the Trump Organization Was Held in Contempt After Secret Trial in 2021. The company was fined $4,000 after failing to turn over Documents. The Case is One of Several in which Investigators have found Trump or his Company loath to hand over Documents. It was the Second time in less than a year, that Trump or his Company, was held in Contempt for failing to turn over documents.
The Document, a Judicial Order released Tuesday, showed that in October 2021, a One-day Contempt Trial was held, after Prosecutors with the New York City's Manhattan District Attorney (Alvin Bragg (-D) Office requested that the company be punished for “willfully disobeying” Four Grand Jury Subpoenas, and Three Court Orders enforcing Compliance.
The Order, dated Dec. 8th, 2021, was Unsealed by the Judge who presided over the Tax Fraud Trial of the Trump Organization, which ended last week with the Conviction of the company. It Redacted the name of the entities on Trial in October, but People with knowledge of the case, confirmed that those entities were the Trump Organization corporations, that later went on Trial for Tax Fraud. The Judge, Juan Merchan, convicted the Two corporations of Criminal Contempt of Court and fined them $4,000, the Maximum under the Law. “The record is clear that the company failed to produce responsive documents without explanation,” Justice Merchan wrote in his Order.
The Fine amounts to less than a slap on the wrist, but the Contempt Order underscores the pitfalls of Trump’s go-to Legal strategy of Delaying Proceedings and fighting Subpoenas whenever possible. It was the Second time in less than a year that Trump or his company was held in Contempt for failing to turn over Documents, the other instance coming in the New York Attorney General’s Civil Inquiry into the Trump’s business practices.
After securing the Conviction of Trump’s company last week, Bragg’s Office has continued its long-running inquiry into Trump. The Investigation has a dual focus: a hush-money Payment to a Porn Star who said she had an Affair with Trump, and the potential Overvaluation of Assets on Trump’s annual Financial Statements.
In 2020 and 2021, Trump, his company, and his Lawyers, were flooded with Subpoenas, relating to both the District Attorney’s Criminal Inquiry, and a Civil Investigation into Trump’s Financial Statements by the New York Attorney General, Letitia James (D). According to the Order released Tuesday, a company Representative testified in January 2021 to having “successfully responded to countless subpoenas” in the past. But that March, Prosecutors told the Court that a number of the requested Documents had Not been turned over. SThe October Contempt Trial was kept Secret because it was related to Subpoenas issued by a Grand Jury, the work of which is Wealed. The Grand Jury remained Active after the Trump Organization and its Chief Financial Officer, Allen H. Weisselberg, were Charged with Crimes in July 2021.
More than a year later, Weisselberg pleaded Guilty to the Tax Fraud scheme, in which he and other Executives were Compensated with off-the-books Perks. The company declined to plead Guilty, and the Case went to Trial in October. Last week, the company, specifically Two of its corporations, the Trump Corporation and the Trump Payroll Corp.,was convicted of 17 Felonies.
Trump was also Held in Contempt-of-Court in April amid James’s Civil Investigation. Lawyers from her Office had accused Trump of Not fully complying with a Subpoena, and a Judge, Arthur F. Engoron, imposed a $110,000 Penalty. In September, James Sued Trump, Three of his children, and his company, accusing them of Overvaluing their Assets by billions of dollars.
Contempt-of-Court is hardly the only threat Trump faces, for Declining to turn over Documents in a timely manner. Federal Prosecutors, along with investigating Trumop’s Removal of Sensitive Documents from the White House, are seeking to determine whether he Obstructed efforts to retrieve those Documents.
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