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
'The government just got caught in a big, fat lie,' says Trump
Defense attorney Clifford Robert continued to hammer at real estate appraiser Doug Larson during cross-examination.
Larson -- who met with attorneys from the New York attorney general's office on Monday in advance of his testimony -- was asked if he was shown either of the two emails that this morning prompted him to recall having phone calls with Trump Organization controller Jeffrey McConney, after testifying yesterday that he did not.
"During your prep session Monday, the attorney general didn't show you these two documents?" Robert said while waving printed copies of the two emails in the air, to which Larson replied no.
State attorney Mark Ladov, on redirect examination, read a transcript from an interview with Larson from three years ago, in which Larson was shown the emails and offered a response that was consistent with yesterday's testimony.
"This is beyond absurd," Trump attorney Chris Kise said, objecting to Ladov's approach.
Exiting the courtroom during a break, Trump seized on the Larson's testimony to support his claims that the case should be dismissed.
"The government just got caught in a big, fat lie," Trump said.
Judge asks for quiet after Trump responds to testimony
Trump, who has been sitting at the counsel table with his attorneys Chris Kise and Alina Habba, had a noticeable response when real estate appraiser Doug Larson denied having conversations with Trump Organization controller Jeffrey McConney about the value of Trump's 40 Wall Street property in 2013.
The former president made an inaudible comment, tapped on the table, and conferred with his lawyers.
That prompted state attorney Kevin Wallace to ask Judge Engoron to tell Trump to refrain from making comments.
"Can the defendant please stop commenting during the witness' testimony?" Wallace said. "I believe exhortations are audible on this side of the courtroom as well."
Engoron declined to specifically tell Trump to refrain from commenting, instead saying, "I will ask everyone to be quiet when the witness is testifying."
'You lied yesterday,' Trump attorney accuses witness
With Donald Trump sitting just feet away, lawyers for Trump and New York Attorney General Letitia James engaged in a heated argument about whether an expert real estate appraiser committed perjury during his testimony yesterday.
"You lied yesterday, didn't you?" defense lawyer Lazaro Fields asked former Cushman & Wakefield real estate executive Doug Larson -- a line of questioning that prompted Larson to be excused from the courtroom while the attorneys sparred.
"This witness has rights and a lawyer in the room," Trump lawyer Chris Kise said, while lawyers for the state shouted "absurd" and "witness intimidation" from their chairs.
The squabble centered on Larson's testimony about whether he assisted the Trump Organization in determining capitalization rates to value their properties.
"Did you work with Mr. McConney in 2013 to determine the cap rate that he used to value his property?" state attorney Mark Ladov asked Larson yesterday, referring to Trump Organization controller Jeffrey McConney.
"No, I did not," Larson testified yesterday.
Fields attempted to contradict Larson's answer this morning by showing emails between McConney and Larson that suggested the two occasionally spoke about market conditions.
"Jeff McConney would call me, periodically, not frequently, to talk about sales and market conditions," Larson conceded.
But Larson denied having conversations with McConney about the value of Trump's 40 Wall Street property in 2013.
After a brief interruption, Fields presented a 2014 email where McConney asked Larson, "I hate to be a pest, but the accountants are coming in tomorrow to go over my valuations. Any chance you can answer my question below?"
Asked about that email, Larson acknowledged that McConney was using his information to support Trump Organization valuations in 2013.
It was at this point that Fields directly asked if Larson had lied yesterday, prompting the witness to be excused briefly.
"He perjured himself yesterday, in my opinion," Kise told the court.
"This is a performance … not a legal issue," Wallace countered.
"He was accused of perjury on the stand," Engoron noted before bringing Larson back into the courtroom.
While Larson still denied that he "worked with" McConney on the valuations, he ultimately conceded that he knew the information he provided was used to value Trump properties at the time -- seemingly contradicting his testimony yesterday.
"You knew in 2013 that Mr. McConney was using the information you sent him, mainly the capitalization rates, to value the Trump properties?" Fields said.
"I did," Larson said.
Trump returns for second day in a row
Former President Trump is back in court for the second day in a row.
New York Attorney General Letitia James is also attending the proceedings this morning.
Trump was met with a swarm of cameras on his way into the court, though the courtroom itself is half empty, largely filled with reporters and security officers.
Like yesterday, Trump is sitting at the counsel table between his attorneys Chris Kise and Alina Habba.
McConney says overvaluation of Trump’s penthouse was incorrect
Former Trump Organization controller Jeff McConney, testifying for the defense, said that he overvalued Donald Trump's penthouse apartment by over $100 million because he relied on an incorrect email.
Judge Arthur Engoron determined in his partial summary judgment that the penthouse was overvalued by as much as $200 million because it was falsely listed as being three times larger than its actual size.
To get to that value, McConney said relied on a Trump Organization broker who falsely represented the apartment was 30,000 square feet.
"I would rely on him. I figured he knew the property a lot better than I did," said McConney, who added that he never spent considerable time in the apartment.
The Trump Organization lowered the value of the penthouse by more than $200 million in 2017 after a Forbes magazine article exposed the error.
McConney's testimony came before he broke down on the stand at the end of his direct examination.