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.
Top headlines:
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
Lawyer suggests Trump trying to throw 'accountants under the bus'
State attorney Kevin Wallace, in his redirect examination of the defense's expert witness Jason Flemmons, asked the accounting expert a single question.
"When you were at the Securities and Exchange Commission, did you ever encounter issuers facing allegations of fraud [try] to throw their accountants under the bus?" Wallace asked, in an apparent jab at the defense's contention that the responsibility for Donald Trump's financial statements lies with his accountants.
Trump's lawyers quickly objected to the question. Judge Engoron, visibly smirking, sustained the objection.
Earlier, when asked by Judge Engoron about his compensation for serving as an expert witness, Flemmons said he was unable to estimate the total amount but that his hourly rate was $925 per hour. Michiel McCarty, who testified as an expert witness for the state, testified earlier this month that he charged a similar rate.
Valuing properties 'not an exact science,' says expert
The defense's accounting expert, Jason Flemmons, testified that the process of determining the estimated value of a property could result in a range of values "no one of which is the right or wrong answer."
The assertion from Flemmons supports the defense's long-standing argument that performing valuations such as the ones listed on Donald Trump's statements of financial condition is more akin to an art than a science.
"Estimated current value is not an exact science. There is not one single correct value that comes of this exercise," Flemmons said.
Flemmons testified that insofar as Trump used an approved method to determine value, and disclosed that method, the value would be appropriate.
"You are communicating that to the user and allowing that user to be in a position to agree or disagree," Flemmons said.
State attorney Kevin Wallace has concluded his cross-examination of Flemmons, allowing defense lawyer Jesus Suarez to begin his redirect examination of the accounting expert.
NY AG requests Dec. 8 deadline to respond to mistrial motion
New York Attorney General Letitia James has requested a Dec. 8 deadline to respond to what she called the "spurious allegations" in Donald Trump's motion for a mistrial, a day after Trump sought a mistrial claiming bias on the part of Judge Arthur Engoron and his clerk.
If granted, the request would delay any decision on the mistrial motion until later in the trial and likely push any potential appeal until after the trial has concluded.
State attorney Kevin Wallace cited the "considerable daily attention" of the trial and the impending Thanksgiving holiday as reasons for the extended deadline.
"The Office of the Attorney General's position is that -- putting aside the total lack of merit to Defendants' application for a mistrial -- it is preferable to have the Court hear and decide the application on full briefing," Wallace wrote.
Expert acknowledges he didn't review each of Trump's statements
State attorney Kevin Wallace, cross-examining defense expert Jason Flemmons, attempted to challenge Flemmons' testimony by pressing the accountant on his experience with personal financial statements and his work reviewing Trump's statements.
Flemmons testified that he himself had compiled fewer than five statements of financial condition, none of which were done after 2000. He also acknowledged that he did not review each of Trump's financial statements between 2011 and 2021, which are the subject of the New York attorney general's complaint.
Flemmons generally underplayed the importance of the financial statements by suggesting that most issues Wallace raised were "easily curable with a phone call."
Asked if he could provide a specific example where he was involved in such a follow-up inquiry, Flemmons failed to offer an example and instead generally referred to his time working for the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Court was subsequently adjourned for the day, with Wallace scheduled to continue his testimony tomorrow morning.
'I wasn't involved' preparing financial statements, Trump Jr. says
Before stepping down from the witness stand at the end of the afternoon, Donald Trump Jr. was asked repeatedly about his involvement in the Trump Organization's statements of financial condition -- the allegedly fraudulent documents that underpin the attorney general's case.
Trump Jr., who signed and certified the accuracy of the statements while his father was president between 2016 and 2021, said that he was not involved in preparing the filings.
"I wasn't involved in the compilation of this statement of financial condition," Trump Jr. said, placing the responsibility on his accountants.
"Did you work on the statement of financial condition for June 30, 2017?" state attorney Colleen Faherty asked.
"I did not. The accountants worked on it. That's what we paid them to do," Trump Jr. said.
Throughout the afternoon, the tone of the proceedings alternated rapidly between lighthearted and heated, varying from playful interactions between Trump Jr. and Judge Engoron, to bitter spats between some of the lawyers.
"I know you don't like it when good evidence comes in," Faherty told the defense lawyers during one particularly heated exchange.
"There's no reason to raise your voice," Donald Trump Jr.'s lawyer, Clifford Robert, responded.
Trump Jr. is scheduled to return to the stand tomorrow morning.