Post wrongly claims Trump conviction 'overturned' in October | Fact check
The claim: Trump had convictions ‘overturned’ as of Oct. 10, awarded $500 million refund
An Oct. 10 Threads post (direct link, archive link) claims appeals courts have ruled in former President Donald Trump's favor.
“Trumps Convictions have all been overturned and he is getting his $500,000,000.00 Back!” text in the post begins.
The post received more than 700 likes in six days. The claim also circulated widely on Threads and Instagram, and it was reposted tens of thousands of times on TikTok.
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Our rating: False
As of Oct. 10, Trump’s conviction in his criminal hush money case had not been “overturned.” He faces a separate civil fraud judgment of nearly $500 million and posted a bond of $175 million, but has not been given any of that money “back.” While judges in September heard arguments related to his appeal of that judgment, they did not issue a ruling before the post was shared.
No decisions on Trump’s appeals when post was shared
The post references two court decisions against Trump. He is appealing a $454 million civil fraud judgment after a New York judge ruled in February that the former president, his company and his co-defendants obtained hundreds of millions of dollars in loan and insurance benefits by fraudulently inflating the value of his assets. In a separate case, Trump has vowed to appeal his June conviction on 34 counts of falsifying business records to hide a $130,000 hush money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election.
But the claims in the post about those legal proceedings are false. As of the date of the post, Trump’s conviction was not “overturned.” And although his appeal of the nearly $500 million civil judgment is underway, there is no credible evidence he received any of those funds “back.”
The claim appears to mischaracterize the results of the Sept. 26 hearing in New York as part of the former president’s appeal of his civil judgment before a panel of five appellate court judges. News reports indicated one of the appeals court judges – Judge David Friedman – appeared to question whether the lawsuit against Trump was justified. But the panel did not issue any rulings that day. Nor had it ruled before the Threads post was shared.
Fact check: Debunking misinformation about Donald Trump's conviction in hush money trial
The post also misleads with its assertion that Trump is getting half a billion dollars “back," which suggests he previously paid that amount. But that's not true. Trump and his co-defendants posted a bond of $175 million in April after an appeals court ruled they did not have to pay $464 million to block state Attorney General Letitia James from seizing their assets. There is no credible evidence indicating any of that bond money had been refunded.
Additionally, it wrongly characterizes Trump’s separate criminal conviction as “overturned.” There had been no changes to the guilty verdict against Trump by the day the post was shared. On Oct. 14 – four days after the claim was posted – Trump’s lawyers asked the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to transfer the case from New York state court to a federal court after District Judge Alvin Hellerstein on Sept. 3 rejected Trump's initial request for a transfer. Had the verdict been overturned as the post asserts, there would be no need to make that request.
Also, if the claim were true, several key events would not remain scheduled. Trump said he will appeal after his Nov. 26 sentencing, and the New York State Unified Court System says those who wish to appeal must file paperwork within 30 days of sentencing. Before that, Judge Juan Merchan said he will rule on Trump’s claim of presidential immunity on Nov. 12 – a week after Election Day.
USA TODAY previously debunked false claims the jury in Trump’s hush money trial did not need to be unanimous to convict him, he faces 187 years in prison at sentencing and seven of the jurors who convicted him were arrested.
USA TODAY reached out to the Threads and the TikTok users who shared the claim but did not immediately receive responses.
Our fact-check sources:
Reuters, Oct. 15, Trump urges appeals judges to move hush money case to federal court
New York State Unified Court System, accessed Oct. 16, Criminal Appeals
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump's conviction wasn't overturned as of October | Fact check