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By Kate Plummer
Senior US News Reporter
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Judge Arthur Engoron has created an opportunity for Donald Trump to appeal his civil fraud judgment by a "due process violation," an attorney has said.
Speaking on Fox News on Tuesday, former Whitewater lawyer Sol Wisenberg said there were constitutional problems with the ruling that the former president and top executives at The Trump Organization committed fraud by inflating the value of his assets to obtain more favorable terms from lenders and insurers.
On Friday, Engoron ordered Trump to pay $355 million in fines. New York State mandates a 9 percent interest rate on the sum of damages and New York Attorney General Letitia James, who brought the lawsuit, said that with pre-judgment interest the penalty totals over $450 million—an amount "which will continue to increase every single day" until the judgment is paid.
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Speaking about the judgment, which Trump has vowed to appeal, Wisenberg said: "It seems to me there's some real constitutional problems with the $355 million judgment when there is no victim, no financial loss of any kind."
"You have an argument for a substantive due process violation," he continued, and said the decision might send a message to certain businesses that if you upset the orthodoxy they could face similar action.
He added: "I think that they do have again, a potential constitutional argument here, a very strong one here if they appropriately raised it at trial."
"It's outrageous there's no way you can defend this judgment," he said.
However, Bradley Moss, a partner at Mark S. Zaid, disagreed. He told Newsweek: "Unless the state law itself is struck down, this argument will go nowhere. Many white collar criminal cases do not have a traditional victim. Many criminal drug offenses do not have a traditional victim. Many licensing and registration offenses do not have a traditional victim.
"The victim is the public that was defrauded."
Carlton Fields attorney Gene Rossi also told Newsweek: "The Trump family and organization received loans when they should not have. You cannot lie to get money. Moreover, if the banks had known of the real assets and liabilities, then they would have required more unfavorable terms for Trump World. That is a crime no matter how you look at it. Substantive due process violation because of no victims? I think not."
Trump's lawyer Christopher Kise told Newsweek that the former president plans to appeal the judge's ruling in James' "unjust political crusade against the front-running candidate for President of the United States."
Alina Habba, an attorney for Trump, also announced an appeal will be filed.
"Given the grave stakes, we trust that the Appellate Division will overturn this egregious verdict and end this relentless persecution against my clients," Habba said in a statement.
"Let me make one thing perfectly clear: this is not just about Donald Trump—if this decision stands, it will serve as a signal to every single American that New York is no longer open for business," she added.
James called the judge's ruling "a massive victory" in a post on X, formerly Twitter, on Friday. She added in a statement: "No matter how big, how rich, or how powerful you are, no one is above the law. Not even Donald Trump."
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