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
Court employee arrested for approaching Trump
A court employee is under arrest after she tried to approach former President Trump while he was seated in the courtroom.
As the trial was going on, the woman "disrupted the proceedings by standing up and walking towards the front of the courtroom and yelling out to Mr. Trump indicating she wanted to assist him," according to a spokesperson for the New York State Unified Court System.
The woman was stopped by court officers before she got near Trump or any of the attorneys. She was escorted out of the courthouse by court officers and has been charged with disrupting a court proceeding.
No one in the courtroom was ever in any danger, the spokesperson said.
Judge bars attorneys from holding courtroom press conferences
Before the court's afternoon session got underway, Judge Engoron announced he was prohibiting attorneys from holding press conferences or addressing the media inside the courthouse.
The announcement came a day after Trump attorney Alina Habba held a brief press conference during yesterday's lunch break, telling reporters, "This is a scary precedent, legally, for any business in New York."
New York Attorney General Letitia James addressed reporters on the courthouse steps after court had ended for the day yesterday.
Engoron's order does not appear to apply to former President Trump, who is not an attorney. The former president has been addressing the media in the hallway during breaks.
Jack Weisselberg begins his testimony
Ladder Capital executive Jack Weisselberg, the son of ex-Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg, has begun his testimony.
The younger Weisselberg testified that he began his career at the investment bank UBS as an analyst, moved to the now-defunct hedge fund Dillon Read Capital Management, then returned to UBS.
"There were layoffs at UBS and across the entire industry," Weisselberg said about his eventual exit from UBS. He testified that he began working at Ladder Capital in 2008.
The New York attorney general alleges that the Trump Organization obtained favorable loan terms with Ladder Capital based on an inflated appraisal of Trump's 40 Wall Street property.
'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.
Trump steps down from witness stand
After testifying on and off for five hours, Donald Trump has stepped down from the witness stand after completing his direct examination.
State attorney Kevin Wallace concluded his questions by asking Trump about his former CFO Allen Weisselberg, who pleaded guilty to tax evasion, and about internal controls at the Trump Organization.
Weisselberg served three months for tax fraud after he pleaded guilty to 15 felony charges related to his compensation while working for Trump.
"People went after him viciously and violently because he worked for me," Trump said.
Trump said he only learned about Weisselberg's illegal conduct because of the Manhattan district attorney's criminal probe into the Trump Organization and Weisselberg.
"I feel very badly for him," Trump said. "He did a good job for me for a long time."
Regarding the current court case, Wallace asked, "Do you think anything needs to change at the Trump Organization because of what you learned from this lawsuit?"
"I don't think so," Trump said, but suggested he would defer to his new accounting firm.
"We will see if anything will come of it," he said.