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
NY AG claims Trump Jr., Eric Trump lied to enrich father
After a day of testimony in which tempers at times flared on all sides, Eric Trump will return to court this morning for what is expected to be his final day on the witness stand.
In a video statement posted to social media last night, New York Attorney General Letitia James suggested that Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump's testimony yesterday highlighted how they lied to help inflate their father's net worth.
Eric Trump was "intimately involved in lying about the values of properties ... to make his father appear richer," while Donald Trump Jr. "continued to lie" by certifying his father's financial statements despite being confronted with misstatements, James alleged.
"They pretend that they were not involved in their family's fraudulent business. But the facts tell a very different story," James said in the video.
Appeals courts rules that Ivanka Trump must testify
A New York appeals court has denied an emergency request from Ivanka Trump to stop her testimony at her father's civil fraud trial.
Trump's daughter, who is not a defendant in the case, was subpoenaed by the attorney general to testify.
She is currently scheduled to testify next week on Wednesday.
Trump attorney decries trial as 'waste of NY taxpayer dollars'
Outside court after court was adjourned for the day, Trump attorney Alina Habba defended the actions of Donald Trump's adult children on the heels of their testimony.
"These children are being brought in, away from their families, for doing nothing wrong," Habba said.
Echoing Trump, Habba attacked New York Attorney General Letitia James and called the trial "the biggest waste of New York taxpayer dollars I have ever seen."
"She piggybacked on Trump to get into office. She didn't do it well enough to become governor," Habba said, referencing James' failed attempt to run for New York governor in 2021.
"This is a waste of time," Habba said.
Exiting court separately with his attorney, Eric Trump shot a thumbs-up to an onlooker ahead of his return to the stand Friday morning.
Judge suggests Trump attorney is misogynist, threatens gag order
Court concluded for the day with a threat from Judge Engoron to expand the trial's limited gag order to include attorneys, after a clash between the judge and defense counsel.
The judge had previously issued the partial gag order prohibiting defendants from making public comments about his staff, after former President Trump posted online about Engoron's law clerk.
After defense attorney Chris Kise suggested potential bias from the bench, Engoron told him, "Do not refer to my law clerk again."
"Sometimes I think there might be a bit of misogyny," Engoron told Kise.
"I have the right to make points on the record," Kise responded. "If there is bias in the proceedings, I have the right to raise that."
Engoron, pounding on the bench, shouted into his microphone that Kise had no right to hear conversations between the judge and his clerk.
"I have an absolute, unfettered right to get advice from my principal law clerk," Engoron said.
Court is scheduled to resume tomorrow morning when Eric Trump returns to the stand.
Trial scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. ET
The People of the State of New York v. Donald J. Trump, et al, is scheduled to get underway in lower Manhattan at 10 a.m. with opening statements.
If opening statements are completed before the end of the day, the New York attorney general plans to begin her case by calling Trump's former Mazars USA accountant Donald Bender to the stand.
Mazars severed its business relationship with the former president last year after learning of the attorney general's findings during the AG's probe.