Trump touts 'total victory' over Letitia James after court tosses $500M penalty

President Donald Trump on Thursday declared "total victory" over New York Attorney General Letitia James after a New York appellate court threw out a $500M+ penalty from the case.

The bench trial saw Trump repeatedly feud with Judge Arthur Engoron, who imposed the fine. The panel of the appeals court on Thursday found the penalty unconstitutional under the Eighth Amendment's prohibition against excessive fines.

"TOTAL VICTORY in the FAKE New York State Attorney General Letitia James Case! 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," he posted on Truth Social. "Others were afraid to do business there. The amount, including Interest and Penalties, was over $550 Million Dollars."

"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," he insisted. "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 further insisted that James had only brought the case to hurt him politically and that the entire episode was part of a broader political witch hunt. James had alleged that Trump manipulated the value of his assets to secure favorable loan terms and lower insurance premiums.

The case was unusual in that it brought forth no alleged victim and featured testimony of the loan givers, who insisted they would continue to do business with the former president.

Ben Whedon is the Chief Political Correspondent at Just the News. Follow him on X.