Donald Trump on Tuesday lost his bid to avoid $10,000 in daily fines while he appeals a contempt of court order issued against him in Attorney General Letitia James’ probe of his business.
The ex-president had filed an appeal to a Manhattan judge’s April 25 ruling holding him in civil contempt and imposing the hefty fines for failing to turn over requested documents in James’ investigation of the Trump Organization.
Trump also filed an interim motion asking that the order be put on hold while the appeal plays out – a request which Appellate Division, First Department Justice Tanya Kennedy shot down Tuesday.
Kennedy referred the case to a full panel of appellate judges, which will hear Trump’s motion at a later date.
The fines began accumulating on April 26, as a result of Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron’s ruling finding Trump failed to meet a March 31 deadline to answer James’ subpoena for documents.
Engoron then denied the former president’s request to clear the contempt order, after Trump submitted an affidavit claiming that he didn’t have any documents to turn over to the AG that weren’t already being handed in by the Trump Organization.
James launched a probe of the company in 2019 after Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen testified before Congress that Trump exaggerated company assets for loan, insurance and tax purposes.
Then in 2020, the AG filed suit claiming that the Trump Organization and Eric Trump were stonewalling the investigation. She has since added Trump and his two kids Ivanka and Donald Trump Jr. to the case and is seeking their testimony.
The family trio is currently appealing an order that they be deposed by the AG’s office.
Trump’s lawyer didn’t immediately return a request for comment.