New York’s attorney general, Letitia James, is seeking to hold former President Donald Trump in civil contempt for his efforts to obstruct her investigation of civil tax fraud.
James’ office said, in a court filing Thursday, that Trump failed to comply with a judge’s order to turn over the subpoenaed documents, and asked the judge to fine the former president $10,000 a day until he turns over the documents and records.
“(R) Other than ‘fully complying’ with the court’s clear directive by submitting all responsive documents by March 31, Mr. Trump has not complied at all,” the court filing says.
James’ office is investigating whether he will file a civil lawsuit against the Trump Organization over allegations that it inflated financial statements for more than two years. In court filings, her office claimed it had “disclosed substantial evidence of numerous misrepresentations in Mr. Trump’s financial statements submitted to banks, insurance companies and the Internal Revenue Service.”
The Trump Organization has denied wrongdoing and portrayed itself in court papers as bending backwards to comply with the AG’s document requests. In a court filing in February, the company said it “produces thousands of documents each week (up to 750,000 through OAG admissions itself), all while keeping OAG informed of its progress through weekly progress reports.”
The company also said it was “on track” to meet the April 15 deadline for handing in all relevant documents.
Neither Trump’s legal team nor his presidential office responded to requests for comment on Thursday’s case.
The AG’s office complained that the company was slow to turn over documents related to Trump, even though he “personally executed documents central to the cases under investigation.” Among the items the AG’s office said it wanted to review were “the Trump Organization’s filing cabinets that hold Mr. Trump’s files” and “Post-It notes” he used “to communicate with his employees.”
In his February order, a New York judge ordered Trump personally to turn over the documents as well, which the attorney general’s office said he agreed to do.
Trump, his family and company were also resisting James’ efforts to gather more information from them in court.
The Trumps are appealing a February order, from State Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron, who said former President Donald Trump Jr and Ivanka Trump should sit for affidavits in the AG’s investigation.
Trump also sued James in federal court in December in an effort to stop the investigation, arguing that its investigation is a politically motivated “witch hunt” designed to provide fuel for a criminal investigation into the company by the Manhattan Attorney General’s office.
Two attorneys from James’s office assisted the attorney general now discontinued The investigation, which led to criminal charges being brought against the Trump Organization and Allen Weisselberg, its former chief financial officer. Both the company and Weisselberg have pleaded not guilty to the charges, which include allegations of tax fraud and falsification of business records.
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