A New York appeals court on Thursday dismissed a $500 million civil fraud penalty against President Donald Trump and his companies for routinely over-valuing their properties in financial statements, NBC News reports.
Some judges of the state Appellate Division's First Department agreed that Trump and his companies had engaged in fraud, but agreed with their colleagues that the award was an "excessive fine."
"[W]hile harm certainly occurred, it was not the cataclysmic harm that can justify a nearly half billion-dollar award to the State," two of the judges wrote.
Trump touted the judgment's dismissal in remarks to law enforcement officers in Washington, D.C. on Thursday.
"I had a victory today. You know, they stole $550 million from me with a fake case, and it was overturned. They said this was a fake case,” Trump told the group of officers in Washington, D.C.
“It’s a terrible thing, but it’s a nice victory, you know? I mean, it’s not bad, you know, we all have, we all have our limits, but this was a terrible thing, that it was a witch hunt. And I’ve had more witch hunts than any human being,” he added.
Trump had also praised the ruling as a "total victory" in a post on Truth Social earlier in the day.
"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 wrote.
"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 added in his lengthy post. He also called New York Attorney General Letitia James, who'd brought the case against him, a "political hack" and "Incompetent."
Eric Trump celebrated the ruling in a phone interview with NBC News.
"This is the biggest victory in the world," said the president’s son, who’s the executive vice president of the Trump Organization. "We always knew this was going to happen. The case is totally won, and it’s a big day for us.”
His brother, fellow executive vice president Donald Trump Jr., called the ruling a "massive win" in a post on X.
"It was always a witch hunt, election interference, and a total miscarriage of justice … and even a left leaning NY appeals court agrees!" he wrote.
