OPINION: This article contains commentary which may reflect the author’s opinion
Leaders in the Democratic Party have been after Trump since he famously went down the escalator and announced he was running for president. They really hate him, and anyone else, who breaks from the globalist tractor beam on which leftist powers have the country stuck in and actually put America & Americans first.
They’ve had very few victories against him, though, aside from getting him banned from social media, which is actually huge, but he sidestepped that by forming his own Twitter-like company.
In April of this year, a New York judge held Trump in contempt, fining him $10,000 per day for refusing to turn over documents to investigators conducting a wide-ranging financial fraud investigation on behalf of the New York Attorney General, Letitia James.
“Mr. Trump, I know you take your business seriously, and I take mine seriously, I hereby hold you in civil contempt and fine you $10,000 a day,” ruled New York Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron.
Trump’s attorney, Alina Habba, said at the time that they would appeal.
“We respectfully disagree with the court’s decision today. All of the documents, as I explained, responsive to the subpoena, were already produced to the attorney general month’s ago,” Habba declared.
As a result of Trump failing to meet a court-ordered deadline for turning over subpoenaed documents by March 31, James filed for contempt, claiming she had no information to turn over.
“The March 31 deadline came and went and we received zero documents,” said Andrew Amer, an attorney representing James’ office at the time. Later, Amer asked, “Is Mr. Trump thumbing his nose at this court’s order?”
Alina Habba, an attorney for Trump, said she oversaw the search for the documents, including visiting Mar-a-Lago to interview Trump about them.
“There is simply nothing more for him to provide. It was already provided. So your honor, how is President Trump in contempt?” Habba questioned.
Engoron seemed to think that explanation raised further questions about Trump’s reaction to the subpoena, asking Habba why she had not previously documented the Mar-a-Lago interview.
“I feel like there’s an 800-pound gorilla in the room, and that is, why don’t we have an affidavit from him?” Engoron questioned, adding, “There is a difference between saying something and saying something under oath.”
CBS News reported at the time that “investigators want information from three mobile devices belonging to Trump, two of which are personal and one of which is a company-issued phone, according to a filing James’ office made Friday. Amer said Monday they have not received data from any of the devices.”
They are also seeking documents from specific Trump Organization file storage locations, such as “the files located in cabinets outside Mr. Trump’s office,” “the storage room by Mr. Trump’s office,” “the Executive Office storage closet” and “the file cabinets located on the 25th and 26th floors.”
Yet, as a result of a New York judge’s ruling on Wednesday, Trump is no longer deemed to be in contempt of court for failing to deliver the documents demanded by NY AG James.
CBS News reported:
The former president’s April 25 contempt finding came after he contested a December subpoena seeking records related to his personal finances and the financing of several properties. Trump claimed he had no material that was responsive to the subpoena, leading to demands by the judge and the office of New York Attorney General Letitia James that his attorneys provide detailed explanations of how they conducted their search.
“Although we are pleased that the court has lifted the contempt finding, we maintain that it was wholly unwarranted and improper in the first place,” Alina Habba, an attorney for Trump, said in a text message. “We will push ahead with our appeal to secure justice for our client.”
Trump was fined $10,000 per day through May 6, when his attorneys first filed explanations of their attempts to search for subpoenaed documents. In the weeks since, the judge and the attorney general have demanded affidavits from two dozen Trump Organization employees and attorneys in an effort to learn how Donald Trump’s eponymous company has for a decade apparently kept nearly no records on the personal finances of its namesake.
Nearly all the employees who filed affidavits described a company that has few concrete policies related to the destruction and retention of documents related to Trump’s personal finances, leaving such decisions to individuals, or in certain cases, their department heads.
James’ office said in a filing on June 21 that it supports lifting the contempt finding, not because it was satisfied with the explanations given, but “because it is not apparent what else, if anything, [Trump] and his counsel can be ordered to do.”
A court-ordered sworn deposition scheduled for mid-July will involve asking Trump about company records. This was indicated by one of James’ attorneys who filed the document, Andrew Amer.
“We have every expectation that [Trump] will be examined under oath next month and will advise the Court promptly if new information regarding Respondent’s documents is gleaned from that testimony,” Amer noted. He also expressed concerns about “the apparent absence in the productions of documents one would expect to see from Mr. Trump relating to his Statements of Financial Condition.”
Source: The Republic Brief