A New York state judge on Friday rejected former President Donald Trump’s attempt not to pay a $10,000-a-day fine for failing to deliver documents requested by state Attorney General Letitia James in a civil investigation into the practices business of the Trump Organization.
In a two-paragraph affidavit, Trump argued that he did not have the requested documents and should not pay the fine. “To the best of my knowledge, I do not have any of the documents requested in the summons dated December 1, 2021 in my personal possession,” Trump wrote.
Judge Arthur Engoron rejected that argument, saying the former president’s affidavit was “devoid of any useful detail.” “In particular, it does not state where you kept your files, how they were stored in the regular course of business, who had access to those files, what the retention policy, if any, was for those files, and most importantly , where he believes those files are currently located,” the judge wrote.
Donald Trump appeals contempt order for not providing documents
Trump also did not note whether he had surrendered “his personal electronic devices for imaging and searching,” said the judge, who ordered him to provide a detailed affidavit answering all those questions “to purge his contempt.”
Last Monday, Engoron found Trump in contempt. Prosecutor Letitia James sought the fine as a way to force him to turn over documents needed as part of the civil investigation into the Trump Organization’s business practices.
James’ office had urged the judge not to suspend the fine in a letter saying his legal team’s filing “does not recount any effort to collect and review electronic devices used by Mr. Trump and his many executive aides, all which are likely to contain responsive material,” including “all of Mr. Trump’s mobile phones.”
Trump’s attorney, Alina Habba, said earlier in the week that they were appealing the contempt ruling. “All the documents that responded to the subpoena were served on the attorney general months ago,” she said.
In a court filing earlier this month, James’ office said Trump had been obstructing its long-running investigation into whether he and his company rigged financial statements.
His office claims to have “uncovered substantial evidence establishing numerous misrepresentations in Mr. Trump’s financial statements provided to banks, insurers and the IRS.”
Trump has called the investigation “a continuation of the greatest witch hunt of all time.”
