Donald Trump, fighting contempt fines, says he doesn’t have records: Report

Former US President Donald Trump’s lawyers, who are seeking to reverse their client’s $10,000-per-day contempt fine, provided a New York judge on Friday with an affidavit in which Trump claims he did not turn over subpoenaed documents to the state attorney general’s office because he does not have them.

The judge was unmoved and refused to lift sanctions he imposed on Trump on Monday.

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Judge Arthur Engoron criticised the lack of detail in Trump’s affidavit, which amounted to two paragraphs, saying that he should have explained the methods he uses to store his records and efforts he made to locate the subpoenaed files.

In the affidavit, which bore Trump’s signature and Wednesday’s date, the former president said that documents sought in Attorney General Letitia James’ civil investigation into his business dealings weren’t in his personal possession. Trump, who is appealing the contempt ruling, said he believed any documents would be in the possession of his company, the Trump Organisation.

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In other affidavits, Trump lawyers Alina Habba and Michael Madaio detailed steps they took to locate documents in the Dec. 1 subpoena, including meeting with Trump last month at Mar-a-Lago in Florida and reviewing prior searches of his company’s files.

Andrew Amer, a lawyer for the attorney general’s office, said in a court filing that while the affidavits “provide some additional information” about Trump’s efforts to comply with the subpoena, more extensive searches were needed — including of Trump Tower, his residences and electronic devices — before the judge should consider reversing the contempt finding.

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On Wednesday, Habba filed a notice of appeal with the appellate division of the state’s trial court seeking to overturn Engoron’s contempt ruling. Trump is also challenging Engoron’s February 17 ruling requiring that he answer questions under oath. Oral arguments in that appeal are scheduled for May 11.

Trump, a Republican, is suing James in federal court in an effort to stop her investigation. Oral arguments in that matter are scheduled for May 13.

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Trump recently labelled her an “operative for the Democrat Party” and has said in written statements that her investigation and a parallel criminal probe overseen by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, another Democrat, are “a continuation of the greatest Witch Hunt of all time.”