(ReclaimingAmerica.net) – Former President Donald Trump suffered a legal setback after a New York appeals court upheld a $110,000 contempt fine for him in a case prosecuted by the state attorney general.
Last spring, Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Arthur Engoron ruled that Trump was in contempt because he had failed to abide by a subpoena from the office of the state’s Democrat Attorney General, Letitia James.
The subpoena demanded that Trump provide documents for an investigation of his company, the Trump Organization.
The appeals court panel of five justices decided that the contempt fine was a “proper exercise” of Judge Engoron’s discretionary power. The panel declared further that the penalty of $10,000 per day “was not excessive or otherwise improper, under the particular circumstances.”
The two-page ruling by the New York Supreme Court Appellate Division’s First Judicial Department was welcomed by state AG Letitia James.
“Once again, the courts have ruled that Donald Trump is not above the law,” James declared, as cited by CNBC.
“For years, he tried to stall and thwart our lawful investigation into his financial dealings, but today’s decision sends a clear message that there are consequences for abusing the legal system. We will not be bullied or dissuaded from pursuing justice,” the New York AG added.
Trump’s lawyer in the case, Alina Habba, Trump’s lawyer in the case, did not comment on the ruling.
Last April, Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Engoron slapped the fine on Trump after ruling that he had repeatedly failed to give the AG’s office business records from the Trump Organization. The investigators had sought the documents for their probe of his real estate company.
“Mr. Trump has willfully disobeyed a lawful order of the court,” Engoron declared at the time.
Even though Trump later paid the fine, he still appealed the judge’s contempt ruling.
In September, the New York attorney general filed a $250 million lawsuit against the former president, three of his adult children, and his company.
She accused them of committing widespread fraud through financial statements over many years.
Letitia James claims the Trump family severely overstated their assets’ worth before banks, insurers, and the Internal Revenue Service to receive better loan and insurance conditions and tax benefits for the Trump Organization.
The lawsuit seeks to prohibit Donald Trump, Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump, and Ivanka Trump from serving as company officers in New York and to ban the Trump companies named as defenders from doing business in the state.
