NEW YORK (AP) — Former President Donald Trump is appealing a New York judge’s decision to hold him in contempt of court and fine him $10,000 a day for failing to properly respond to a subpoena issued in the state attorney general’s civil investigation into his business. .
Trump’s attorney, Alina Habba, filed a notice of appeal Wednesday with the state trial court’s appellate division, making good on her promise to challenge Manhattan Judge Arthur Engoron’s ruling, issued Monday.
Habba questioned the legal basis for holding Trump in contempt, arguing in court documents that he correctly responded to the subpoena and that the attorney general’s office failed to show that his conduct “was calculated to defeat, prejudice, impede, or prejudice” the investigation and he refused to engage in “good faith discussions” before seeking to have him fined.
“All documents that responded to the subpoena were served on the attorney general months ago,” Habba said in a statement after the Engoron ruling.
Engoron said a contempt ruling was appropriate because Trump and his attorneys had failed to show that they had conducted a proper search of the records requested by the subpoena.
New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat, had asked the court to hold Trump in contempt after he failed to file any documents to meet a court-imposed March 31 deadline to meet the terms of the citation.
Trump, a Republican, has been fighting James in court over his investigation, which he has called a politically motivated “witch hunt.”
James has been conducting a lengthy investigation into the Trump Organization, the former president’s family business, focused on what she says is a pattern of deceiving banks and tax authorities about their property values.
The judge’s contempt ruling came despite a forceful argument from Habba, who repeatedly insisted he did everything in his power to comply with the subpoena, even traveling to Florida to ask Trump specifically if he had any documents in his possession that would respond on demand.
Habba noted that Trump does not send emails or text messages and does not have a work computer “at home or anywhere else.” He described the search for documents as “diligent.”
James’s investigators have said in court papers that they uncovered evidence that Trump may have misstated the value of assets such as golf courses and skyscrapers in his financial statements for more than a decade.
At the hearing, Deputy Attorney General Andrew Amer said the investigation was being hampered “because we don’t have evidence of the person who is at the helm of this organization.”
And he said the failure to serve the documents in response to the subpoena was “effectively Mr. Trump flouting the order of this court.”
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, also a Democrat, is conducting a parallel criminal investigation.
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Associated Press reporter Larry Neumeister contributed to this report.
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