Judge sets deadline after Trumps stop turning over documents in fraud case: report
Forbes reported on Wednesday that Donald Trump and his three eldest children who worked at the Trump Organization have failed to turn over emails and other communications requested in the fraud suit from New York Attorney General Letitia James.
A letter submitted to the court last week revealed “an unexplained drop-off in emails for Ivanka Trump” as another one of the issues for the investigators. The request comes from the fraud investigation into the Trump Organization's business practices. Already, Trump has been forced to pay $110,000 in fines because Judge Arthur Engoron found the former president in contempt because he wouldn't comply with a subpoena.
It's unclear if Trump and his family members could be forced to fork over more cash due to the inability to comply with other subpoenas. But thus far, the AG's office is requesting a timeline for the document delivery.
"The attorney general’s office is now saying the Trumps’ evasiveness has continued into the discovery process of the $250 million lawsuit, which alleges Donald Trump, his children, the Trump Organization and some of its top executives inflated property values to obtain economic benefits, such as securing cheaper loans," Forbes reported. The Trump side denies the charges in the case and the elder Trump has spent a lot of time on his social media account trashing the New York AG using racist nicknames for her.
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The court filing asks the judge to intervene again, saying that they had started to give documents but haven't given a timeline for when that request would be fulfilled. James also said that the Trumps aren't answering questions about how the materials are being collected.
"The letter notes a significant decline in emails turned over from Ivanka Trump, dropping from an average of 1,200 emails per month in the first nine months of 2014 to just 37 emails a month in 2016," the report continued.
According to the attorney general's office, the lawyers gave a less-than-satisfactory excuse.
“Not only have defendants failed to offer any substantive response to this inquiry, but there have been no documents produced by Ms. Trump,” the AG's office told the judge.
Ivanka Trump has also replaced her attorneys, though some of the attorneys she was using still represent Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump.
Some of the requests from the AG have been granted by the judge, namely that the Trumps submit sworn affidavits on how the collections have worked, what they've done so far and he also set a May 12 deadline to turn over everything outstanding.
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