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
'I know the legal definition of fraud,' judge says
"One thing I know a lot about is the legal definition of fraud," Justice Arthur Engeron said as he gaveled court into session prior to the start of opening statements.
Engoron opened the proceedings after allowing cameras in to document the scene in the courtroom: Trump, arms folded, flanked by his legal team; Engeron on the bench; and throngs of reporters and spectators in the gallery.
"I've promised to do my best despite my lame attempts at humor," Engeron said in a brief opening statement. "I take my job very seriously."
The trial is expected to last through Dec. 22, Engeron said, and suggested he would attempt to keep a low profile after today.
"For the next three months, I hope the only words I will mutter are 'Sustained,' 'Overruled,' and 'Let's take a 10-minute break,'" he said.
Opening statements underway
Opening statements are underway in former President Trump's $250 million fraud trial.
Trump is seated between his attorneys Clifford Robert, Alina Habba and Christopher Kise.
Trump and his co-defendants face a bench trial, meaning that the sole arbiter of the case is Judge Arthur Engoron instead of a jury.
Trump seated in courtroom
Former President Trump has taken a seat in the courtroom for the start of the trial.
"The crime is against me," he told reporters outside the courtroom before he made his way inside.
He denounced the case in now-familiar terms, criticizing state Attorney General Letitia James as she sat inside the courtroom.
Trump also accused Judge Arthur Engoron of failing to account for the full value of his real estate portfolio, asserting his Mar-a-Lago estate is worth "50 to 100 times more" than the judge's decision for partial summary judgment said last week.
"We have other properties, the same thing. So he devalued everything," Trump said. "We have among the greatest properties in the world. and I have to go through this for political reasons."
Engoron decided Trump's statements of financial condition were fraudulent, but Trump said, "We have a clause in the contract that says, essentially, buyer beware."
Trump calls trial 'political witch hunt'
Former President Trump, speaking to reporters on his arrival at the lower Manhattan courthouse, said the trial is a witch hunt resulting from his standing in the presidential polls.
"This is a continuation of the greatest political witch hunt of all time," he told reporters outside the courtroom.
Trump said he is innocent of the accusations and that his portfolio has a much higher value than what the attorney general alleges.
Judge fines Trump $354 million
Former President Donald Trump must pay $354 million for fraudulent business practices, Judge Arthur Engoron has ruled.
Trump's sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump have been fined $4 million apiece, and former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg has been fined $1 million.
The decision bars Trump barred from serving as an officer of a New York company for three years, and bars his sons for two years apiece.
Regarding the dissolution of Trump's companies, the decision says, "This Court hereby modifies its September 26, 2023, Decision and Order solely to the extent of removing the language ordering the LLCs cancellation en masse. The restructuring and potential dissolution of any LLCs shall be subject to individual review by the Court appointed Independent Director of Compliance in consultation with Judge Jones."
In his decision, Engoron wrote that "Defendants' refusal to admit error -- indeed, to continue it, according to the Independent Monitor -- constrains this Court to conclude that they will engage in it going forward unless judicially restrained."
"Overall, Donald Trump rarely responded to the questions asked, and he frequently interjected long, irrelevant speeches on issues far beyond the scope of the trial," the judge wrote. "His refusal to answer the questions directly, or in some cases, at all, severely compromised his credibility."
"The accountants created these 'compilations' based on data submitted by the Trump entities," the decision said. "In order to borrow more and at lower rates, defendants submitted blatantly false financial data to the accountants, resulting in fraudulent financial statements. When confronted at trial with the statements, defendants' fact and expert witnesses simply denied reality, and defendants failed to accept responsibility or to impose internal controls to prevent future recurrences."
Of Donald Trump Jr., Engoron wrote, "Despite disclaiming responsibility for or knowledge of the Statements of Financial Conditions' contents, Trump, Jr. still insisted that the Statements of Financial Condition were 'materially accurate.'"
Engoron's decision follows an 11-week civil trial in New York, where Trump and three of his adult children testified.
New York Attorney General Letitia James sued Trump, his two adult sons, and Trump Organization executives in September 2022 for issuing fraudulent financial statements -- including over 200 false and misleading asset values between 2011 and 2021 -- to get better loan terms and business deals.