Trump appeals civil fraud ruling, citing former lawyer's testimony doubts

Patricia Hurtado and Erik Larson, Bloomberg News on Apr 8, 2026

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NEW YORK — Donald Trump has asked New York’s highest appeals court to vacate a judge’s finding that he was liable for inflating the value of his real estate assets, arguing that his former lawyer Michael Cohen has since cast doubt on his own testimony against the president.

In a filing Wednesday, Trump’s lawyers cited a January Substack post by Cohen in which he claimed he felt “compelled and coerced” to deliver testimony that New York Attorney General Letitia James was seeking in a civil fraud suit she brought against Trump. James alleged Trump had inflated assets by billions of dollars to secure better loan and insurance rates.

An intermediate appeals court in Manhattan in August already tossed a nearly half-billion dollar penalty ordered in 2024 against Trump, his company and others associated with the firm stemming from the case. But the president is now asking the New York Court of Appeals to also dismiss the judge’s finding of liability against him as part of that case.

Cohen, who was a star witness for James’ office, testified that Trump had told him to inflate certain valuations estimates but then on cross-examination said no such conversations took place, Trump’s lawyers said Wednesday. In March, Trump’s legal team asked the same appeals court to compel James’ office to produce all its records pertaining to Cohen, arguing his testimony was “at the heart of the NYAG’s case.”

In response to a request for comment on Wednesday’s appeal, Cohen said he stood by his Substack post. “Every defendant should be entitled to transparency into how a case against them was constructed; including clarity into prosecutorial tactics,” he said.

The post by Cohen was a major twist in the legal drama after he’d evolved from one of Trump’s closest aides to one of his biggest critics. The allegations are likely to feature heavily in arguments before the appeals court.

The New York attorney general’s office declined to comment. James wants the New York Court of Appeals to reinstate the nearly half-billion dollar fraud penalty that was vacated in August.

On top of the tossed financial penalty stemming from the 2024 ruling, Trump and his sons faced a temporary ban on serving as corporate officers in New York as part of the ruling. Those sanctions stand, though they have remained on hold.