Letitia James tells judge there isn't 'any basis' for Trump to delay paying massive fine
Donald Trump indicated that he intends to appeal the judgment issued by Judge Arthur Engoron in the New York fraud trial, but that doesn't mean he shouldn't fork over the cash he owes now, the state's attorney general said in a court filing Thursday.
Trump has asked for a "stay" in paying the $355 million damages while he appeals. At the same time, he also asked that addresses be changed to Florida for some of the Trump businesses after the ruling also banned him from doing business in New York for three years.
In her court filing, Attorney General Letitia James said that there isn't "any basis" for the request and "no room for further debate."
"We disagree with the remaining points raised by Defendants," the filing says. "The Court's Decision did not direct the parties to 'settle judgment' so there was no need to confer in advance of submitting Plaintiff's proposed judgment, and we are not aware of any provision of the CPLR (and Defendants do not cite to any) that requires the filing of a formal motion on notice to submit a proposed judgment for the Court's review and approval."
James explains that the judge's order states what is owed, so there is no room for Trump to try and debate the ruling. His lawyers requested Wednesday that he be allowed to propose a "counter-judgment."
"The 'Conclusion and Order' section of the Decision ... sets forth in detail what is to be included in the judgment, leaving no room for further debate," James' filing says.
ALSO READ: How Speaker Mike Johnson’s dream of bipartisan decency died in his hands
"Nor do Defendants provide any basis for staying enforcement of the judgment; indeed, they requested such relief in their post-trial brief, which the Court declined to grant. Finally, the Court should reject Defendant's attempt to change the business address of six entity Defendants to Florida as the record establishes those entities are located in Trump Tower at 725 5th Avenue in New York, the office building in which the executives who carry out the business activities of those entities work."