Jonathan Turley says Trump's civil fraud judgment appeal will test 'integrity' of New York legal system
NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: Fox contributor Jonathan Turley, a conservative attorney and legal scholar, joined 'Fox & Friends' co-hosts to discuss the latest happenings in Donald Trump's New York civil fraud case on Tuesday, April 2.
The former president is set to appeal the $454 million judgment after managing to secure the $175 million bond, successfully preventing the state from seizing his assets.
Jonathan Turley slams Judge Arthur Engoron for ordering Donald Trump to pay an astronomical penalty in the New York civil fraud case
Turley ridiculed the February ruling against Trump by New York Supreme Court Judge Arthur Engoron, stating that securing bond "clears the way for the court to finally look at what many of us view as an obscene judgment. I mean, this number was pulled out of nowhere. When you drill down on the order, there’s really nothing there."
He shared, "The court basically makes a series of assumptions, in my view speculations, on how much he saved. But there were no victims here. There wasn’t a single penny that was lost by anyone. The banks testified that they wanted more business for Trump. So to come up with this astronomical figure really shocks the conscience."
Jonathan Turley questions the integrity of the legal system
Turley went so far as to suggest that the rules of the judicial system were seemingly different for the prosecution of Trump.
He asserted, "There's no justification, in my view, in the order. So that's going to go up, and these judges are gonna have to look at it. And quite frankly, I think the integrity of the New York legal system is at stake here."
The legal scholar claimed, "You know, you can't just have a special criminal, or in this case, civil code for Trump. It has to be consistent. And when you're the leading business law jurisdiction in the world, this has really put a shell below the waterline."
"I mean, a lot of people are looking at this and saying, 'But for the grace of God go I. Am I going to be the next person that gets tagged by someone like James?'" further remarked Turley, mentioning New York Attorney General Letitia James, who initiated the civil fraud case investigations against Trump.
The Appellate Division of the NY Supreme Court has stated that it would hear Trump's arguments in September, but a specific date is yet to be set. If he manages to overturn the ruling, Trump will get the bond money back in addition to not paying the state any further.
