A New York judge on Monday ruled that Donald Trump looted the court and fined him $ 10,000 a day for failing to obey a summons issued by the state’s attorney general, Tisha James, as part of a civil fraud investigation she is conducting against him.
New York Supreme Court Justice Arthur Anguron said Trump did not comply with a court order earlier to hand over documents requested as part of a summons issued by James in December.
Trump’s lawyers argued that some of the materials James had requested did not exist, but Anguron said they did not provide acceptable evidence that showed they had satisfactorily searched for the requested documents.
“I hereby declare that you have looted the court and imposed a fine of $ 10,000 on you per day,” Judge Anguron said after a morning hearing, before hitting with a hammer. The judge said he would issue a written opinion on Tuesday.
“Today, justice has won”
The controversy over the contempt of court is the latest legal battle to emerge from James’ lengthy investigation into civil fraud. According to the indictment, Trump and his company issued false or misleading statements to the tax authorities, banks and insurance companies, in order to make a financial profit.
The fine comes after the New York Attorney General repeatedly went to court to pressure the Trump organization, Trump himself and other parties to provide materials and information for her investigation.
Trump, a Republican, has denied any wrongdoing and said James’ investigation, which is democratic, is politically motivated.
The sanction imposed by the judge came in response to a request filed by James earlier this month, in which she asked Anguron to fine Trump $ 10,000 a day until he complied.
“Today, justice has won,” James said. “For years, Donald Trump has tried to evade the law and stop our legal investigation into him and his company’s financial behavior.”
Alina Haba, a Trump lawyer, said she was planning to petition. “All the documents related to the summons were presented to the Attorney General many months ago,” the father said.
During the court hearing on Monday, a lawyer representing the state of New York that James intends to file an indictment regarding the investigation against Trump soon. Given an approaching deadline, “we will probably have to do some enforcement action in the near future,” said attorney Kevin Wallace.
Another state attorney said the lack of materials provided by Trump hurt an investigation in New York, adding that the Trump organization had only submitted ten documents from the former president.
The father said in court that he flew to Florida to meet with the former president, who had no documents to hand over.
“President Trump does not send e-mails,” Haba said. “He does not send text messages. And he does not have a work computer at home or anywhere else.”
James summoned Trump and two of his adult children, Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump Jr. to testify under oath, in addition to requesting documents from the former president.
Judge Anguron has previously prevented a move by the Trump family to block or delay the summonses, a ruling they have appealed. The attorney general agreed to delay the affidavits as long as the appeal is pending, and Trump agreed to hand over the documents by the end of March.
On Monday, the judge also ordered the international real estate company Cushman & Wakefield to comply with related summonses it received from James’ office and allowed the company until May 27 to provide additional materials. The summonses in question request hundreds of appraisal documents from 2012 to 2017.
Cushman & Wakefield has performed appraisals at several Trump-owned properties, including the Saban Springs estate, Trump Golf Club in Los Angeles and the building at 40 Wall Street, but ended its business relationship with Trump and his company last year.
The company claimed that the summonses were too general and extensive.