For the last two weeks, Donald Trump has been fined $10,000 a day, all because he’s failed to provide documentation to a key investigation into his business practices. Surely that’s chump change to a self-professed rich guy, even one who’s been caught pocketing donations from his cash-strapped supporters. And yet Trump has been desperately trying to end the daily fines, even going so far as to claim he simply lost them.
But now, after two weeks, the big guy finally caught a break. As per The New York Times, a New York State judge formally released him from his contempt of court charge in relation to the state attorney general’s investigation into the Trump Organization. There were a few conditions, though. One of them is that he must pony up a $110,000 penalty by May 20. Should he fail to do so, not only will the daily $10,000 fines resume, but the days when the fines weren’t being applied will be retroactively added to his total.
After Trump claimed he couldn’t find some of the requested materials, including four separate cellphones, an outside company dug through more than 1,300 boxes. They couldn’t find them either. Then again, Trump has a history of trying to destroy potentially damning evidence in creative ways.
The investigation, overseen by New York State Attorney General Letitia James, is examining whether the Trump Organization, as per NYT, “falsely inflated the value of his real estate properties and other assets so that he could secure favorable loans and financial benefits.”
(Via NYT)