NEW YORK (Reuters) -New York’s attorney general on Thursday asked a state judge to hold Donald Trump in contempt of court for not turning over documents she subpoenaed for her civil probe into the former U.S. president’s business practices.
In a court filing, Attorney General Letitia James said Trump failed to honor a court order that he comply “in full” with her subpoena for documents and information by March 31.
James asked that Trump be fined $10,000 a day until he complies. Trump has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and has not been accused of criminal wrongdoing. He has called the probe a “witch hunt.”
“The judge’s order was crystal clear: Donald J. Trump must comply with our subpoena and turn over relevant documents to my office,” James said in a statement. “Instead of obeying a court order, Mr. Trump is trying to evade it.”
Lawyers for Trump did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
James’ three-year probe and a parallel criminal probe led by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg have focused on whether the Trump Organization misstated the values of its real estate properties to obtain favorable loans and tax deductions.
Last week James said her probe had found “significant evidence” suggesting that for more than a decade the company’s financial statements “relied on misleading asset valuations and other misrepresentations to secure economic benefits.”
(Reporting by Karen Freifeld and Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Chris Reese)
