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
Defense presses ex-accountant on asset appraisals
Pressing Mazars USA accountant Donald Bender on how often he asked the Trump Organization for appraisals of the former president's assets during the years he worked on Trump's account, defense lawyers attempted to portray Bender as neglecting to do his job compiling Trump's financial reports.
"I didn't know that the Trump Organization had any access to appraisals they did not give me," Bender testified.
The longtime Trump accountant struggled to articulate how often he made requests for appraisals, and defense counsel Clifford Robert drilled into the fact that those requests appear to never have been made in writing to Trump Organization controller Jeffrey McConney.
"You don't really know what you asked Jeff McConney," Robert told Bender.
Bender was also asked about Trump's three adult children, who all previously served as executives in the Trump Organization, and whether they were involved with Trump's statement of financial condition.
The accountant said that -- apart from a brief conversation he once had with Eric Trump -- Eric, Don Jr. and Ivanka Trump were not involved in issuing Trump's financial statements.
On redirect examination, state attorneys briefly asked questions of Bender suggesting that the defense's questions had been based on an outdated accounting standard.
That concluded Bender's testimony.
Judge says he'll cap questioning at an hour and a half
Trump attorney Jesus Suarez, in his cross-examination of longtime Trump accountant Donald Bender, is attempting to ask Bender about each year's compilation of Trump's statement of financial condition.
In response, facing the possibility of hours of repetitive questions, Judge Engoron said he would limit Suarez to an hour and a half of cross-examination.
Defense lawyer Clifford Robert is also expected to question Bender.
Cross-examination of ex-accountant resumes
The defense's cross-examination of longtime Trump accountant Donald Bender has resumed.
New York Attorney General Letitia James is attending court today, but Eric Trump of the Trump Organization is absent from the gallery.
When Donald Trump attended over the first three days of the trial, the gallery was packed -- but without him in attendance, it's now roughly half full.
Without Trump in attendance, trial resumes for Day 4
The trial resumes this morning for its first full day of action without the presence of former President Trump, who returned to Florida yesterday after attending the trial's first three days.
With 26 witnesses yet to testify for the state, today is likely to provide an indication of the trial's duration, which Judge Engoron scheduled to take three months.
Longtime Trump accountant Donald Bender of Mazars USA is back on the stand for more cross-examination from defense lawyer Jesus Suarez, who has been walking Bender though years of financial statements in an attempt to paint him as asleep of the wheel while handling Trump's accounting.
If Bender gets off the stand today, the state will next call longtime Trump Organization comptroller Jeffrey McConney, who is a defendant in the case itself.
Weisselberg denies discussing financial statements with Trump
After initially evading the state's question, ex-Trump CFO Allen Weisselberg denied that he ever met with Trump to discuss his financial statements.
"Did you ever meet with Donald Trump or Michael Cohen where there was discussion of the statement of financial condition before it was finalized?" state attorney Louis Solomon asked.
Weisselberg initially responded that he did not recall such a meeting happening, before answering more definitively.
"No. I don't believe it happened," Weisselberg said.
Judge Engoron, appearing skeptical of the answer, asked Weisselberg to confirm.
"Could it have happened, and you just don't remember?" Engoron asked.
"I am saying it did not happen," Weisselberg responded.
The attorney general's opening statement for the case included a portion of the deposition of former Trump attorney Michael Cohen, who claimed that Trump met with him and Weisselberg to direct them to increase his net worth, in order "to be higher on the Forbes list" of billionaires.
"Allen and I were tasked with taking the assets, increasing each of those asset classes in order to accommodate that eight-billion-dollar number [Trump requested]," Cohen said in the deposition.