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.
Top headlines:
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
Court adjourns for day without gag order ruling
The trial adjourned until Monday without Judge Engoron determining what penalty, if any, Trump will face after the judge said Trump violated his limited gag order by not removing a false Truth Social post about Engoron's clerk from his campaign website.
Prior to adjournment, former Trump Organization vice president Raymond Flores testified about his limited role in reviewing Trump’s 2020 statement of financial condition and assessing the value of Trump’s golf courses.
Flores, who had a limited recollection of events, is expected to return to the witness stand to complete his testimony on Monday.
Judge to hold hearing on Ivanka Trump subpoenas
Judge Engoron will hear oral arguments from the New York attorney general and Ivanka Trump's attorney about whether Ivanka Trump will be required to testify at her father's civil fraud trial.
New York Attorney General Letitia James issued three subpoenas to Ivanka Trump, who was no longer a part of the Trump Organization by 2016, in order to compel her testimony -- but Ivanka Trump's lawyer argues they should be quashed because the AG lacks jurisdiction.
The hearing will likely take place one morning next week, before the trial gets underway for the day, according to Engoron's clerk.
Thousands saw false post on Trump's website, attorney says
According to Donald Trump's attorney Chris Kise, 3,701 people viewed a screenshot of Trump's false Truth Social post about Judge Engoron's clerk that was added to Trump's 2024 campaign website.
Engoron had requested that Kise provide specific information about the reach of Trump's post after it was removed from Truth Social but remained on the campaign site. A screenshot of the Truth social post was available on Trump's campaign site for more than two weeks after it was removed from the Truth Social platform, according to Engoron.
Kise said that the post was initially emailed to 25,810 people from a "press" email list. A total of 6,713 people opened the email, which directed recipients to a post on Trump's campaign website.
Of the 114 million people who visited Trump's campaign website between Oct. 3 and Oct. 19, a total of 3,701 users viewed the actual post, including the people directed to the post via email.
"You have to click through layers to get there," Kise said.
Engoron has still not ruled on what punishment, if any, Trump faces for the potential violation of his gag order.
Judge mulls holding Trump in contempt over gag order
Judge Engoron said he is considering holding former President Trump in contempt of court -- and even raised the possibility of imprisonment -- following what Engoron described as a "blatant violation of the gag order" imposed earlier this month during the trial.
Engoron imposed a limited gag order on Oct. 3 after Trump made a false social media post about the judge's clerk. While Trump immediately removed the post from Truth Social, Trump's campaign website appeared to still include the social media post until last night.
"Despite this clear order, last night I learned that the subject offending post was never removed from [the Trump's campaign website], in fact had been on that website for the past 17 days," Engoron said.
The judge said he was considering holding Trump in contempt of court, fining him, or "possibly imprisoning him."
"Incendiary untruths can, and in some cases already had, lead to serious physical harm," Engoron said.
Trump's lawyer Chris Kise told Engoron that the website including the post was an "inadvertent" mistake and that Trump has tried to comply with the order since it was imposed.
"The Truth Social post was taken down when President Trump represented it to the court," Kise said.
Addressing why the post remained on Trump's campaign website, Kise blamed Trump's "very large [campaign] operation."
"This unfortunately is a part of the process that is built into the campaign structure," Kise said.
Engoron, who did not immediately resolve the issue, said, "I will take this under advisement, but I want to make clear that Donald Trump is still responsible for the large machine, even if it is a large machine."
'All Trump haters,' Trump calls attorneys
Less than 10 minutes into his direct examination, Donald Trump took an opportunity to criticize the investigations and prosecutions that have dogged his life after the presidency.
"You and every other Democratic district attorney, AG, U.S. Attorney were coming after me from 15 different sides. All Democrats, all Trump haters," Trump said unprompted.
State attorney Kevin Wallace attempted to begin his direct examination by asking Trump his revocable trust -- the mechanism that Trump used to prevent business conflicts during his presidency.
"I thought there may be a conflict of interest, so I formed the trust," Trump said, describing his son and trustee Donald Trump Jr. as "a hard working boy, young man."
Asked about former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg, who also was a trustee, Trump spoke highly of his former employee, who later pleaded guilty to tax evasion.
"He did a good job, he was very good at what he did," Trump said. "We really liked him for a long time.'
Trump said that he briefly resumed control of his trust in 2021 before returning control back to Donald Trump Jr. so he could return to politics.
"He was impressive in business, as was Eric. I thought that I would do that while I continue en route to politics," Trump said before decrying the political motivation of his multiple criminal cases.
Judge Arthur Engoron has already advised Trump to limit the length of his answers.
"I would like things to move along a little faster. Please answer the questions, no speeches," Engoron said.