Appeals court seems open to altering Trump's 'troubling' civil fraud penalty

A conversation about immigration at Tuesday's debate veered into bizarre falsehoods about migrants eating pet dogs and cats in Ohio.
Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks during a presidential debate with Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris at the National Constitution Center, Tuesday, Sept.10, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)'

Some judges in a New York appeals court appeared receptive Thursday to possibly reversing or reducing a civil fraud judgment that stands to cost Donald Trump nearly $500 million. One judge called the former president’s penalty “troubling” and wondered if the state’s policing of private business transactions amounted to “deterrence” or “mission creep.”

A five-judge panel in the state’s intermediate appeals court in Manhattan quizzed lawyers representing Trump and the New York attorney general’s office during oral arguments in the Republican presidential nominee’s fight to get the Feb. 16 verdict overturned.

At times the judges appeared dubious of Trump’s side, too. Often, judges in appeals courts will ask pointed questions of both sides to test their arguments.