New York court tosses Trump's $500M fraud fine

What happened

A fractured New York state appellate court Thursday threw out the roughly $500 million penalty levied on President Donald Trump last year for fraudulently inflating his wealth and property values to obtain favorable loans. Trump claimed a "total victory," but the judges upheld the lower court's fraud judgment and limits on the ability of Trump and his company to conduct business.

Who said what

Trump did harm in inflating his assets, but "it was not the cataclysmic harm that can justify a nearly half-billion-dollar award," Justice Peter Moulton said in one of the three opinions from the five-judge panel. The jumble of rulings marked a "financial victory" and a "measure of legal validation" for Trump, The New York Times said, as well as a "remarkable turn" in his "battle" against New York Attorney General Letitia James, one of Trump's "foremost adversaries and a target of his wide-ranging retribution campaign."

Trump thanked the judges on social media for having the "courage to throw out this unlawful and disgraceful decision." James said that "yet another court has ruled that the president violated the law" and "affirmed the well-supported finding" that Trump is "liable for fraud" and "our case has merit."

What next?

James said she would appeal the ruling. The fact that the "sharply splintered" appellate panel could only get majority agreement that James acted within her authority "all but ensures New York's top court will have to get involved," The Wall Street Journal said.

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