Sean Spicer: Trump verdict is 'what happens if insanity and outrage had a baby'
Former White House press secretary Sean Spicer expressed his displeasure with the $355 million fine levied on former President Trump Friday in the verdict following a months-long civil fraud trial in New York.
“Overall this ruling today was the definition of what happens if insanity and outrage had a baby,” Spicer, who served under the Trump administration, said Friday in an interview on “The Hill on NewsNation."
“This is nuts, the idea that you’re … fining someone $350 million for something that no one actually suffered from,” he continued. “The banks didn’t complain, the insurance companies ... everything that Tish James laid out was a complete and utter lie.”
His comments come after Judge Arthur Engoron's 92-page ruling ordered Trump to pay the nearly $355 million in penalties for inflating and deflating his net worth in order to receive tax and insurance benefits. Engoron had already ruled last year that Trump and the Trump Organization had committed fraud after New York Attorney General Letitia sued the former president in 2022.
Trump will also be barred from holding a top executive position in New York for three years.
Spicer argued that the case was a "vendetta," referencing promises he said James made on the campaign trail about going after Trump if elected.
"This is the continuation of a weaponized judicial system. We're seeing it over and over again," he told anchor Blake Burman Friday. "And all they are doing ... they are playing into Donald Trump's hands. He will withstand this, he will appeal it."
He argued if the money were less, like $10 million, it would have made more sense.
"You look at the nature of other civil fines ... they don't even come close to this," he said.
Despite the ruling being $16 million less than James requested, she touted the decision as a victory, saying "justice is served."
“The scale and the scope of Donald Trump’s fraud is staggering… and so too is his ego. And his belief that the rules do not apply to him,” James said Friday. “Today, we are holding Donald Trump accountable.”
“We are holding him accountable for lying, cheating, and a lack of contrition. For flouting the rules that all of us must play by,” she continued, adding “Because there cannot be different rules for different people in this country, and former presidents are no exception.”
“The Hill” on NewsNation airs Monday to Friday at 6 p.m. EST.
NewsNation is a cable news channel launched in 2021 by Nexstar Media Group, which owns and operates dozens of local television stations across the country and purchased The Hill in fall 2021.