Judge Lifts Contempt Ruling Against Trump, Orders Fine to Be Paid
A New York judge said Wednesday that he would completely release former President Donald Trump from a contempt of court finding, but Trump’s legal team must provide more information about its search for documents sought by state Attorney General Letitia James.
Judge Arthur Engoron also said the former president still must pay $110,000 in fines, The Associated Press reported.
On April 25, the judge found Trump in contempt of court for failing to fully comply with documents subpoenaed by James for a probe she launched into whether the businessman “misstated the value of assets like skyscrapers and golf courses on financial statements for over a decade,” according to the AP.
Engoron fined him $10,000 per day until he complied.
On May 6, Trump attorney Alina Habba filed a document with the court saying that all the responses her client made to the subpoena were complete and accurate and no relevant documents were withheld from James’ investigators.
The $110,000 in fines imposed on Trump represent the cumulative amount of $10,000 per day until his court filing on May 6.
Engoron previously said he was not satisfied with the answer Trump’s attorneys gave about not being able to locate all the documents James wanted.
“On Wednesday, Engoron said that order is lifted if Trump’s legal team submits additional affidavits with more details about the searches for the documents, and the document retention and destruction policies of the Trump Organization by May 20,” CNBC reported.
The judge also required a review of Trump’s documents by the digital forensics company HaystackID.
If the former president’s lawyers do not meet these conditions by May 20, the daily $10,000 fine will be reimposed.
Last month, after James called for Trump to be held in contempt, he issued a statement saying the “witch hunt” needed to stop and that the Democratic attorney general’s probe was politically motivated.
“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!” Trump said.
With the horrible Subway Shootings and Violent Crime in New York being at an all-time high, where people are afraid to walk the streets, the racist and highly partisan Attorney General of New York State, failed Gubernatorial candidate Letitia James, s… #POTUS45 #Trump 2022-04-18 pic.twitter.com/9wqpslUvBh
— President Donald J. Trump, Public Statements (@45Relay) April 21, 2022
On April 7, he declared that James “is no longer working as attorney general, she is an operative for the Democrat Party in a political prosecution.”
NEW!
President Donald J. Trump:
“This is just a continuation of the greatest Witch Hunt of all time, by a failed Attorney General…I’ve been investigated by the Democrats more than Billy the Kid, Jesse James, and Al Capone, combined. This has been going on for years…” pic.twitter.com/9Ar1Hyk8pq
— Liz Harrington (@realLizUSA) April 7, 2022
A separate criminal probe by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office appears stalled, according to CBS News.
The two leading prosecutors in that inquiry — Carey Dunne and Mark Pomerantz — resigned in February.
Pomerantz wrote in his resignation letter, published in The New York Times on March 23, that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg had “reached the decision … not to seek criminal charges at the present time.”
“The investigation has been suspended indefinitely,” he said.
In an April 7 statement, Bragg said the criminal investigation was “continuing” and his investigators and prosecutors were “exploring evidence not previously explored.”
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