(Conservative Treehouse) — The New York state appeals court waited until the last minute to intervene and rule substantial modifications to the lower court ruling.
The timing here is transparently political. The court could have intervened earlier with this decision but appears to have preferred to allow the lawfare narrative the maximum amount of time to permeate the anti-Trump news cycle. However, faced with the reality of a full appellate review later this year collapsing and reversing the underlying case, the NY court had few options other than timing their intervention.
The appeals court lowered the bond amount to the maximum possible in real terms. Meaning the demand for a $454 million bond was never sustainable, explainable, or legally comprehensible under all precedent. In reality it was an impossible bond for any organization to obtain, and ultimately that issue was going to lead to massive legal consequences within the New York state legal system. They might hate Trump, but without intervention New York would be collapsing their corporate business structure.
The lower court ruling was stayed, and the bond was lowered to an obtainable $175 million for the appeal. The lower court ruling against Trump organization officers was also stayed, allowing the corporate leadership of the various Trump organization LLCs to remain as they are. All of the substantive elements of Judge Engoron’s verdict were stayed, pending appeal.
Attorney General Letitia James was left only with a public relations narrative to sell, saying in part, “the $464 million judgment – plus interest – against Donald Trump and the other defendants still stands.” Duh, pending appeal – which is transparently obvious and the point therein.
Once again, lawfare at its root is a narrative weapon used primarily to sway public opinion. AG James’ statement in response to the appeals court intervention is essentially an affirmation of this reality.
Appearing in New York to defend against another lawfare operation, President Trump spoke briefly to the media after the ruling was made public:
The hardline leftists always end up with a case of the “outcome sads,” because they do not accept the nature of lawfare intent. However, the non-sheeple Democrats and independents are eyes-wide-open to how this lawfare nonsense works. Hence, President Trump climbing in the polling.
“It’s the beginning of the end.” Or, “The walls are closing in.” Or, “__ fill in the blank __.”
From Politico:
The ruling – issued by a panel of the Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court – means the civil fraud case could remain effectively frozen through the November election. The panel told Trump’s lawyers to prepare his case to be presented at the court’s September term, and any decision on the merits of the appeal could take weeks or months.
Reprinted with permission from the Conservative Treehouse.