South Carolina is leading 15 GOP-led states in submitting an amicus brief in the appeal of former President Donald Trump's $454 million civil verdict for allegedly overvaluing his properties.

State Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron levied the verdict in March, and the states argued that the amount of the fine is excessive.

“Our brief isn’t about Donald Trump, it’s about upholding the rule of law and the Constitution,” South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson said in a statement on Friday. “We argue that this award is an excessive fine under the Eighth Amendment and also violates the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.”

NEW: Filed a brief supporting President Trump's appeal of Letitia James' unconstitutional $355 million fine against him.

Proud to have joined 14 other states in defense of the rule of law. pic.twitter.com/2LOTPanIyk

— Attorney General Andrew Bailey (@AGAndrewBailey) July 28, 2024

"Denied access"

"Filed a brief supporting President Trump's appeal of Letitia James' unconstitutional $355 million fine against him," Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey said. "Proud to have joined 14 other states in defense of the rule of law."

Bailey also said the sentencing in Trump's so-called hush money payments case should be pushed until after the November election and that the gag order against him in that case should be lifted because constituents in his state are being "denied access" to Trump as a candidate because of it.

New York Attorney General Letitia James tried to say that Trump's legal team already made many of the same arguments during the trial but was rejected.

But the whole point of the appeal is that none of these prosecutors and judges are adjudicating these cases fairly, other than when Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed the classified documents case against Trump.

It will be a difficult case, though, because generally states can't intervene in criminal matters of other states.

Liberal courts have been throwing everything they've got against Trump against the wall to see if it sticks, but the appeals process has been pushing back against the efforts.

Irony

The criminal indictments meant to destroy Trump actually helped him rather than hurting him.

He currently leads in most polls, even against Vice President Kamala Harris, who replaced President Joe Biden as the presumptive Democrat nominee last week.

Like Joseph in the Bible, Trump may be able to look back on this time and say, "What my enemies meant for evil was used for good instead."

There are still nearly 100 days until Election Day, though, so anything can happen.