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
'You can't just make up a number,' Trump lawyer says of $370M fine
Trump's attorney Chris Kise hammered away at the New York attorney general's request for a fine of $370 million, calling the request "pure speculation" in his closing argument.
"You can't just make up a number in the sky," Kise argued, criticizing the New York AG for stepping into private transactions.
"The attorney general is going to come along ten years later because she does not like Donald Trump," Kise said.
Arguing that Trump's main lender at Deutsche Bank was happy to do business with the Trump Organization despite accusations that Trump overvalued his assets, Kise said that the state is attempting to rely on expert testimony due to a lack of testimony from bankers alleging wrongdoing.
Judge Engoron intervened twice during Kise's argument to cast doubt on the claim that happy bankers mean there was no wrongdoing.
"If the bank doesn't say it's material, then it's simply not material," Kise responded.
"That's not logically correct," Engoron said. "You can't just get a witness to say it was not material to us, so it was not material."
Kise also spent a significant portion of his closing statement criticizing former Trump attorney Michael Cohen, who he argued was the only witness to support the attorney general's claim of a conspiracy to defraud lenders.
"We have an individual who comes into the courtroom and lies right in front of you, and the attorney general wants you to find him credible," Kise said regarding Cohen reversing his testimony during the trial.
Trump lawyer says case 'manufactured to pursue a political agenda'
Defense attorney Chris Kise began his closing argument by reciting the greatest hits of Trump's defense case, highlighting the lack of victims, intent, and claims of wrongdoing.
According to Kise, Trump's net worth is higher than claimed in his statement of financial condition, and the entire case was "manufactured to pursue a political agenda" by New York Attorney General Letitia James.
"There is no testimony from anyone as to how the defendant's conduct allegedly harmed the marketplace," Kise said with Donald Trump looking on from three feet behind him.
Kise then touted the testimony of the former president, who he praised for "shaping the skyline of New York,'' as evidence that he and his sons committed no wrongdoing.
"There are few people in the world who have succeeded in the real estate industry this well, that have been this successful," Kise said of Trump.
Kise instead placed the blame for the case on Trump's deputies at the Trump Organization and his accountants at Mazars USA.
"President Trump relied on multimillion-dollar accountants at Mazars," Kise said. "Allen Weisselberg, Jeffrey McConney, and Donald Bender were the three most principally involved in the presentation and preparation of the statements of financial condition. Guess which one is a CPA? Bender."
Closings underway with no mention of Trump's role
Trump attorney Chris Kise began his closing argument after Judge Engoron opened the proceedings without addressing Trump's desire to deliver part of the defense's closing statement.
Trump is seated in his usual seat at the defense counsel table, sandwiched between his attorneys.
Engoron lobbed jokes while the pool cameras prepared to enter the courtroom.
"Lining them up -- are they going to be shot or something?" the judge quipped. "I see the usual mixture of anticipation and dread out there. Trust me, this will be painless."
'I want to speak,' Trump says on way into courtroom
Speaking to reporters before entering the courtroom, Donald Trump said he still hopes to deliver a portion of the closing statement despite Judge Engoron denying that request yesterday after Trump's lawyers declined to agree with the rules Engoron set restricting Trump from making political statements and criticizing those involved in the trial.
"I want to speak, I want to make the summation," Trump told reporters. "At this moment, the judge is not letting me make the summation because I'll bring up things that he doesn't want to hear."
"So I hope to speak, and to help my lawyers reveal all of the defects of this case," said Trump, who called the case "very unfair" and "very bad for New York state companies."
Judge admonishes Trump after he posts about clerk
As court resumed after the lunch break, Judge Engoron admonished Donald Trump for a post he made this afternoon on his Truth Social platform regarding Engoron's clerk, Alison Greenfield.
"Personal attacks on members of my court staff are unacceptable and inappropriate. Consider this statement a gag order forbidding all parties from posting, emailing or speaking publicly about any of my staff," the judge said in his admonishment.
The post, which included a photo of Greenfield with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, made unsubstantiated claims about her connections with Schumer and falsely claimed that Greenfield is "running" the case against Trump.
Trump apparently made the post, which linked to Greenfield's Instagram account, while the former president was sitting in the courtroom.
The post was deleted shortly before the judge's admonishment, but it was up for at least an hour and a half. Engoron lamented that the sentiment was shared to millions.
The judge did not mention Trump by name but noted the post came from one of the defendants.
Greenfield sits at the bench to Engoron's immediate right and the judge is often seen conferring with her over legal and logistical matters.
In a statement, Schumer spokesperson Allison Biasotti called Trump's post "ridiculous, absurd, and false," saying that "Sen. Schumer does not know Ms. Greenfield. As is well known, Sen. Schumer attends countless events in every corner of the state where tens of thousands of constituents take photos with him, just like this one, which was taken at a stop at an annual brunch in Manhattan.”
-ABC News' Peter Charalambous, Aaron Katersky, Soo Rin Kim, Lalee Ibssa and Kendall Ross