in scope and unsupported by any actual victims, noting that none of the banks or insurers involved in transactions with the Trump Organization alleged they were harmed.
“None of the four lenders or insurers ever complained — before, during, or after trial — that they were even injured, let alone defrauded,” Trump wrote.
A central focus of Trump’s latest appeal is the credibility of his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, a key witness for the state. Trump’s attorneys pointed to a recent blog post by Cohen in which he said he felt “compelled and coerced” to provide testimony aligned with what prosecutors were seeking.
“Supreme Court’s intent-to-defraud findings rested, and therefore should fall, on Cohen’s contradictory statements,” Trump argued.
Cohen, who had testified that Trump directed him to inflate asset valuations before later offering conflicting statements under cross-examination, said Wednesday he stands by his recent remarks and called for greater transparency in how the case was constructed.
James is expected to file her own appeal with the Court of Appeals by June 23, seeking to reinstate the nearly half-billion dollar penalty that was thrown out last year.
The case has remained a flashpoint between Trump and James, who first brought the lawsuit in 2022. Since returning to office, Trump has repeatedly sought to pursue criminal charges against the attorney general, though those efforts have so far failed, including after a federal judge dismissed a related mortgage fraud case and grand juries declined to revive it.
NEW YORK APPEALS COURT TOSSES LETITIA JAMES’S $515 MILLION TRUMP FRAUD PENALTY
Trump’s lawyers acknowledged in his filing that it is “unusual” to appeal a ruling that was partially in his favor. But he argued that leaving the fraud findings intact would allow what he called a legally flawed and politically motivated case to stand.
The Court of Appeals will now decide whether to take up Trump’s request and potentially deliver a final word on one of the most high-profile civil cases brought against him.