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The $500 million civil fraud penalty against President Donald Trump and his businesses was thrown out by a New York appeals court on Thursday (August 21), NBC News reports.
Some judges of the New York Appellate Division's First Department agreed that Trump and his businesses engaged in fraud, however, believed that the $500 million fee 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 via NBC News.
The president's son, Eric, celebrated the decision while speaking to NBC News in a phone interview on Thursday.
"This is the biggest victory in the world. We always knew this was going to happen. The case is totally won and it’s a big day for us,” he said.
The 323-page mid-level appeals court ruling was made up of three separate opinions among a five-judge panel, which was divided. Two judges were in favor of upholding the fraud finding but dismissing the penalties, while two others were in favor of a new trial and one moved to dismiss the case entirely. Some members also viewed the size of the judgment for an appeal made last September as "troubling."
Trump was accused by New York Attorney General Letitia James of overvaluing his properties and net work in financial statements, which he then used to obtain favorable loans from banks that he'd be unable to acquire.