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On April 25, New York Judge Arthur Engoron held the former president in contempt of court refusing to fully cooperate with the civil investigation looking into allegations of tax fraud by The Trump Organization.
Following the ruling, Trump was issued with a $10,000 daily fine for as long as he fails to comply with the subpoena or can convince the judge he does not possess the required documents. On Thursday, Trump will have entered the tenth day of paying the $10,000 fines, which are set to continue to further accumulate.
New York Supreme Court’s Appellate Division denied Trump’s attempt to have the contempt of court ruling, and the daily fines, thrown out two days earlier.
Trump’s attorney, Alina Habba, had argued that the April 26 ruling was “not only unwarranted, it is also patently improper and impermissible by law.”
The decision arrived days after Judge Engoron dismissed Trump’s argument that he does not possess the documents that James’ office subpoenaed him for in December, and therefore cannot be held in contempt for not complying.
While denying the motion, Engoron also criticized Trump’s brief personal affidavit arguing that the contempt ruling should be purged as “completely devoid of any useful detail.”
“It fails to state where he kept his files, how his files were stored in the regular course of business, who had access to such files, what, if any, the retention policy was for such files, and, importantly, where he believes such files are currently located,” Engoron wrote.
James’ office is looking into allegations The Trump Organization inflated the value of some New York properties to obtain better bank loans and other financial benefits.
In a statement on Tuesday, Trump repeated his accusations that James, who is Black, is conducting a politically motivated and “racist” probe against him.
Trump also claimed he has already handed over “millions of pages of documents, perhaps more than any person or entity has ever given before” to the investigation.
“This is a continuation of the greatest Witch Hunt in history, and it should not be allowed to continue,” Trump said. “It is a politically driven Scam the likes of which has never been seen before. If I wasn’t leading in every poll by substantial numbers, this persecution would have long ago ended. The good news is, I have done nothing wrong!”
