In a joint stipulation filed with the court, attorneys for the Trumps and the New York attorney general’s office agreed they would delay the deadline for the testimony, which would have been Thursday, to allow them time to prepare.
The delay will also give the Trumps until Monday to seek a stay of the appeal court’s ruling requiring them to sit for depositions.
Judge orders Trump to submit more sworn statements before formally lifting civil contempt
Separately Wednesday, a New York state judge ordered former Trump to produce additional sworn statements about the Trump Organization’s document retention and destruction policy before formally purging a civil contempt order.
Judge Arthur Engoron said, “Leaving the contempt order in place is the simplest most effective way to get the job done.” He has given Trump until June 17 to submit affidavits from the Trump Organization’s accounting, marketing, hotel, golf and legal departments explaining the units’ document destruction and retention policies.
The order followed a feisty hour-long video hearing with Trump’s attorney Alina Habba becoming exasperated over the New York attorney general’s follow up requests for information related to a December 2021 subpoena for documents.
“We’ll continue to comply as we always do. If you’d like an order to make everybody feel better, so be it. Quite honestly the contempt should be purged. My client Donald Trump has given all the information he has,” Habba told the judge. “I just don’t understand why we’re still in contempt.”
In April, Engoron held Trump in civil contempt for failing to comply with the subpoena. He lifted the contempt conditionally last month, freezing the fine at $110,000. Since then both sides have been engaged in a back and forth over whether Trump’s further submissions have fully complied with the subpoena. Once Engoron is satisfied, he said, he will purge the civil contempt order.
Before the hearing, the attorney general’s office submitted records showing what records they have received from Trump that include his handwriting, a point of contention by the attorney general’s office which has questioned whether it has been given all of Trump’s files. The records were not addressed during the hearing.
The word “Great” is written on five photos of professional golfers and “OK” in block letters with a “D” is inked in thick marker across three lease agreements for tenants at 40 Wall Street.
Trump also “OK”ed a sketch of a “proposed teaching and range ball pavilions” at the Trump Doral Golf Resort and Spa. And he wrote his initial on an invoice for law firm Foley & Lardner for over $77,000.
A sketch of a golf course was sent to his daughter Ivanka Trump.
She wrote back, “Dad, See assigned lodge/villa names.”
The villas were named after professional golfers, including Tiger Woods, Arnold Palmer and Bobby Jones.
This story has been updated with details of the contempt hearing.
Source : CNN
