A New York appellate court will listen to arguments on Thursday regarding Trump's $454 million civil fraud verdict.
The appellate hearing is another legal event occurring simultaneously with Trump's presidential campaign nearing its end. Besides the civil fraud appeal, Trump's lawyers have proposed to annul the verdict in the New York criminal case, the federal election interference case in Washington D.C., and the E. Jean Carroll defamation verdict - all within the past month.
On Thursday, Trump's lawyers are attempting to overturn the $454 million penalty imposed by Judge Arthur Engoron in February. Engoron found Trump, his sons Donald Jr. and Eric, and his organization accountable for fraud, false financial statements, and false business records.
Engoron determined that Trump and his co-defendants exaggerated the former president's assets to secure more favorable loan and insurance rates.
Trump will likely not be present at the hearing on Thursday. He put up a $175 million bond in April during the appeal process.
The penalty against Trump amounted to $354 million, with an additional $100 million in interest accrued upon the ruling's issuance in February. The interest continues to grow at an approximate rate of $112,000 per day during Trump's appeal, increasing the total to $478 million by Thursday, according to a source.
The hearing will allow Trump's lawyers to voice their concerns about the 11-week trial held last fall, during which Trump frequently disagreed with the judge, including while testifying. In his ruling, Engoron cited Trump and his co-defendants' "lack of contrition and remorse [that] borders on pathological."
Trump's attorneys have filed arguments ahead of the hearing, stating that the monetary penalty in the judgment was unconstitutional and much of the case against Trump should have been dismissed because the conduct was too old.
Trump's lawyers raised several additional legal arguments they lost in the initial trial, including claiming that no financial institution or opposing party suffered losses due to the loans.
"The $464 million award in a case with no victims, no provable injuries, and no losses is not remotely justifiable," Trump's attorneys wrote. The additional $10 million relates to other defendants in the case.
New York's attorney general's office, which brought the case against Trump, argued in written filings that there was "overwhelming evidence" that Trump knowingly committed fraud by inflating the value of his properties on financial statements to secure loans.
"This Court should affirm. Supreme Court's liability determinations are supported by overwhelming evidence that, in each Statement, defendants used a variety of deceptive strategies to vastly misrepresent the values of Mr. Trump's assets," the attorney general's office wrote in its filing last month.
The attorney general's office argued that Trump's lawyers, in their briefs, neglected to engage in any substantive discussion of the deceptive practices used to inflate the value of Trump's assets.
"Instead, defendants focus their appeal primarily on meritless legal arguments about the elements of the law," they wrote. "These arguments are contrary to the statute's text and settled precedent and should be discarded."
No decision is anticipated before the election, and the appeals court ruling can still be appealed to New York's highest appellate court.
Despite the ongoing Appellate hearing and Trump's presidential campaign approaching its end, the political landscape remains intense as Trump's lawyers continue to challenge multiple verdicts, including the New York criminal case and the E. Jean Carroll defamation case.
The legal battle surrounding the $454 million penalty imposed on Trump for fraud and false business records is a significant part of the ongoing politics surrounding his presidency.
