Former President Donald Trump’s attorney, Alina Habba, stated on Wednesday that the New York civil fraud appeal will be “a long game.”
In February, a New York judge ordered the former president, along with his two sons, Donald Jr. and Eric, and other Trump Organization officials, to pay substantial fines after accusing them of fraud. President Trump was ordered to pay $355 million, including interest, as part of the ruling.
During a Fox News appearance, Ms. Habba said that the case was “lost before the trial started,” referring to Judge Arthur Engoron’s prior ruling that asserted the Trump Organization committed fraud. The trial was held to determine the penalty.
“We’re waiting on an appeal,” she said in the interview. “Obviously, the judge was receptive to some of our arguments. We appeared before the appellate division just last week. He obviously amended the order in terms of allowing the Trump children and Trump family to continue to operate their business and to get loans, which was a big step in the right direction.”
The appeals process, she added, “is going to be a long game” and said that “we were not going to be successful.”
“We’re just going to have to push and push and push and hopefully have our facts and case heard, just like it was last week,” the attorney continued to say. “And chip away at this.”
Apart from the fine, Judge Engoron also prohibited the former president from seeking loans from any financial institution chartered or registered in New York State. Additionally, President Trump was barred from holding positions as a director or officer in any corporation within the state.
State Appellate Court Judge Anil Singh granted a partial stay on the verdict last week, temporarily halting Judge Engoron’s multi-year ban on business operations and loan applications in New York. However, the judge rejected the request from Trump’s legal team to permit payment of a $100 million bond.
He also issued an “interim stay” on the judge’s order that blocked the defendants from applying for loans from a New York financial institution, which some analysts have said would give the former president more leeway in paying the bond to appeal the case.
The Republican presidential front-runner’s lawyers had told the appellate court that the lending ban had made it impossible for him to secure a bond for the full amount.
His attorneys stated that he might need to sell certain assets and properties to settle the penalty and would not be able to reclaim them if the appeal succeeds.
“The exorbitant and punitive amount of the judgment coupled with an unlawful and unconstitutional blanket prohibition on lending transactions would make it impossible to secure and post a complete bond,” Trump lawyers Clifford Robert, Alina Habba, and Michael Farina wrote in court papers detailing the $100 million bond offer.
New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat who brought the fraud case, wanted the court to reject their requests and said he has “insufficient liquid assets” to pay the judgment.
Share your thoughts by scrolling down to leave a comment.
