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
Insurer backed Trump to guard relationship with broker, expert says
Defense witness David Miller, an expert in insurance underwriting, testified that the Zurich insurance company worked with the Trump Organization largely to protect its relationship with their broker, AON Risk Solutions.
"The relationship with AON was very important, and keeping business intact was very important," Miller said about Zurich, which he said made a "business decision" to insure the Trump Organization's properties.
The testimony appears to be a move to weaken the New York attorney general's allegation that the Trump Organization used their inflated financial statements to get progressively favorable surety terms.
Judge Arthur Engoron was skeptical to qualify Miller as an expert before he relented to the defense's request.
"I don't see why you're an expert in what was just said," Engoron said after Miller spent 20 minutes listing his professional experience.
Both Engoron and state attorney Andrew Amer, who called the testimony a "waste of time," criticized Miller's ability to testify about the decisions made by Zurich and AON.
Defense's case running ahead of schedule
The defense’s case will likely conclude one week ahead of schedule, according to defense attorney Clifford Robert.
Based on the remaining witnesses, the defense team is now planning to rest its case by Dec. 8.
Once the defense rests its case, the New York attorney general has an opportunity to present a rebuttal case, followed by closing arguments from both sides.
James says Trump's expert witnesses are 'friends and golf buddies'
Week 8 of Donald Trump's fraud trial resumes this morning with the defense's sixth expert witnesses.
Apart from the testimony of Donald Trump Jr., the defense's case last week largely relied on multiple experts who supported the claim that asset valuation is more of an art than a science.
Similar to the state's lone expert witness, who was paid $350,000 for his testimony, Trump's expert witnesses during the first week of the defense's case were paid a hefty fee for testifying -- while others testified as a professional courtesy to Trump. Expert witness Gary Giulietti acknowledged his personal friendship with the former president, while Steven Witkoff said he had donated over $2 million to Trump's presidential campaign.
New York Attorney General Letitia James noted those connections in a social media post.
"Several of these experts are longtime friends and golf buddies of Donald Trump. One had donated millions of dollars to Donald Trump's campaign and his son even got married at Mar-a-Lago," she said.
With no gag order, Trump continues to assail judge, clerk
With his limited gag order temporarily lifted on Thursday, Trump is continuing to rail against his civil fraud trial on social media, calling for the prosecution of New York Attorney General Letitia James, Judge Arthur Engoron, and Engoron's law clerk.
Describing the case as a "horribly handled persecution of a political opponent," Trump alleged that Engoron himself committed fraud by undervaluing his assets in his pretrial ruling, and that his clerk and James were complicit in the case.
"The World is watching this illegal Witch Hunt," Trump wrote.
Describing Engoron's clerk as a "co-judge" and "highly partisan," Trump's posts over the weekend were the second and third time the former president took aim at the clerk since an appeals court temporarily lifted the gag order preventing him from attacking Engoron's staff. In both posts, Trump explicitly mentioned the clerk by name.
Engoron on Friday denied Trump's request for a mistrial, which alleged bias on the part of the the judge, writing in his ruling, "As I have made clear over the course of this trial, my rulings are mine, and mine alone. There is absolutely no 'co-judging' at play."
Exec's testimony shows 'illicit agreement or scheme,' state argues
State attorney Eric Haren has filed a letter with the court arguing that Trump Organization executive Patrick Birney's testimony yesterday about Trump's net worth should be admissible.
During his testimony, Birney claimed that CFO Allen Weisselberg told him that "Mr. Trump wanted his net worth on the statement of financial condition to go up." Trump lawyer Chris Kise immediately objected to the statement as hearsay.
Judge Engoron then asked both parties to submit two-page memos by today, regarding whether the statements from Birney are hearsay.
"Regardless of its truth, Mr. Weisselberg's statement tends to show the existence of an illicit agreement or scheme," Haren wrote in his letter to the judge.
Haren argued that since Weisselberg is alleged to be a co-conspirator who carried out his "illicit objectives" through Birney, the statement should be considered admissible.