N.Y. Appellate Court: C-

Well, the New York appellate courts had their first opportunity to squash anti-Trump lawfare like a bug and … they get a C-. They did the minimum required to avoid a firestorm. They threw out the absurdly large fine — half a BILLION bucks — but after that, they floundered.

Two justices, in a sad, sad performance, voted to affirm everything but the fine. Two other justices acknowledged the obvious — that Judge Engoron screwed up badly in everything he did, but they couldn’t pull the trigger on killing the case, so they took the coward’s way out and voted for a new trial.

Only one justice, David Friedman, called a bag of garbage a bag of garbage and voted to kill the case in its entirety. In 122 pages, Justice Friedman explained (1) why the New York statute in question doesn’t apply, (2) that New York Attorney General Letitia James abused her authority by bringing this case for political reasons, (3) that factually, Trump did nothing wrong, (4) that the banks and insurance companies Trump dealt with told Engoron that Trump did nothing wrong, and he ignored them, (5) that outside experts in New York accounting, banking and insurance practices told Engoron that Trump did nothing wrong, and he ignored them too, (6) James’ and Engoron’s position regarding the valuation of Mar-a-lago was hilariously wrong, and (7) that the humongous fine Engoron imposed made no sense legally, logically, or factually.

I learned one tidbit I had not heard before. Allegedly, Trump inflated his net worth to banks and insurance companies to get lower interest rates or lower insurance premiums. Trump told them he was worth over $4 billion. Letitia James asserted that Trump was only worth two billion. Guess what the threshold was before a customer could get the lower interest rate or premiums? It varied by bank or insurance company, but the highest, get it, the highest, was 100 million (with an “m”).

With a 2-2-1 split opinion, there is no actual decision on anything other than throwing out the half-billion-dollar fine. The case will proceed up the appellate ladder to a higher court for a final decision. Although that “final” decision may not be final at all. It might be an order for a new trial. A trial that could not take place until Trump is out of office.

All in all, those cynics saying New York appellate judges are as politically corrupt as New York trial judges appear, so far, to be mostly right. Maybe the appellate panel reviewing Alvin Bragg’s criminal bag of garbage will do better.

G-Pub