According to Newsweek, former President Donald Trump is now up to $100,000 in civil contempt of court fines for refusing to turn over records to New York Attorney General Letitia James — and there is no indication he plans to pay up anytime soon.
"On April 25, New York Judge Arthur Engoron held the former president in contempt of court refusing to fully cooperate with the civil investigation looking into allegations of tax fraud by The Trump Organization," reported Ewan Palmer. "Following the ruling, Trump was issued with a $10,000 daily fine for as long as he fails to comply with the subpoena or can convince the judge he does not possess the required documents. On Thursday, Trump will have entered the tenth day of paying the $10,000 fines, which are set to continue to further accumulate."
"Trump's attorney, Alina Habba, had argued that the April 26 ruling was 'not only unwarranted, it is also patently improper and impermissible by law.'" the report noted.
Trump already attempted to appeal the contempt ruling against him, but the Appellate Division refused to stay it. After that loss, Trump issued a furious statement calling the attorney general a "racist."
"This is a continuation of the greatest Witch Hunt in history, and it should not be allowed to continue," Trump added. "It is a politically driven Scam the likes of which has never been seen before. If I wasn't leading in every poll by substantial numbers, this persecution would have long ago ended. The good news is, I have done nothing wrong!"
The attorney general is looking into allegations that the Trump Organization kept two sets of books, inflating its assets to qualify for better loans from banks while downplaying them to federal and state agencies to avoid paying taxes.