(ConservativeJournal.org) – New York attorney general Letitia James is licking her chops and threatening to seize Donald Trump’s Wall Street apartment if he can’t pay the $455 million judgment handed down by Judge Arthur Engoron in Trump’s civil fraud case. James told ABC News that she’s looking at Trump’s posh Wall Street residence “each and every day.”
The case stems from allegations Trump overvalued his real estate holdings to secure loans. Trump’s defense argued that there were no victims, nor any damages in the case, which are both required for the legal definition of fraud. They featured Deutsche Bank representatives who confirmed the business deals were legal, legitimate and profitable for all parties involved.
Trump’s legal team and many critical commentators expect the case to be overturned on appeal. Nevertheless James thinks she’s won and will also win an appeal.
Trump’s team highlighted that James ran on a platform of pursuing Trump legally with the office. She made multiple statements during her campaign wherein she promised voters that she would “get Trump.” Weaponizing political office in order to interfere in an election is a federal crime itself, though charges aren’t likely to come from this administration.
Attorney Arthur Fergenson blasted the verdict in an opinion piece for Fox News. Fergenson reminded readers that no fraud took place and described the legal definition of the term which has three components: victims, damages, and a connection between the damages and an act of overt deception which caused them. Fergenson said all three are absent in this case.
He also highlighted that of the 150 cases cited by James and her office in their civil complaint, every one of them had all three components above. Additionally, he suggested that the fines are a violation of the Eighth Amendment, and cited Law Professor Steven Calabresi who called the $455 million penalty “confiscatory, extreme, and abusive.”
Fergenson said that an Eighth Amendment challenge could easily allow Trump’s team to highlight the political nature of the case and admit previous statements and political behavior by both James and Engoron as evidence.
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