South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson announced that a New York appellate court has overturned a $500 million fraud judgment against former President Donald Trump. Wilson led a coalition of 15 states in filing an amicus brief challenging the penalty, which he described as “a blatant abuse of power and a weaponization of the justice system.”
“This ruling is a win for every American who believes in fairness and the rule of law,” Wilson said. “If radical prosecutors can target a former President with crushing fines not tied to any real harm, they can target any citizen, any business, and any political opponent. South Carolina is not going to sit back and let partisan lawfare destroy our country.”
The group of states argued that the size of the judgment violated constitutional protections under the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on excessive fines and the Fourteenth Amendment’s due process clause. The appellate court sided with these arguments.
Wilson commented further: “We drew a line in the sand. We said enough is enough. And today, the court agreed that the Constitution must come first, not partisan politics.”
