A New York judge on Wednesday moved to release Donald Trump from a contempt of court order — as long as the ex-president pays $110,000 in fines and meets a slew of other conditions by the end of next week.
Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron agreed to lift the April 25 civil contempt order that he issued over Trump’s failure to answer a subpoena for documents in state Attorney General Letitia James’ probe of the Trump Organization.
Engoron had also issued $10,000 daily fines until Trump complied. The former president must now pay the AG’s office the $110,000 in accumulated penalties by May 20.
The money will be held in an escrow account pending Trump’s appeal of the contempt order.
He also needs to submit affidavits from Trump Organization employees and lawyers – including Executive Vice President Alan Garten and Trump’s executive assistants – attesting to the fact that his attorneys did a proper search for the AG’s subpoena, Engoron ruled.
A third-party company must also complete its audit and submit a report about its findings on whether the Trump Organization turned over all the documents and information that they were required to.
If Trump doesn’t meet these requirements, the fines will begin accumulating again effective May 7, the judge ruled.
“Reaffirming a ruling holding Donald J. Trump in contempt, a judge has ordered Mr. Trump to pay my office for his refusal to comply with our subpoenas,” James said in a statement. “For years, Mr. Trump and the Trump Organization have tried to thwart our lawful investigation, but today’s decision makes clear that no one can evade accountability.”
“We will continue to enforce the law and seek answers as part of this investigation,” the statement concluded.
Trump’s lawyers had initially responded to the subpoena by claiming they had no documents or information to turn over that wasn’t already being handed in to the AG by the Trump Organization.
Engoron found that response was insufficient and said Trump’s team needed to lay out in detail all the places they searched for information.
New York Attorney General Letitia James launched her probe in 2019 following Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen’s congressional testimony. TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty ImagesThe judge last month denied Trump’s prior bid to overturn the contempt order, finding he still hadn’t fully complied.
James launched her probe in 2019 following Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen’s congressional testimony that Trump had exaggerated company assets for tax, insurance and loan purposes.
The AG then filed suit in 2020 alleging that the company was stonewalling her investigation.






