A New York judge found former President Donald Trump in contempt of court and set in motion $10,000 daily fines Monday for failing to adequately respond to a subpoena issued by the state’s attorney general as part of a civil investigation into his business dealings.
Judge Arthur Engoron said a contempt finding was appropriate because Trump and his lawyers hadn’t shown they had conducted a proper search for records sought by the subpoena.
“Mr. Trump, I know you take your business seriously, and I take mine seriously,” Engoron said in a Manhattan courtroom that was packed with reporters, but absent of Trump. “I hereby hold you in civil contempt and fine you $10,000 a day” until the terms of the subpoena are met.
New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat, had asked the court to hold Trump in contempt after he failed to produce any documents to satisfy a March 31 court-imposed deadline to meet the terms of the subpoena.
Trump's lawyer said she would appeal the ruling. His attorney, Alina Habba told reporters, "We respectfully disagree with the court's decision today. All documents, as I explained, responsive to the subpoena were already produced to the attorney general months ago."
After a "very diligent" search, there were simply no more relevant documents to provide, she said.
James, a Democrat, opened a civil inquiry in 2019 into claims that - before he took office - Trump, a Republican, had inflated the value of his assets to banks when seeking loans.
James' office has been investigating the Trump Organization for more than two years and previously said her office found multiple misleading or fraudulent misstatements and omissions in the Trump Organization's financial statements, which were provided to lenders and insurers, among others, as part of its investigation.
In mid-April, an attorney for Trump said his team had tried to comply with the subpoena, but despite “a diligent search”, the legal team had found Trump “is not in possession of any of the requested documents”.
CBS News reported that Alina Habba, Trump’s attorney, said Trump’s company might have the requested documents, which include tax audit materials, instead.
Trump has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and has not been accused of criminal wrongdoing. He has called the investigation a “witch-hunt”.
In a court filing then, James said Trump had failed to abide by his earlier agreement to comply “in full” with her subpoena for documents and information by 31 March.
James asked that Trump be fined $10,000 a day until he complied.
“The judge’s order was crystal clear: Donald J Trump must comply with our subpoena and turn over relevant documents to my office,” James said in a statement.
Monday’s contempt finding was not the first for someone who has held the nation’s highest office.
While in the White House, then-President Bill Clinton was found in civil contempt of court in April 1999 in connection to his deposition in a sexual harassment lawsuit filed against him in Arkansas by Paula Jones.
Judge Susan Webber Wright held him in contempt for his testimony, where he falsely said he hadn’t had a sexual relationship with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky. That contempt citation came two months after his acquittal in Congress on articles of impeachment over his testimony.
