Attorneys for former President Donald Trump sharply criticized the decision of a New York judge to compel the former president to pay more than $350 million following a fraud trial. The criticism came after Trump was ordered to pay more than $80 million to an author who accused him of defaming her.
Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron ordered that Trump had to pay $355 million over allegations that he inflated his worth to get his business empire increased credit. The ruling also ordered Trump’s sons Eric and Donald Trump, Jr. to pay $4 million each.
The former president is also barred from serving as an officer or director of New York companies for three years.
“The frauds found here leap off the page and shock the conscience,” Engoron said.
The former president wrote on social media that the judge was “crooked” and working with “a totally Corrupt Attorney General who ran on the basis of “I will get Trump.” He said that the decision was “based on nothing other than having built a GREAT COMPANY.”
Trump called the ruling “ELECTION INTERFERENCE” and a “WITCH HUNT.”
Trump’s son Eric Trump also spoke on the issue in a media interview, saying that his father built much of the New York City skyline.
— Donald J. Trump Posts From His Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) February 17, 2024
Trump focused on New York Attorney General Tish James (D), who he said had been “obsessed with ‘Getting Trump’ for years. He also argued that the judgement was an “illegal unAmerican judgment.”
Trump’s attorney Alina Habba said that the decision was a “manifest injustice” and part of “this relentless persecution against my clients.”
An attorney for Eric Trump called the decision a “gross injustice.” Another attorney for the former president argued that the judge “ignored the law, ignored the facts and simply signed off on the Attorney General’s manifestly unjust political crusade against the front-running candidate for President of the United States.”
The former president was accused of inflating the value of his properties in order to get better lines of credit for his business.
