Former President Donald Trump is challenging a ruling that held him in civil contempt of court and ordered him to pay him $10,000 each day he failed to comply with a subpoena.
His lawyer, Alina Habba, filed a notice of appeal Wednesday in the appellate division of New York’s trial court, arguing that Trump adequately responded to the subpoena’s demands.
MICHAEL COHEN CLAIMS TRUMP DOCUMENTS JAMES WANTS EXIST, HE TURNED THEM OVER
“The judge’s order was clear: Donald J. Trump is in contempt of court and must pay $10,000 a day until he complies with our subpoenas. We’ve seen this playbook before, and it has never stopped our investigation of Mr. Trump and his organization. This time is no different,” New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a press release after the notice of appeal was filed.
Habba is asking the court if the $10,000-a-day fine order against Trump that began Tuesday “serves any purpose as either a compensatory or coercive remedy,” Reuters reported. She argued James failed to prove Trump’s conduct harmed her office.
New York Supreme Court Judge Arthur Engoron sided with James in a ruling Monday, concluding that Trump failed to comply with a prior court order enforcing a subpoena against him. James’s office had subpoenaed a slew of documents for her investigation into whether the Trump Organization improperly manipulated asset valuations for tax and business benefit.
Habba told Engoron that she had conducted a search for the requested documents and found no more documents that needed to be turned over. She claimed “all documents responsive to the subpoena were produced to the attorney general months ago,” per the Associated Press. But Engoron indicated he wanted a sworn statement from Trump’s legal team explaining the steps it took to search for the documents.
The attorney general’s office sought documents in filing cabinets near Trump’s office, according to court documents. Habba insisted they were irrelevant because he was not involved in the preparation of his financial statements — a claim that drew skepticism from the attorney general’s office.
James’s office also said it was interested in information about three mobile devices that Trump used. Habba referred investigators back to the Trump Organization for some of their requests.
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A prior court ruling initially compelled Trump to comply with the subpoena by March 3, but he reached an agreement to push the deadline to March 31. However, when that deadline arrived, he failed to comply and raised a fresh set of objections, according to the attorney general’s office, which led to Monday’s civil contempt ruling.
James commenced the inquiry in 2019 after Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen testified before Congress that the Trump Organization routinely engaged in improper manipulation of its valuations. Cohen has since contradicted Habba’s claims that they turned over all of the documents they possessed.
A separate criminal inquiry into Trump’s business dealings is being conducted by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
