OPINION:
Democrats were rescued from their hubris by a last-minute court order Monday. Appellate Division judges in New York found an activist lower court judge’s attempt to extract almost half a billion dollars from former President Donald Trump a bit over the top. They offered a 62% discount to the former president, who jumped at the deal.
New York Attorney General Letitia James was about to start wrapping the chains and padlocks around Trump Tower in Manhattan when she got the bad news. The intermediate court also put a hold on the attempt to ban Mr. Trump and his family from doing business in the Big Apple while the judges figure out what they’re going to do about the ruling from Judge Arthur Engoron.
Mr. Trump thanked the Appellate Division for its temporary resolution of the matter and promised to post the bond. He then excoriated Judge Engoron. “Businesses are fleeing and crime is flourishing all over the state,” Mr. Trump said, “and what he’s done is such a disservice it should not be allowed to happen again. New York state is being battered by his decision.”
Judge Engoron, a Democrat, spends 92 pages in his February ruling outlining Mr. Trump’s supposedly wicked deeds. This includes the proposal to turn the Old Post Office on Pennsylvania Avenue into the Trump Hotel, along with the purchase of three other properties. To make the buys, Deutsche Bank offered Mr. Trump $385 million in loans, based largely on his larger-than-life reputation as a businessman.
It’s the job of the lender to perform due diligence with a major loan application, and the banks involved did just that. One of the executives who audited Mr. Trump’s finances during the negotiation said he had “among the strongest personal balance sheets we have seen.” They were thrilled to have him as a customer — and for good reason.
After Mr. Trump sold his Washington hotel, he paid off the loan in full and walked away with a tidy $139 million profit. Deutsche Bank earned millions on the transaction. If it is a crime for Mr. Trump to puff up his personal assets to land more favorable loan terms to the benefit of all involved, it is hard to see how such an infraction merits a $454 million penalty — particularly in a state that offers no cash bail to burglars and arsonists.
But Judge Engoron’s design became more apparent when Trump Organization attorneys pointed out that no legitimate bond firm could guarantee a $454 million bond while the case was under appeal.
The amount also happened to exceed Mr. Trump’s ability to pay in cash, especially as he intended to set aside a substantial sum for his presidential election campaign. It’s no coincidence that a judge with full access to the former president’s financial records came up with just the right amount to cripple his run for political office.
One might even say that’s the textbook example of what the Eighth Amendment means to prohibit when it says, “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed.”
The Appellate Division is stacked with judges appointed by Democrats, yet even they recognized allowing judicial misconduct to stand tarnishes all of their reputations. They should act swiftly to overturn this transparent attempt to interfere in the November election.
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