While former President Donald Trump may rack up millions of dollars in interest penalties by reportedly failing to pay more than $450 million in a judgment, New York Attorney General Letitia James has been racking up major wins in court.
James, a Black woman who had been leading efforts to punish Trump for alleged crimes, landed a victory last month in the penalty phase of a civil fraud case after a judge determined last year that he and his company fraudulently inflated his net worth and assets more than a decade ago to obtain loans and insurance.
And James’ second win in court against a powerful gun rights advocacy group has boosted her reputation for winning high-profile cases that hold wealthy figures accountable for alleged criminal acts. It’s unclear about her specific political ambitions, but those victories could potentially influence her political future. She had a short stint seeking the Democratic nomination for governor in 2022 but decided to turn her attention to her reelection campaign as attorney general.
New York State Supreme Court First Judicial District Judge Arthur Engoron ordered Trump to pay more than $450 million in total, which represents $363.8 million in what’s called disgorgement and prejudgment interest, according to a press release from the New York Attorney General’s office.
In addition to the payment, some of the other penalties included barring Trump from operating any businesses in New York for three years, and he’s banned from applying for loans from any New York bank for three years as well.
On Monday, lawyers for Trump officially filed notice that they are appealing the civil fraud judgment against him and his organization, saying they want to find out whether the judge made “errors of law” or “abused his discretion,” NBC News reported.
On Wednesday, Feb. 29, appellate court Judge Anil Singh denied Trump’s request to post only $100 million of the total judgment as he appeals. As things stand, Trump is incurring interest penalties of nearly $112,000 per day until he posts the full appeal bond or pays the judgment, CNBC reports.
Trump has long launched bitter attacks on James and another Black woman attempting to hold him accountable for allegations involving attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election — Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis. However, Willis has been facing challenges by Trump’s legal team to dismiss the case and disqualify Willis due to her romantic involvement with another attorney prosecuting Trump, which opposing attorneys argue constituted a conflict of interest.
After the verdict in the civil fraud case in New York, the Trump campaign said, in a written statement: “The Justice System in New York State, and America as a whole, is under assault by partisan, deluded, biased Judges and Prosecutors. Racist, Corrupt A.G. Tish James has been obsessed with “Getting Trump” for years and used Crooked New York State Judge Engoron to get an illegal, unAmerican judgment against me, my family, and my tremendous business.”
Recently, James won a significant case against the National Rifle Association and its former CEO, Wayne LaPierre. A press release from her office stated the jury in the case against the NRA and three current and former senior leaders found the defendants liable for violating the law and were liable for “financial misconduct and corruption.”
And jurors concluded that LaPierre abused his position for his personal benefit and steered lucrative contracts to friends and relatives. LaPierre was ordered to pay $4.35 million. One of the other defendants, Wilson “Woody” Phillips, who is the NRA’s former treasurer and chief financial officer, was ordered to pay $2 million in damages, according to NBC News.
“In a major victory, my office won our case against the NRA and its senior leadership for years of corruption and greed,” James wrote on X. “Wayne LaPierre and a senior executive at the NRA must pay $6.35 million for abusing the system and breaking our laws.”
Following the verdict, the NRA posted a statement on its website: “A jury verdict in a high-profile New York trial confirms what the National Rifle Association of America (NRA) contended all along – that it was victimized by certain former vendors and ‘insiders’ who abused the trust placed in them by the Association.”
Meanwhile, James was elected attorney general in New York in 2018, becoming the first Black woman elected to statewide office, the first Black attorney general of New York, and the first woman elected to the post.
During her short-lived Democratic gubernatorial campaign, James highlighted her past accomplishments as attorney general, mentioning that she had sued the Trump Organization 76 times.
