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 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 attorney blasts motion to limit defense witnesses
Trump attorney Chris Kise grew visibly frustrated as today's proceedings moved on to arguments over the state's motion to preclude testimony from four of the defense's expert witnesses that the state argues are no longer relevant to the case.
After state attorney Andrew Amer argued in favor of the motion, Kise suggested he belongs in totalitarian Russia.
"I suggest Mr. Amer check the internet," Kise said. "Vladmir Putin has some openings. That is where he belongs."
Describing the comment as "completely uncalled for," Judge Engoron suggested that Kise apologize to Amer.
"I am not going to apologize," Kise said, though he promised to refrain from "further pejoratives."
Judge denies defense's 4th request to end trial
The second day of testimony from the defense's expert accounting witness prompted an argument between attorneys for the two sides over the basic question of what the case is about -- leading defense lawyers to make their fourth unsuccessful request for a directed verdict to end the trial.
The arguments came toward the end of direct testimony by accounting expert defense Eli Bartov, who asserted the New York attorney general's case lacked merit because there was no evidence of any fraud on Trump's statements of financial condition, and that any errors about the values of Trump's properties were unintentional and therefore immaterial.
When the defense attempted to question Bartov about those values, state attorneys objected -- prompting defense attorney Christopher Kise to leap from his seat.
"If they don't call anyone to dispute our values, how have they proven their case?" Kise said.
Judge Arthur Engoron, in a pretrial ruling, already decided that Trump conducted a decade's worth of business using fraudulent financial statements, and state attorney Kevin Wallace suggested that Bartov's findings do not change those findings.
"You can't use false statements in business. That's what the summary judgment decision is all about. I think it is pretty much what the rest of this case is about," Engoron said in response to Kise's question.
Kise argued that if the attorney general doesn't prove what Trump's asset values should have been, the case is a "completely rudderless ship" that needs to be "moored to some sort of standard."
"You can't just say it's a misstatement because you feel like it," Kise argued.
"The standard is truth," Engoron responded.
The exchange prompted Trump's legal spokesperson, Alina Habba, to make the defense's fourth motion for a directed verdict, arguing that Engoron is "wasting our time" if he won't consider their expert testimony.
"They have not proven their case. They haven't," Habba said in her request for a directed verdict.
"Denied," Engoron said within seconds of the request, without hearing a response from lawyers for the New York attorney general.