New York Attorney-General seeks to hold Donald Trump in contempt
A New York judge has been asked to fine former president Donald Trump $10,000 a day until he hands over documents for a civil fraud probe.
New York Attorney-General Letitia James has asked a judge to hold Donald Trump in contempt and fine him $US10,000 a day for what she said was his failure to turn over documents for her civil fraud investigation into the former president and his company.
The filing, in state court in New York on Thursday, argued that Mr Trump hadn’t complied with an agreement, which was approved by a judge, to respond to a subpoena for documents by March 31.
“The judge’s order was crystal clear: Donald J. Trump must comply with our subpoena and turn over relevant documents to my office,” Ms James said.
“Instead of obeying a court order, Mr. Trump is trying to evade it.”
Ms James’s office said it was seeking materials including notes containing Mr Trump’s handwriting and tax- and insurance-related documents.
“Evidence indicates that Mr Trump maintained personal files and used Post-it Notes – which, obviously, stick on top of documents — to communicate with his subordinates,” the filing said.
Alina Habba, a lawyer who represents Mr Trump in the civil case, called the contempt motion “frivolous and baseless” and said the former president had consistently complied with the Attorney-General’s request.
In December, Ms James subpoenaed Mr Trump and two of his adult children to testify for her office’s civil investigation into the business practices of the former president and his company. The office also subpoenaed Mr Trump for documents.
Mr Trump, Donald Trump Jr and Ivanka Trump asked a judge to block or delay the subpoenas. In February, state Supreme Court judge Arthur Engoron denied that bid.
The Trumps appealed the ruling. The Attorney-General’s office agreed to delay the depositions during the appeal and Mr Trump agreed to hand over the documents by March 31.
The move by Ms James came as Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said that his office’s criminal investigation into Mr Trump, his company and its leadership continues, despite the resignation earlier this year of two senior prosecutors.
The team working on the investigation was going through documents, interviewing witnesses and “exploring evidence not previously explored”, Mr Bragg said.
The moves by Mr Bragg and Ms James come as the criminal probe had appeared to lose steam and the civil investigation was tied up in a dispute over depositions of the Trumps.
Both offices have examined whether Mr Trump made misrepresentations to lenders, insurers and tax authorities for financial gain. Ms James has said her probe found “significant evidence” that potentially indicated Mr Trump’s financial statements contained such misrepresentations. Mr Trump, a Republican, has denied the allegations and said both probes, conducted by Democrats, were politically motivated.
In February, two senior prosecutors on the criminal case resigned. In his resignation letter, one of the senior prosecutors, Mark Pomerantz, said that Cyrus Vance Jr, the former Manhattan district attorney, had directed the team to seek an indictment of Mr Trump. Mr Bragg, who took office at the beginning of this year, then decided against bringing a criminal case, Mr Pomerantz said.
The Wall Street Journal
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