After failing to comply with a subpoena for documents requested by New York Attorney General Letitia James, former President Donald Trump was held in contempt of court on Monday and ordered to pay $10,000 per day until the documents are handed over.
“Mr. Trump, I know you take your business seriously, and I take mine seriously, I hereby hold you in civil contempt and fine you $10,000 a day,” said New York Supreme Court judge Arthur Engoron.
“Justice Arthur Engoron ruled that a contempt finding was appropriate because of what the judge called ‘repeated failures’ to hand over materials and that it was not clear Trump had conducted a complete search for responsive documents,” reports Reuters.
CBS News provides background:
James’ office asked for the contempt finding after Trump failed to meet a court-ordered March 31 deadline to turn over subpoenaed material, claiming he had none of the documents demanded in the civil probe.
“The March 31 deadline came and went and we received zero documents,” Andrew Amer, an attorney for James’ office, said in court Monday. Amer later asked, “Is Mr. Trump thumbing his nose at this court’s order?”
Trump attorney Alina Habba said she personally oversaw the search for documents, including flying to Florida to interview Trump at his Mar-a-Lago club.
“There is simply nothing more for him to provide. It was already provided. So your honor, how is President Trump in contempt?” Habba asked.
Engoron said Trump’s insistence that there were no documents to provide was suspicious because the former president didn’t attest to that claim under oath. More from CBS:
“I feel like there’s an 800-pound gorilla in the room, and that is, why don’t we have an affidavit from him?” Engoron asked, later adding, “There is a difference between saying something and saying something under oath.”
Investigators want information from three mobile devices belonging to Trump, two of which are personal and one of which is a company-issued phone, according to a filing James’ office made Friday. Amer said Monday they have not received data from any of the devices.
CNN adds:
James’ office has said in court filings that the Trump Organization is under investigation for engaging in fraudulent or misleading conduct in connection with appraisals and financial statements. The office has subpoenaed both the former president and his company for documents related to its investigation.
Habba argued that the attorney general’s investigation has “seemingly become aimless,” saying that since it began three years ago, the Trump Organization has been given six separate subpoenas, produced more than 6 million pages of documents, and 13 Trump Organization witnesses have been deposed, among other things.
The New York Times provides additional context:
The ruling on Monday presents a roadblock for Mr. Trump as he continues to battle the attorney general’s investigation. Ms. James has sought to question the former president and two of his children, Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump Jr., as part of her inquiry, and lawyers for the Trump family are seeking to block the questioning. (In the fall of 2020, Ms. James questioned another of Mr. Trump’s children, Eric Trump, as part of her investigation.)
In March, Justice Engoron sided with Ms. James, ordering Mr. Trump and his children to be deposed. The Trumps have appealed that ruling.
