Trump Lawyers Demand New York Court Throw Out Letitia James Fraud Case: ‘Judgment Cannot Stand’
President Donald Trump’s attorneys are asking New York’s highest court to wipe away the remaining civil fraud judgment against him, arguing that Democratic Attorney General Letitia James pursued an unprecedented case targeting Trump, his family and his businesses.
Trump’s legal team filed its brief Wednesday with the New York Court of Appeals, declaring that the case “should have never been brought.” The attorneys are challenging the underlying finding that Trump committed fraud through valuations used in financial statements connected to his real estate empire.
James originally sued Trump in 2022, alleging roughly 200 instances of fraud involving property valuations. Her office argued that Trump and his company repeatedly inflated the value of assets to obtain more favorable terms from banks and insurance companies.
Trump was ultimately found liable, and Judge Arthur Engoron imposed hundreds of millions of dollars in financial penalties along with restrictions on Trump and members of his family conducting business in New York. Trump has consistently denied wrongdoing and portrayed the case as politically motivated lawfare.
A major portion of that punishment has already been overturned. An intermediate New York appeals court vacated the enormous monetary penalty, but left the underlying fraud finding and other portions of the judgment intact. Trump’s attorneys are now asking the state’s highest court to finish the job.
Their appeal centers on five major arguments, including the contention that James stretched New York law far beyond its legitimate purpose. Trump’s lawyers argue that the transactions involved sophisticated private financial institutions rather than consumers who were deceived or financially harmed.
The attorneys emphasize that the banks involved never claimed they were victims. They argue that major financial institutions independently evaluated Trump’s assets, willingly entered into transactions with his businesses and ultimately earned more than $100 million through those relationships.
Trump’s team also challenges the premise that disagreements over real estate valuations constitute fraud. Real estate values can involve subjective judgments, they argue, and allowing the attorney general to retroactively substitute her preferred valuations could give the state extraordinary power to second-guess ordinary business transactions.
The appeal further argues that the massive disgorgement penalty imposed against Trump was excessive and unconstitutional. Although that financial award has already been thrown out by an intermediate appeals court, Trump’s attorneys want the Court of Appeals to permanently eliminate the legal foundation behind the broader judgment.
Politics also features prominently in Trump’s argument. His lawyers pointed to James’ repeated public criticism of Trump before and during her time as attorney general, arguing that her statements demonstrated that the president and his family had been specifically targeted.
The filing highlighted previous remarks in which James called Trump a “criminal” and promised to investigate his business dealings. Trump’s attorneys argue that the political environment surrounding the prosecution should have raised serious questions about whether the state was applying its laws neutrally.
James has maintained throughout the litigation that the case was based on evidence rather than politics. Her office successfully argued at trial that Trump’s financial statements contained fraudulent valuations and that New York has broad authority to police deceptive business practices regardless of whether lenders ultimately lost money.
Trump’s attorneys strongly dispute that interpretation. They contend that James cannot identify another comparable case in which New York used the same statute against similarly situated real estate developers under circumstances resembling Trump’s transactions.
The case has followed Trump through years of litigation, two presidential campaigns and his return to the White House. Even after the massive financial penalty was eliminated, Trump has continued fighting to clear the underlying fraud judgment rather than accepting a partial victory.
The New York Court of Appeals will now consider whether the remaining judgment should survive. Trump’s lawyers are making their position unmistakable: they believe James used an extraordinarily broad interpretation of state law to target the president and his family, and they want the entire case thrown out once and for all.