Jonathan Turley reacts to Trump posting bond in civil trial: The integrity of the NY legal system is at stake
Fox News contributor Jonathan Turley joined 'Fox & Friends' to discuss the latest on Trump's civil trial in New York and a judge denying a request to toss Hunter Biden's tax charges.
Legal expert Jonathan Turley told "Fox & Friends," Tuesday, that the credibility of the entire New York legal system is on the line as former President Trump appeals the "obscene" $454 million judgment in his civil fraud case. Trump posted a $175 million bond, Monday, preventing the state from seizing his assets during the appeals process.
NEW YORK COURT EXPANDS GAG ORDER AGAINST TRUMP DAYS AFTER FIERY RANT THAN NAMED JUDGE'S DAUGHTER
JONATHAN TURLEY: This 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. 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.
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. 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?
A New York appellate court had given the former president 10 days to put up the money after a panel of judges agreed last month to slash the amount needed to stop the clock on enforcement.
If Trump wins, he won't have to pay the state anything and will get back the money he has put up now.
Trump is fighting to overturn a judge's Feb. 16 finding that he lied about his wealth as he fostered the real estate empire that launched him to stardom and the presidency. The trial focused on how Trump's assets were valued on financial statements that went to bankers and insurers to get loans and deals.
Trump denies any wrongdoing, saying the statements actually low-balled his fortune, came with disclaimers and weren't taken at face value by the institutions that lent to or insured him.
The state courts' Appellate Division has said it would hear arguments in September. A specific date has not been set. If the schedule holds, it will fall in the final weeks of the presidential race.
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Fox News' Bradford Betz contributed to this report.
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