NY Judge Denies Trump’s Appeal to Overturn Civil Contempt Order & $10K in Daily Fines
Edited by: TJVNews.com
Last week, the Jewish Voice reported that a New York judge slapped former President Donald Trump with $10,000 in daily fines for non-compliance with a subpoena for documents relating to an investigation of the Trump Organization that was issued by New York Attorney General Letitia James.
Trump’s attorneys filed an appeal on the judge’s decision but on Friday a judge denied the former president’s request to overturn the civil contempt order. On April 27th, the AP reported that Trump’s lawyer, Alina Habba, filed a notice of appeal with the appellate division of the state’s trial court — the second time in two months that Trump has sought to overturn Manhattan Judge Arthur Engoron’s ruling against him in a subpoena matter.
In court papers, Habba questioned the legal basis for Engoron’s contempt ruling Monday, arguing that Trump had responded properly to the subpoena and that Attorney General Letitia James’ office failed to show his conduct “was calculated to defeat, impair, impede, or prejudice” its investigation, as was reported by the AP.
James’ office refused to engage in “good-faith discussions” before seeking to have Trump fined, Habba argued, according to the AP report. In a statement after the ruling Monday, Habba said: “All documents responsive to the subpoena were produced to the attorney general months ago.”
“Mr. Trump’s personal affidavit is completely devoid of any useful details,” the judge wrote in the Friday order, as was reported by the Post.
Also, Trump’s affidavit “fails to state if he turned over his personal electronic devices for imaging and searching,” Engoron wrote.
“Each day that passes without compliance further prejudices [the AG], as the statutes of limitations continue to run and may result in [the AG] being unable to pursue,” litigation, the judge’s decision reads, as was reported by the Post.
Engoron says that none of the affidavits say with sufficient detail specifics about how Trump’s lawyers searched for the documents that the AG requested in the subpoenas, according to the Post report.
Habba on Friday condemned Engoron’s new ruling and said his conduct at Monday’s hearing caused a “public spectacle.”
“Today’s events have made it overwhelmingly clear that this case no longer has anything to do with the proper application of legal principles governing discovery disclosure,” Habba’s statement read, as was reported by the Post.
Habba said :“The court completely disregarded the detailed affidavits that demonstrate the meticulous efforts undertaken to effectuate this search. This court has improperly held my client in contempt for a violation that he did not commit solely because the OAG declared it ‘insufficient’ without any basis.”
“The tactics employed by this court, including the dramatic pounding of the gavel, the statements directed to our client from the bench, and direct comments to the press have reduced this hearing to the likes of a public spectacle,” Habba’s statement continued.
“We will zealously prosecute our appeal of the court’s improper application of both law and fact,” the lawyer concluded.