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.


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


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Rep. Stefanik files complaint against Judge Engoron

Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York has filed a judicial complaint against Judge Arthur Engoron.

The letter, addressed to the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct, largely concerns the judge's rulings in the case and his public statements, and is unlikely to impact the proceedings of the trial.

"Judge Engoron's bizarre and biased behavior is making New York's judicial system a laughingstock," Stefanik, a staunch Trump supporter, wrote.

The lengthy letter echoes some of Trump's attacks on the trial, criticizing Engoron's limited gag order in the case, the actions of his legal clerk, his summary judgment ruling, and his comments during Trump's testimony this week.

"Simply put, Judge Engoron has displayed a clear judicial bias against the defendant throughout the case, breaking several rules in the New York Code of Judicial Conduct," Stefanik wrote.


Court adjourned until Monday

Court has adjourned for the day, with the trial scheduled to resume Monday for the start of the defense's case.

The court will be closed Friday in observation of Veterans Day.

Donald Trump Jr. will return to the witness stand to testify as the defense's first witness on Monday, assuming the judge does not rule in favor of Trump's motion for a directed verdict to end the case early.


Judge denies NY AG's motion to quash 4 defense witnesses

Judge Engoron has denied a motion from the New York attorney general to preclude four expert witnesses from testifying for the defense when the defense presents it case starting on Monday.

The state had sought to preclude the four experts' testimony on the grounds that, following the testimony of the state's witnesses, the four defense witnesses were no longer relevant to the case.

"You've won the battle. We'll see if you win the war," Engoron told defense attorney Chris Kise -- though he warned Kise that he would cut off the witnesses if they try to debate facts already established in the case.

In making his ruling, Engoron reiterated his finding from his earlier summary judgment order that Donald Trump made at least ten internally contradictory claims in his statements of financial condition.

"You can't have a correct statement with these kinds of errors," Engoron said.

Kise told the court that Donald Trump Jr. will be the first witness to testify in the defense's case on Monday.

"Oh, I know him," Engoron deadpanned after the announcement.

It will mark Trump Jr.'s return to the witness box after the state put him on the stand last week.


Defense attorney apologizes for barb

Court has resumed after a lunch break, and Trump attorney Chris Kise appears to have had a change of heart regarding his earlier barb directed toward state attorney Andrew Amer.

Before lunch, Kise threw some shade at Amer during arguments over the state's motion to preclude testimony from four of the defense's expert witnesses.

Returning from court after the break, Kise took back his words and apologized.

"I am going to apologize to the court, I am going to apologize to Mr. Amer," Kise said.

"I appreciate it and accept the apology," Amer responded.


Trump Jr. says he didn't 'do anything' with triplex info

Donald Trump Jr. testified he largely ignored a 2017 email from a Forbes magazine reporter who asked about the false claim that Donald Trump's triplex apartment in Trump Tower was 30,000 square feet -- about three times larger than its actual size.

Forwarded the message by a Trump Organization executive in 2017, Trump Jr. replied, "Insane amount of stuff there," according to material entered into evidence.

Asked about the email, Trump Jr. said he largely ignored the lengthy email and did not act on it.

"I don't know if I would spend hundreds of questions' worth of time answering questions from Forbes magazine," Trump Jr. said. "I have no specific recollection of doing anything with it."

Despite the error being called out, Trump Jr. and then-CFO Allen Weisselberg still signed off on Trump's 2016 financial statement that falsely claimed Trump's triplex was 30,000 square feet and worth $327 million, according to the New York attorney general's complaint.

Judge Engoron later paused the proceedings for the court's morning break. On his way out of the courtroom, Trump Jr. stopped to chat with the court's sketch artist.

"He said, 'Make me look sexy,'" the artist, Jane Rosenberg, told reporters.

Rosenberg famously sketched Trump Jr.'s father during his arraignment in the Stormy Daniels case, with her work landing on the cover of New Yorker magazine.