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.
Top headlines:
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
Trump displays sharp recall of decade-old transactions
In a workmanlike tone contrasting with the day's initial vitriol, Trump has been issuing mostly terse responses to the state's questions about his properties in Chicago and Washington, D.C.
While earlier witnesses, including Trump's sons and key Trump Organization executives, often struggled to recall details of transactions while on the stand, Trump has been demonstrating a sharp recollection of decade-old transactions and emails.
State attorney Kevin Wallace marched through a series of questions about loan documents related to those properties, with the former president cooperating with his line of inquiry.
When Wallace brought up the loan agreement for a Trump-owned building in Chicago, Trump launched into a defense of the loan, which he said he paid off in full and ahead of schedule.
"This loan was paid off in full, with no default, no problem," Trump said. "It was a very successful loan ... so the bank was thrilled."
"There was no victim," Trump added.
'I've had a lot of cash,' Trump says about his net worth
Testimony has resumed following the lunch break, with state attorneys asking the former president about his net worth as it related to loan requirements.
Trump agreed to maintain a net worth of $2.5 billion and cash in excess of $50 million when Deutsche Bank granted him a loan in 2011 for his Trump National Doral golf club, according to documents entered into evidence.
Asked about those covenants -- which Trump satisfied by certifying his financial statements -- Trump only addressed the cash on hand.
"They always want to make sure the cash was substantial," Trump said, claiming that he had $300 to $400 million in cash at the time.
"I've had a lot of cash for a long time," Trump said. "That is all they cared about."
Trump attorney says AG's case has 'nothing but their politics'
Trump attorney Alina Habba assailed the New York attorney general's $250 million civil case and the judge overseeing it, in remarks to reporters during the lunch break.
"What I'm seeing is such a demise of the American judicial system," Habba said outside the courthouse. "They’ve got nothing but their politics."
"This is a judge who clearly has an issue with facts that are not good for the case," she said of Judge Arthur Engoron.
Trump distances himself from preparation of statements
The courtroom has broken for lunch before Trump's testimony resumes for the afternoon session.
Trump testified in the morning session that he tasked then-Trump Organization executives Jeffrey McConney and Allen Weisselberg to work with a "very highly paid accounting firm" to handle his annual statements of financial condition, distancing himself from the preparation of the statements that are at the center of the New York attorney general's case.
"All I did was authorize for people to give what was necessary so they could do the statement," Trump said.
Asked about the valuation of his Mar-a-Lago Club in Florida, which was assessed at a dramatically lower value than Trump claimed because a deed restriction prevented it from being used as anything but a social club, Trump defended his valuation, saying, "We have the right to change it back to a house."
The former president also continued to tout his financial statements' so-called "worthless" clause which he said ensured that banks did not take the statement at face value.
"We have a disclaimer that says, 'Do your own due diligence. Don't under any circumstances count on anything here,'" Trump said in court, at one point waving a piece of paper in the air about the clause that he said vindicated him.
"I would love to read that if I could, your honor?" Trump asked Judge Engoron.
"No," Engoron said, shooting down the request.
"No shock," Trump quipped.
No evidence Trump asked ex-CFO to pump net worth, defense says
Defense lawyer Clifford Robert filed a letter late Thursday asking Judge Engoron to strike testimony from Trump Organization executive Patrick Birney about an alleged "scheme" to pump former President Trump's net worth.
During his testimony Monday, Birney testified that former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg told him that "Mr. Trump wanted his net worth on the statement of financial condition to go up." The New York attorney general has argued this statement supports the existence of an "illicit agreement or scheme" within the Trump Organization to inflate Trump's net worth.
Describing the statement as "merely a recitation of what Mr. Weisselberg allegedly heard from President Trump without adoption or indorsement," Robert argued that the statement cannot be assumed to be true based on Birney's testimony.
"In any event, there is nothing in the record establishing President Trump actually made the statement to Mr. Weisselberg," Robert added in a footnote to his letter.