New York state Attorney General Letitia James is seeking an expansion of key consequences currently faced by Donald Trump’s business as a civil fraud case from James continues moving forward.
James successfully alleged a years-long pattern of business fraud involving Trump, with trial Judge Arthur Engoron slapping nearly half a billion dollars in financial penalties on the ex-president when including interest.
Collections on the full amount were put on hold via a $175 million bond posted by the former president, which has led to its own back-and-forth as James’ team questions the financial standing of the company partnering with Trump. But in addition to all of that, the state team is also seeking an expansion of the specified role for the court-backed monitor who’s been overseeing the Trump business for years and is set to keep doing so for years more.
James’ team “asked Engoron to explicitly authorize the independent monitor overseeing the Trump Organization to share information with any party in the case,” CNN reported. They also asked that the judge add the recent guilty plea by longtime Trump ally Allen Weisselberg to the monitor’s purview. Weisselberg already pleaded guilty in an earlier criminal matter involving tax allegations, but the latest case against him involved allegations of lying in court.
Engoron already expanded somewhat recently the monitor’s role, putting the development of bond deals under her supervision as well. Her general responsibilities include, per recent directives from the judge, oversight of defendants’ “internal accounting controls, governance, record-keeping, and financial reporting policies and procedures” — putting a wide range of business activities under the ex-judge-turned-monitor’s supervision. The monitor is set to continue their work even as trial consequences go — for now — formally on hold amid challenges to Engoron’s ruling. The monitor reports to the judge, making regular reports on internal Trump affairs.
