A New York judge on Friday accused former President Trump and other Trump Organization executives of a lack of remorse in a civil fraud case involving the company’s dealings.
Judge Arthur Engoron ordered President Trump to pay about $355 million in fines after a months-long trial last year. Near the end of his 92-page judgment, Engoron cited the defendant’s unwillingness to admit any mistakes.
“The English poet Alexander Pope (1688-1744) was the first to declare, “It is human to err, but it is God who forgives.” The defendants apparently think otherwise,” Engoron wrote.
“After nearly four years of investigation and litigation, the only mistake they have acknowledged (‘inadvertent’, of course) is that they tripled the size of the Trump Tower penthouse, which cannot be denied. “Their complete lack of remorse and remorse borders on pathological,” he continued of his decision. “They are only accused of inflating asset values to make more money. Documents prove this time and time again.”
“This is a venial crime, not a capital crime. The defendants did not commit murder or arson. They did not rob banks at gunpoint. Donald Trump is not Bernard Madoff,” he wrote. Ta. “Despite this, defendants are unable to admit the error of their ways. Instead, they adopt a ‘see no evil, hear no evil, tell no evil’ attitude in which the evidence lies.”
Before the trial began, Mr. Engoron found Mr. Trump, the Trump Organization and several executives, including his adult son, responsible for the fraud. There was no jury in the trial, so the verdict was left to the judge’s sole discretion.
The fine is about $16 million less than the $370 million that New York Attorney General Letitia James’s office asked a judge to force President Trump to pay. The former president will also be prohibited from participating in New York business for three years.
Trump’s adult sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, were each ordered to pay more than $4 million and both were ordered to serve as officers and directors of New York businesses and other corporations for two years. Banned.
During the trial, the former president repeatedly attacked Engoron as political and biased. He made similar personal attacks against James, calling her a racist and a partisan out to get her.
Trump’s attacks at times extended beyond Mr. Engoron and Mr. James, with Mr. Engoron imposing a gag order barring the former president and his lawyers from speaking about court officials.
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