Overview

• A five-judge panel in Manhattan vacated the trial court’s roughly $500 million sanction against President Donald Trump.
• The appellate court issued multiple opinions without a clear majority, with two judges backing the attorney general’s position, two urging a new trial, and one favoring dismissal.
• Two judges wrote that the near–$500 million award was an excessive fine, citing the Eighth Amendment.
• Non-monetary penalties, including temporary bans on Trump and his two eldest sons serving as corporate officers, were affirmed but remain paused pending further appeal.
• Trump declared a “total victory” on social media, while Attorney General Letitia James highlighted that courts have upheld findings of fraud.