Judge Arthur Engoron, who said he despised the former president on April 25 for failing to respond to the attorney general’s political summons, said Trump had now met the conditions required to lift the sanction after a lengthy court battle. . The judge had ordered Trump to pay $ 10,000 a day until he complied with Letitia James’ summons, issued in December. Trump fined $ 110,000 before Engoron stopped collecting them to give him more time to comply with the summons. He has paid the fines, which will remain on bail while he will appeal the initial contempt filing. He and two of his children, Donald Trump Jr. and Ivanka Trump, are expected to testify in the James investigation, which begins July 15, after two state courts refused to block their testimony. “While we are pleased that the court is lifting the contempt finding, we argue that it was completely unjustified and inappropriate from the outset,” said Trump attorney Alina Hampa. “We will proceed with our appeal to ensure justice for our client.” A message asking for comment was left in James’s office. James, a Democrat, has spent more than three years researching the Trump Organization, which manages hotels, golf courses and other properties around the world. She said in January that her political investigation had revealed “significant” new evidence that the company had overestimated the value of its assets in order to obtain favorable loan terms and devalued those values in order to obtain tax relief. Trump, a Republican, called James’s research a politically motivated witch hunt.
