Why does Donald Trump have to pay a $10,000 fine every day?
Key Takeaways:
- Donald Trump has been ordered to pay a $10,000 daily fee unless he obeys a subpoena and surrenders records connected to his business activity to the New York Attorney General's office, according to a New York judge.
- According to the judge, this could restrict the Attorney General's office from pursuing certain causes of action that it could pursue otherwise.
A New York judge has hailed Donald Trump to pay a $10,000 daily fine until he obeys a subpoena and surrenders records related to his business activities to the New York Attorney General's office. After failing to hand over paperwork required by Attorney General Letitia James for a 2019 investigation into the alleged illegal valuation of assets for financial benefits, state judge Arthur Engoron said Monday that the ex-US president would have to pay the daily punishment starting Tuesday.
Engoron said James's office had satisfied its burden of establishing that Mr. Trump intentionally defied a lawful court order' in a written judgment, and he fined the former president daily.
Further delays, the judge reasoned, could prevent the Attorney General's office from pursuing certain causes of action that it could otherwise pursue. According to Engoron, the investigation has already uncovered evidence that assets such as golf clubs and just a penthouse apartment had been fraudulently assessed.
"Each day that goes by without compliance further biases [the attorney general's office], as statutes of limitations continue running," Engoron said, adding that the delays could prevent James' office from "pursuing certain causes of action that it would otherwise pursue."
Donald Trump, a Republican who served as the 45th president of the United States for four years, has denied wrongdoing as well as slammed the investigation as 'politically motivated.
Letitia James, the Attorney General, is a Democrat.
According to Reuters, Trump's lawyer, Alina Habba, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Habba stated after the hearing on Monday that Trump would file an appeal.
Trump had already lost an attempt to have the subpoena quashed and then failed to submit the documents by a court-ordered deadline of March 3, which was then extended to March 31 at his lawyers' request.
In the past, James has stated that the probe discovered "strong evidence" that the Trump Organization used deceptive asset appraisals in its financial statements for more than a decade.
According to Reuters, James' office questioned the Trump brand's value and golf courses in New York and Scotland, and Trump's own New York penthouse.
According to the attorney general, the assets were exaggerated in certain cases to obtain favorable loan terms and devalued in others to obtain tax benefits.