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
Cohen details how he says he inflated Trump's statements
According to Michael Cohen, the process of "reverse engineering" Donald Trump's 2011 financial statement began with a phone call.
"Mr. Trump would like to see you," Trump's executive assistant told Cohen, according to his testimony today.
Cohen testified that he then personally met with Trump and former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg to begin the process of inflating Trump's financial statement.
"I am actually not worth 4.5 billion. I am really worth six," Trump directed him and Weisselberg, according to Cohen.
Following that meeting, he and Weisselberg engaged in a multi-day process of marking up Trump's financial statement with red ink to eventually increase Trump's total net worth to Trump's "desired number," Cohen said.
Apart from the marked-up document, which Cohen said was scanned, he left behind no contemporaneous notes, text messages, or emails about the process.
"What is the highest price per square foot achieved in the city," Cohen described about the process to determine comparable properties to value Trump assets. "We would use those numbers to inflate these numbers."
'He is not a credible witness,' Trump says of Cohen
Minutes after Michael Cohen alleged he was tasked with reverse engineering Trump Organization financial statements, Donald Trump continued his attacks on his former lawyer while exiting the courtroom during a break in the trial.
"His record is a horrible one. All you have to do is ask the Southern District of New York," Trump said in reference to Cohen's 2018 guilty plea on charges related to his role in making hush payments to two woman who claimed to have long-denied affairs with Trump.
"He is not a credible witness," Trump said.
During Cohen's testimony, Trump also took to social media to post flattering quotes Cohen gave to news outlets about Trump in 2011 and 2016.
"He's more like a patriarch, a mentor. These qualities make him very endearing to me, which is why I am so fiercely loyal to him and committed to protecting him at all costs," Cohen told the New York Times in 2016 -- which was posted by Trump on Truth Social minutes after Cohen began his testimony.
The former president told reporters he wasn't concerned about Cohen being on the stand.
"We're not worried at all about his testimony," Trump said.
Cohen, exiting court separately during the break, quipped that seeing Trump again after five years was a "heck of a reunion."
Cohen says he was tasked to 'reverse engineer' asset values
Michael Cohen, under questioning from state attorneys, testified it was his job to help Trump look as rich as he wanted to.
"I was tasked by Mr. Trump to increase the total assets based upon a number that he arbitrarily elected, and my responsibility -- along with Allen Weisselberg -- predominantly was to reverse engineer the various different asset classes, increase those assets in order to achieve the number that Mr. Trump had tasked us with," Cohen said, referring to former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg.
Cohen joined the Trump Organization in 2007 as executive vice president and special counsel to Trump, putting him "directly under Mr. Trump" in the corporate hierarchy, Cohen said.
"I reported and only handled work for Mr. Trump and so I was his special counsel. Whatever issues he had, whatever created ire for him, he would bring it to me to resolve," Cohen said.
"So the only person who asked you to perform work was Donald J. Trump?" state attorney Colleen Faherty asked.
"Correct," Cohen responded.
Cohen affirmed his involvement in preparing Trump's statements of financial condition and told the judge those documents were "shared with third parties," including insurance brokers.
Cohen recounts his criminal history
Michael Cohen, hunched slightly on the witness stand, began his testimony by outlining the federal charges to which he pleaded guilty and served prison time -- including tax evasion and lying to Congress -- as Trump leaned back in his chair with his arms folded across his chest.
Once Trump's self-described bulldog, Cohen has not shared a room with Trump in five years, he said prior to his testimony.
As he recounted his criminal history, Cohen invoked the names of Stormy Daniels and Karen MacDougal, two women who in 2016 were paid to keep quiet about long-denied affairs with Trump. Defense attorney Chris Kise moved to strike the answer but the judge overruled the objection.
Colleen Faherty, an attorney with the state attorney general's office, asked Cohen if his crimes occurred while he was employed by Trump, to which Cohen responded "Yes" and affirmed his employer was "Donald J. Trump."
Judge loses patience with state's questions
The testimony of Donald Trump’s former tax lawyer Sheri Dillon continued Friday morning after a hearing where Judge Arthur Engoron ordered Ivanka Trump to testify at the trial as early as next week.
State attorney Louis Solomon attempted to highlight development restrictions that Trump allegedly agreed to for two properties that appeared to contradict proposed conservation easements.
“Yes, it’s complicated. For the most part, it didn't matter,” Dillon testified, arguing that the restrictions would not impact Trump’s conservation easements.
After an hour of similar questions and responses, Engoron appeared to lose patience and briefly excused the witness from the stand.
“I feel we are two or three elements away from anything that is relevant,” Engoron said. “It seems to me this is becoming a game of gotcha.”