Trump and sons ordered to pay $364 million in business fraud case and to stop operating in New York for 3 years



Former President Donald Trump and his sons were ordered to pay $364 million over a lawsuit in a New York state Supreme Court on Friday.

The civil lawsuit was filed by New York Attorney General Letitia James and claimed that Trump defrauded banks and other organizations by over-estimating the value of his properties in order to secure favorable bank loans and other benefits.

New York state Supreme Court Judge Arthur Engoron had previously ruled in September that Trump had indeed committed fraud and on Friday, he issued his ruling on the penalty.

"There is overwhelming evidence from both interested and non-interested witnesses, corroborated by documentary evidence, that the buck for being truthful in the supporting data valuations stopped with the Trump Organization, not the accountants," the judge wrote.

Engoron said in the 91-page ruling that the president's son Eric Trump is liable for the amount of $4 million and also that his other son Donald Trump Jr. is liable for the amount of $4 million.

The ruling also forbids Trump from "serving as an officer or director of any New York corporation or other legal entity in New York for a period of three years."

Trump's attorneys argued that the real estate valuations were very subjective and also claimed that there were no victims identified in the case.

The case became sensationalized after the former president vehemently criticized Engoron's clerk for posting a photograph of herself with Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York. Engoron fined Trump and threatened to issue greater penalties unless he stopped attacking the judge and his clerks.

One minor victory for Trump is that the judge rescinded a previous order that would invalidate any business certificates for Trump and his organization in the state of New York. That penalty was shot down and delayed by an appeals court in October.

Engoron excoriated the defendants for not showing remorse in the case.

"Their complete lack of contrition and remorse borders on pathological," he wrote. "They are accused only of inflating asset values to make more money. The documents prove this over and over again. This is a venial sin, not a mortal sin. Defendants did not commit murder or arson. They did not rob a bank at gunpoint. Donald Trump is not Bernard Madoff. Yet, defendants are incapable of admitting the error of their ways."

Alina Habba, the former president's attorney, called the ruling a "a manifest injustice — plain and simple."

A spokesperson for the Trump Organization decried the ruling as a "a gross miscarriage of justice. The Trump Organization has never missed any loan payment or been in default on any loan."

Former federal prosecutor Renato Mariotti described the order as "a devastating result for Trump and his businesses" on CNN.

Here's more about the Trump fraud sentence:

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Judge fines Trump $10k for violating gag order a second time after ordering him to take the stand



The judge in the Manhattan civil fraud trial fined former President Donald Trump $10,000 for violating his gag order a second time.

New York State Supreme Court Judge Arthur Engoron had Trump answer for a statement he made during a midmorning break to the media blasting the judge for being biased against him.

"If we had a jury it would have been fair, at least — even if it was a somewhat negative jury — because no negative jury would vote against me," Trump said. "But this judge will. Because this judge is a very partisan judge, with a person who's very partisan sitting alongside of him, perhaps even much more partisan than he is."

The judge had Trump explain who he was talking about, and the former president said he was referring to Michael Cohen, his former personal lawyer who was testifying against him. Engoron told Trump he didn't believe him and instead accused him of criticizing the judge's court clerk.

"I think I've said this before, but the idea the statement of referring to the witness as someone sitting along side me doesn't make sense to me," the judge said, referring to Cohen.

Engoron had previously fined Trump $5,000 after he warned the former president against criticizing his head court clerk. Trump posted a photograph of the woman standing next to Democrat Sen. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York.

Trump referred to the clerk as "Schumer's girlfriend" and implied that the court was biased against him.

Engoron warned Trump that he would face more dire consequences for further violations of the gag rule and said that imprisonment was on the table.

“Personal attacks on members of my court staff are not appropriate and I will not tolerate it under any circumstance,” Engoron said when he ordered the gag rule.

The civil lawsuit was filed by New York Attorney General Letitia James against the former president, his two sons, and the Trump Organization. She has called for Trump to be fined $250 million and to have his business licenses revoked in New York.

