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Chalk up another win for President Donald Trump over Democrats who tried to destroy him with lawfare.
On Thursday, a New York appellate court tossed the ludicrous half-billion-dollar penalty imposed on Trump in state Attorney General Letitia James’ utterly political civil-fraud case.
The ridiculously enormous fine was meant to hamstring him as he ran for president, though James and trial-court Judge Arthur Engoron pretended it was about warning others not to imitate his supposedly fraudulent actions.
Actions that harmed . . . exactly no one.
The penalty “is an excessive fine that violates the Eighth Amendment,” wrote the judges.
Their decision doesn’t void Engoron’s finding that Trump defrauded lenders and insurers by overestimating the value of his assets, though the Court of Appeals (the state’s top court) may do so. But either way it makes the case appear even more pointless than it already was.
After all, Trump warned the bankers, etc., that those estimates weren’t audited and assumed they’d do their own due diligence. And indeed, none of them ever complained, let alone sued Trump on their own.
Indeed, two of the five appellate judges found serious errors in the trial proceedings and sought a re-do; one, David Friedman, said the whole case merits immediate dismissal.
“Plainly, [James’] ultimate goal was not ‘market hygiene,’” fumed Friedman, “but political hygiene, ending with the derailment of President Trump’s political career and the destruction of his real estate business.”
“The voters have obviously rendered a verdict on his political career. This bench today unanimously derails the effort to destroy his business.” Hear, hear.
Remember, James campaigned on promises to find something (anything!) to target Trump for — a witch-hunt, that is, that should have disqualified her from the start.
These nothingburger civil charges were the best she could find; if they’d wound up before a less-biased judge than Engoron, they would’ve died long ago.
Meanwhile, the two federal criminal cases against Trump are now kaput; the Georgia state prosecution imploded, too.
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In the one criminal case where Trump was found guilty (in deeply anti-Trump Manhattan), the judge socked him with . . . no penalties whatsoever — and the prez is appealing that decision, too, on overwhelmingly strong grounds.
As Judge Friedman suggested, Democrats thought if they couldn’t stop Trump through normal democratic means, they’d get the courts to stop him (to save “democracy”!).
They failed on both fronts.
Maybe some day soon they’ll give up lawfare and other schemes, and focus on finding viable political ideas and candidates that voters can get behind on the merits.