NEW YORK — A judge rejected Donald Trump’s assurance that he has no other records to hand over to New York’s attorney general, meaning the former president is still in contempt of court and accruing a fine of $10,000 a day.
Trump on Friday filed a sworn affidavit saying he’s not aware of any records in his personal possession that should be handed over to state authorities probing potentially fraudulent asset valuations at his real-estate company. But New York state court Judge Arthur Engoron quickly ruled that was not enough to bring the former president into compliance with the court.
“Mr. Trump’s personal affidavit is completely devoid of any useful detail,” Engoron said. “Notably, 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.”
Trump also failed to specify in the affidavit if his personal electronic devices had been imaged and searched, the judge said.
Habba has said it was always unlikely that her client would have responsive documents because he famously does not use a computer at home or work and doesn’t text with anyone, including his adult children.
Engoron on April 25 ruled Trump was in contempt of court for “willfully” disobeying an order to comply with a subpoena issued in December by New York Attorney General Letitia James.
“If there are any documents responsive to the subpoena I believe they would be in the possession or custody of the Trump Organization,” Trump said in the affidavit.
Trump, who is appealing the contempt finding, owes the court $40,000 so far. His lawyer, Alina Habba, said in a statement that she would “zealously prosecute” an appeal. She also criticized Engoron for saying at the hearing that Trump didn’t take the matter seriously.
“The court completely disregarded the detailed affidavits that demonstrate the meticulous efforts undertaken to effectuate this search,” Habba said, adding that the case had been reduced “to the likes of a public spectacle.”
Habba’s affidavit, filed with Trump’s, explained her personal effort to locate potentially relevant documents, including a search of filing cabinets on the 25th and 26th floors of Trump Tower and a storage room by his office. She also said in her filing that she interviewed Trump at Mar-a-Lago on March 17 and confirmed there were no responsive documents located at the Florida resort, his Bedminster, New Jersey, golf club or at any of his homes.
The Trump Organization has handed over more than 6 million pages of records under subpoenas issued to the company, though James’ lawyers have said that only 10 appear to belong to Trump.
Trump argues the investigation is politically motivated and has a lawsuit pending in federal court seeking to block it.