Engoron previously ruled in September that Trump did commit fraud in one of the seven charges, but an appellate court issued a stay against the dissolution of Trump's businesses licenses.

Here's more about the second gag order fine:

Trump fined $10,000 for violating gag order www.youtube.com

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Judge fines Trump $5k for violating gag order and threatens 'far more severe' punishments, including imprisonment



A judge fined former President Donald Trump $5,000 for violating his gag order in the Manhattan trial for business fraud and threatened possible imprisonment for further violations.

New York State Supreme Court Judge Arthur Engoron admitted that the violation was "inadvertent" after a report found that Trump had neglected to delete a social media post criticizing Engoron's chief court clerk.

"Make no mistake: future violations, whether intentional or unintentional, will subject the violator to far more severe sanctions, which may include, but are not limited to, steeper financial penalties, holding Donald Trump in contempt of court, and possibly imprisoning him," Engoron added.

Trump had criticized the judge's clerk over a photograph she took with Democrat Sen. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York.

"How disgraceful! This case should be dismissed immediately!" he wrote on the post that referred to the clerk as "Schumer's girlfriend."

Engoron issued the gag order and said the accusations made against his clerk were "disparaging" and "untrue."

While the former president took down the post on Truth Social, it was discovered to be up at his campaign website until Thursday when the court emailed them to take it down.

“Despite this order, last night I learned the offending post was never removed from a website. This is a blatant violation of the gag order," said Engoron. “Incendiary untruths can and have led to serious physical harm."

An attorney for Trump apologized for the error.

"Based on my understanding this was truly inadvertent," said Chris Kise.

"The Truth Social post was taken down when the court asked," he added. "Truth Social was taken down and Trump never made any more comments about court staff, but it appears no one took it down on the campaign website. It is unfortunate and I apologize on behalf of my client."

Engoron previously ruled that Trump had committed fraud by overvaluing his net worth and properties in order to obtain beneficial financial loans and arrangements. That ruling related to only one of seven charges the former president faces in the civil fraud trial initiated by a filing from New York Attorney General Letitia James.

Here's more about the ruling against Trump:

NY judge hits Trump with $5K fine for violating gag order www.youtube.com

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Judge issues gag order on Trump after he criticizes court clerk photo with Chuck Schumer



The New York state Supreme Court judge presiding over the fraud trial of former President Donald Trump issued a gag order after Trump posted a photograph of one of the judge's clerks with Democrat Sen. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York.

Justice Arthur Engoron issued the order on Tuesday as a part of the trial concerning the civil charges filed by by New York Attorney General Letitia James against Trump, his two sons, and the Trump Organization.

Engoron's partial gag rule barred Trump and any other party in the case from speaking publicly or posting about members of his court staff.

“Personal attacks on members of my court staff are not appropriate and I will not tolerate it under any circumstance,” Engoron said. "Failure to abide by this order will result in serious sanctions."

Trump issued the criticism on a post on Truth Social where he referred to the clerk as "Schumer's girlfriend."

"How disgraceful! This case should be dismissed immediately!" he wrote.

Engoron said in his order that the accusations against his clerk were "disparaging" and "untrue."

In September Engoron issued a judgement finding that Trump had defrauded banks and other institutions for more than a decade by overestimating the value of his properties and his net worth. That is just one part of the allegations made against the Trumps in the lawsuit.

"He claims that if the values of the property have gone up in the years since the (financial statements) were submitted, then the numbers were not inflated at that time," Engoron wrote in the previous ruling. "He also seems to imply that the numbers cannot be inflated because he could find a 'buyer from Saudi Arabia' to pay any price he suggests."

James is seeking a $250 million fine on the Trumps and a ban on their doing business in the state of New York.

Trump went on the attack against James in a statement made to the press while she sat just a few feet away from him in court.

"Her numbers are fraudulent. She's a fraud. Her numbers are fraudulent and this case should be dismissed," he said.

The former president also confirmed Tuesday that he would be testifying in his defense at the trial, which is expected to last about three months.

Here's more about the gag order:

Judge issues partial gag order on Donald Trump in civil fraud case www.youtube.com

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