Judge holds Trump in contempt of court, orders him to pay $10K each day until he complies
A New York judge has held former President Donald Trump in contempt of court for refusing to hand over documents as part of an investigation into financial dealings and will have to pay $10,000 every day until he complies.
Judge Arthur Engoron of the New York County State Supreme Court ruled Monday that Trump is in contempt of court by refusing to follow an earlier order surrounding the finances of the Trump Organization.
New York Attorney General Letitia James, whose office has been investigating the Trump Organization over concerns about its financial practices, had subpoenaed Trump for various documents relating to the investigation.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
James' office is investigating Trump and the Trump organization in an attempt to determine if they "improperly inflated" the value of Trump’s assets on annual financial statements to secure loans and tax benefits.
“Today, justice prevailed,” James said in a statement. “For years, Donald Trump has tried to evade the law and stop our lawful investigation into him and his company’s financial dealings. Today’s ruling makes clear: No one is above the law.”
Trump's lawyers have argued that Trump doesn't possess any records that the attorney general's office is asking for. However, Engoron contends that Trump's legal team has not offered any details about how such a search was conducted. Trump's lawyers plan to appeal the judge's contempt of court ruling.
In February, Judge Engoron rejected Trump's attempt to challenge the attorney general’s subpoena, instead stating that the former president had to “comply in full.”
After Trump refused to provide the documents by the end of March, James' office filed a motion for contempt on April 7 against Trump.
The New York Times reports that in a hearing on Monday, an attorney stated that the attorney general's office is preparing to file an action against Trump in the near future, likely a lawsuit.
Trump released a statement last week denouncing the investigation as a “never-ending Witch Hunt” that ignored more pressing problems in New York.
"[T]he racist and highly partisan Attorney General of New York State, failed Gubernatorial candidate Letitia James, should focus her efforts on saving the State of New York and ending its reputation as a Crime Capital of the World, instead of spending millions of dollars and utilizing a large portion of her office in going after Donald J. Trump and the Trump Organization,” stated Trump.
“This never-ending Witch Hunt must stop. We don’t need racist political hacks going after good, hardworking people for highly partisan political gain. The people of our Country see right through it all, and won’t take this Radical Left ‘sickness’ anymore. Make New York Great Again!”
