Divided Court Eliminates Trump’s Half-Billion-Dollar Fine in Fraud Case

 NY Times - A divided New York appeals court on Thursday threw out a half-billion-dollar judgment against President Trump, eliminating an enormous financial burden while preserving the fraud case against him, a remarkable turn in the battle between the president and one of his fiercest foes.

“While harm certainly occurred, it was not the cataclysmic harm that can justify a nearly half billion-dollar award to the state,” wrote Peter Moulton, one of the appeals judges whose lengthy and convoluted ruling reflected deep disagreement among the five-judge panel.

While the court effectively upheld the fraud ruling against the president, several of the justices raised major questions about the case. And their decision allowed Mr. Trump to move to New York’s highest court, giving him another opportunity to challenge the finding that he was a fraudster.

Despite the complexities, Thursday’s ruling handed Mr. Trump a financial victory and a modicum of legal validation. It represented a setback for New York’s attorney general, Letitia James, who is one of the president’s foremost adversaries and a target of a retribution campaign. The case had been a career-defining victory after she campaigned for office promising to bring Mr. Trump to justice.