It was just a few weeks ago when New York Attorney General Letitia James asked a judge to hold Donald Trump in contempt over the former president’s alleged efforts to stonewall her civil tax fraud investigation. As NBC News reported at the time, the state AG’s office said Trump failed to comply with a judge’s order to turn over subpoenaed documents and asked the judge to fine him $10,000 a day until he complied.
Today, a New York judge agreed. NBC News explained in a new report:
A New York state judge on Monday found Donald Trump in civil contempt of court and ordered him to pay $10,000 a day until he turns over documents that have been subpoenaed by the state attorney general’s office. Attorney General Letitia James had sought the fine as a way to force the former president to turn over documents her investigators say they need as part of their civil probe into the Trump Organization’s business practices.
Arthur Engoron, the judge in the case, said earlier today, “Mr. Trump: I know you take your business seriously, and I take mine seriously.”
Ouch.
In case anyone needs a refresher on this, let’s recap. As regular readers might recall, the state attorney general’s office has launched a civil investigation into the Trump Organization’s controversial business practices. In defense of its subpoenas, James and her team declared in January, “Thus far in our investigation, we have uncovered significant evidence that suggests Donald J. Trump and the Trump Organization falsely and fraudulently valued multiple assets and misrepresented those values to financial institutions for economic benefit.
“The Trumps must comply with our lawful subpoenas for documents and testimony because no one in this country can pick and choose if and how the law applies to them.”
A judge agreed, and Team Trump was scheduled to turn over documents by March 1. An NBC News report recently noted that the deadline was extended to March 31, but nearly a month later, nothing’s changed: The New York attorney general’s office still doesn’t have the materials.
“[R]ather than ‘comply in full’ with the Court’s unambiguous directive by producing all responsive documents by March 31, Mr. Trump did not comply at all,” the state AG’s office said in a recent court filing.
At the time, the former president issued a statement insisting that he’s “innocent,” and that the investigation into his controversial business is “a continuation of the greatest Witch Hunt of all time.” His lawyer added that Trump’s legal team would “adamantly oppose the frivolous and baseless motion filed by the Attorney General’s office.” Last week, however, the response was a little different. Instead of saying that Team Trump shouldn’t have to comply with the subpoena, the new line is that Team Trump can’t comply with the subpoena because the former president doesn’t have any of the materials the state attorney general’s office is looking for. As of this afternoon, it appears the judge in this case isn’t buying it. For her part, New York’s Democratic attorney general said in a written statement soon after, “Today, justice prevailed. For years, Donald Trump has tried to evade the law and stop our lawful investigation into him and his company’s financial dealings. Today’s ruling makes clear: No one is above the law.”
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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