Trump Forced to Pay $110,000 Fine as NY AG Investigates Tish James

Former President Donald Trump must pay a $110,000 fine to New York Attorney General Letitia James after she failed to comply with a subpoena issued as part of an investigation into his financial dealings, an appeals court ruled Tuesday.

In April, the 76-year-old Republican was charged with contempt of court and fined $10,000 a day until he responded to AG requests for documents in its investigation into the Trump Organization. The order was lifted in May – Trump owes James’s office a total of $110,000.

Trump appealed the decision, but on Tuesday a New York court upheld Judge Arthur Engoron’s decision.

The First Department Appeals Division unanimously rejected Trump’s proposal to overturn the civil contempt order and impose a fine, finding that Engoron “correctly determined” that Trump had “violated a pre-trial” previous court order to execute subpoenas.

“Once again, the courts have ruled that Donald Trump is not above the law,” James said in a statement Tuesday. “For years, he has tried to stall and interfere with our legitimate investigation into his financial dealings, but today’s decision sends a clear message that there are consequences for the abuse of the legal system.”

“We will not be intimidated or discouraged from pursuing justice,” James said.

Trump’s lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The attorney general’s office and Trump have been in a bitter legal battle since 2020, when she filed a previous lawsuit alleging that the former president’s camp obstructed her investigation.

In response to the James investigation, Trump filed two lawsuits against her office, alleging that she harassed him for political purposes. One of the cases was dropped, and the other Trump dropped.

James has since filed a $250 million lawsuit against Trump, his children Eric, Ivanka and Donald Trump Jr., and the family’s real estate company for “staggering” fraud, including allegedly inflating the company’s assets for credit, insurance and tax credits.