A New York court has rejected an attempt by Donald Trump to halt a contempt order and $10,000 in daily fines levied against the former US president for failing to properly comply with an investigation into his company.
Trump was found in contempt of the court last month for failing to comply with a subpoena from Letitia James, the New York state attorney general, who is seeking financial records for her civil fraud investigation into the Trump Organization.
The twice-impeached former president was hit with a $10,000 daily fine by the judge, Arthur Engoron, until he provided the documents sought by James. Trump claims the records cannot be found and attempted to have the fines and contempt order removed.
Alina Habba, Trump’s lawyer, argued in her appeal that the “exorbitant fine is wholly unjustified” and the treatment of the property mogul and former host of the TV show The Apprentice was “unconscionable and indefensible”.
However, Engoron has turned down this appeal, leaving Trump with $80,000 in fines to date. The judge criticized an affidavit from Trump that outlined how the company has searched fruitlessly for the documents required by James.
“Mr Trump’s personal affidavit is completely devoid of any useful detail,” Engoron wrote.
James is investigating allegations that the Trump Organization committed fraud by manipulating the stated valuations of its properties in order to get more favorable terms for loans, insurance rates and taxes.
The attorney general’s legal team claims the company “used fraudulent and misleading financial statements to obtain economic benefit”.
In February, Donald Trump Jr and Ivanka Trump, two of Trump’s children, were ordered to appear to give evidence in the case. They have appealed this order and are awaiting the outcome.
Trump himself has called James an “operative of the Democrat party” and claims he is the victim of the “greatest witch-hunt of all time”.
Trump has become embroiled in a number of legal problems since his presidential term ended last year, shortly after an attempt by his supporters to overthrow the result of the 2020 presidential election.
On Tuesday, the Trump Organization and Trump’s presidential inaugural committee agreed to pay Washington DC, authorities $750,000 to settle a lawsuit that claimed they illegally misused funds from the non-profit committee to enrich the Trump family.
And on Monday, a grand jury was formed in Atlanta as part of a criminal investigation into whether Trump improperly attempted to force Georgia officials to overturn the result of the election in that state. Joe Biden won Georgia on his way to triumphing in the 2020 election.
