censure these pathetic lawyers, better yet, yank their friggin licenses
After watching this video I started looking for other reporting on the case and came across a CNN article. Of course it is CNN but I like to get both sides of any story so I read through it and while they did cover some of what this guy said about the case, they also spun some of it to make it seem like the NY attorneys also had a strong argument in support of the case and the massive fine.
According to the CNN article, the appellate judges asked why the fine was so high and how they came to that number. The NY attorney argued it was so high because there was so much illegality. And they said it was calculated based on the interest rate Trump should have paid vs the rate he got because he inflated the values of his financials. There are issues with these arguments. First, this was a civil case, not a criminal case. It was a lawsuit not a criminal prosecution. If there were so many illegalities then why wasn't he charged with a crime? And why did the Federal prosecutors charge him instead of deciding not to prosecute? They brought this as a civil matter because the burden of proof is much lower.
The other problem with the argument is the claim he would have paid a higher rate is supposition by their witness, and the only one to make this argument. In fact, the bank officials who testified said Trump would have gotten the same rate regardless of his financial statements because he was Trump - and they did their own due diligence on his property values. The state is actually lying about the evidence to prop up their ridiculously weak case against Trump. Also, for the amount to be $364 million which was the fine before interest and fees, Trump would have had to have gotten a reduction of 1 percentage point on $36 billion. In fact he borrowed much less and the rate reduction was probably not a full point.
But this is NY so I do not think the court will reverse the judges ruling. I can imagine there will be pressure from the state Democrats to uphold the original verdict. I think they will lower the penalty to something more reasonable- I expect them to come in somewhere around $50 million, which will seem reasonable compare to the original number and still keep the verdict in tact. If Trump wants the verdict reversed he will need to get this case to the Supreme Court.