A politically motivated legal attack on Donald Trump crumbled on Thursday when a New York appeals court tossed out a multimillion-dollar financial judgment against the president. While not an exoneration, the decision represents a significant victory for Mr. Trump, particularly as it comes in hostile territory.

Recall that New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat, ran in 2018 on a platform of coming after Mr. Trump. Fewer than two years after he ended his first term in the Oval Office, she made good on her threat, suing Mr. Trump and other members of his business team, alleging they defrauding lenders by inflating the value of various properties to get more favorable loan terms.

The ensuing civil case was held without a jury. There was no testimony that any financial lenders or business partners involved lost money or were harmed. But Judge Arthur Engoron ruled in February 2024 that Mr. Trump was guilty and levied a fine that totaled a massive $464 million, clearly an attempt to cripple his business interests.

On Thursday, the fine went … poof.

The five-judge appellate panel wrote three separate opinions, but all agreed that the financial penalties were so disproportionate as to be in violation of the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition against “excessive fines.” As one judge noted, “While harm certainly occurred, it was not the cataclysmic harm that can justify a nearly half billion-dollar award to the state.”

Four of the justices concurred that it was within Ms. James’ discretion to bring the allegations, but only two of them agreed that the judge reached the proper conclusion. Two other justices wrote that they would have ordered a second trial as a result of errors committed by Judge Engoron. But they agreed, The Wall Street Journal reported, “to set aside those views and affirm the judgment, minus the financial penalty, so that the case could” continue up the ladder on appeal.

The fifth justice said he would have dismissed the case entirely and faulted Ms. James for abusing her office.

“This is a huge win for Donald Trump,” CNN legal analyst Elie Honig said on the network’s “The Situation Room.” “Any way you cut it. And this is a stinging rebuke to James.”

The case isn’t over, and the legal finding against Mr. Trump stands — for now. But it’s worth noting that four of the appellate panel’s judges were appointed by Democratic governors in New York. Mr. Trump’s critics can’t argue that this is a case of friendly jurists rushing to protect the president.

In fact, it now becomes harder to contend that the civil suit and exorbitant financial penalties aren’t an example of prosecutorial and judicial overreach borne of vendetta.

— From Tribune News Service