Trump civil fraud case: Judge fines Trump $354 million, says frauds 'shock the conscience'
The former president was found to have defrauded lenders.
Former President Donald Trump has been fined $354.8 million plus approximately $100 million in interest in a civil fraud lawsuit that could alter the personal fortune and real estate empire that helped propel him to the White House. In the decision, Judge Arthur Engoron excoriated Trump, saying the president's credibility was "severely compromised," that the frauds "shock the conscience" and that Trump and his co-defendants showed a "complete lack of contrition and remorse" that he said "borders on pathological."
Engoron also hit Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump with $4 million fines and barred all three from helming New York companies for years. New York Attorney General Letitia James accused Trump and his adult sons of engaging in a decade-long scheme in which they used "numerous acts of fraud and misrepresentation" to inflate Trump's net worth in order get more favorable loan terms. The former president has denied all wrongdoing and has said he will appeal.
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Summary of penalties
Donald Trump and his adult sons were hit with millions in fines in the civil fraud trial and barred for years from being officers in New York companies. The judge said the frauds "shock the conscience."
Donald Trump: $354 million fine + approx. $100 million in interest
+ barred for 3 years from serving as officer of NY company
Donald Trump Jr.: $4 million fine
+ barred for 2 years from serving as officer of NY company
Eric Trump: $4 million fine
+ barred for 2 years from serving as officer of NY company
Former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg: $1 million fine
+ barred for 3 years from serving as officer of NY company
+ barred for life from financial management role in NY company
Former Trump Organization controller Jeffrey McConney:
+ barred for 3 years from serving as officer of NY company
+ barred for life from financial management role in NY company
Trump Jr. acknowledges positive rapport with judge
Speaking outside the courthouse following his testimony for the defense, Donald Trump Jr. told ABC News that he seems to have a positive relationship with Judge Engoron.
"Perhaps there's a New York personality there, but no I think he understood," Trump Jr. said when ABC News suggested he and the judge appeared to get along. "I can't help myself even in this very serious situation. If you take yourself too seriously the world sort of sucks. You got to have a little bit of fun with it, so I did."
His relationship with the judge appears to stand in contrast to that of his father, who has accused Engoron of bias and insulted him from the witness stand.
"We had some quips in the courtroom the first time I was here," Trump Jr. said of Engoron. "Sort of gave me a fist bump on the way out. I guess I had a rather snappy response to something that was -- I can't even remember what it was right now. He said, 'That was really funny.'"
Asked by ABC News whether Trump Jr. shared his father's views about the judge being biased, the son demurred.
"Listen, I don't even know how far the gag order applies, so I don't need to do that and put myself -- I'm in enough crosshairs, guys," he said.
Trump Jr. says aunt's death made for a 'rough day'
Following the completion of his testimony, Donald Trump Jr. made the first family comments acknowledging the death of his aunt, Maryanne Trump Barry, calling it "a rough day."
"Obviously, a little bit of a rough day, but I've still got to deal with this stuff. We've got to keep doing it. That's the nature of all of this. But no, it's a rough day for myself and my family," Trump Jr. said of the news that former President Trump's sister had passed away at 86.
Trump Jr. also slammed New York Attorney General Letitia James for bringing the civil fraud case despite what Trump Jr. said was "no actual person complaining other than the attorney general herself."
"Hopefully, one day the people of this great city will realize what's going on. They'll realize the destructive practices here. They'll realize just how insane that is. And they'll be begging for guys like Donald Trump to come back to New York City to reshape the skyline as he's done for decades," Trump Jr. said.
He said he does not plan to return to court for the continuation of the defense's case tomorrow.
Donald Trump Jr. concludes testimony
Donald Trump Jr. stepped off the witness stand after roughly three hours of testimony.
His own attorney, Clifford Robert, concluded his direct examination by asking Trump Jr. about the fate of the Trump Organization.
"I guess a lot of that depends on what happens next November," Trump Jr said, speculating that the company might be "sued into oblivion."
Assistant New York Attorney General Colleen Faherty cross-examined Trump Jr. for less than ten minutes about the deterioration of Trump's assets, including financial problems at 40 Wall Street and Trump's licensed hotel in Hawaii. Trump Jr. appeared unfamiliar with the 40 Wall Street issues and said he was happy with the Hilton's deal to buy out the Trump Organization's Hawaii hotel licensing deal.
Trump Jr. says golf course site was 'old-school New York mob job'
Donald Trump Jr., in testimony for the defense, touted the work of the Trump Organization to convert a landfill in the Bronx, New York, into a "absolutely incredible" golf course.
"It was raw dirt. It had been that way for a long time," Trump Jr. said of the original site of Trump Links Ferry Point near the Whitestone Bridge.
"People were supposedly trying to build a golf course for years," Trump Jr. said about previous efforts to build the facility, describing it as an "old-school New York mob job" where people got paid to move dirt around but not build anything.
Trump Jr. said that once his father got involved in the project, the site was successfully transformed in a matter of months.
Deutsche Bank executive set to take stand
Donald Trump's civil fraud trial is set to resume this morning with the testimony of Nicholas Haigh, a credit risk executive who worked at Deutsche Bank when it issued loans to the former president.
Deutsche Bank was the largest single lender to the Trump Organization between 2011 and 2022, according to the New York attorney general.
Owing approximately $340 million to the bank at one point, the Trump Organization used Deutsche Bank to secure favorable loans related to its purchase of the Old Post Office Hotel in Washington, D.C., the Trump International Hotel and Tower in Chicago, Illinois, and Trump National Doral golf club in Florida, according to the AG's complaint.
