new york

Judge finds Trump in contemptin civil investigation

NEW YORK >> A New York judge found former President Donald Trump in contempt of court and set in motion $10,000 daily fines Monday for failing to adequately respond to a subpoena issued by the state's attorney general as part of a civil investigation into his business dealings.

Judge Arthur Engoron said a contempt finding was appropriate because Trump and his lawyers hadn’t shown they had conducted a proper search for records sought by the subpoena.

“Mr. Trump, I know you take your business seriously, and I take mine seriously," Engoron said in a Manhattan courtroom that was packed with reporters, but absent of Trump. "I hereby hold you in civil contempt and fine you $10,000 a day” until the terms of the subpoena are met.

New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat, had asked the court to hold Trump in contempt after he failed to produce any documents to satisfy a March 31 court-imposed deadline to meet the terms of the subpoena.

Trump, a Republican, has been fighting James in court over her investigation, which he has called a politically motivated “witch hunt.” During oral arguments Monday, Trump attorney Alina Habba said that “Donald Trump does not believe he is above the law.”

Habba said in a statement that the ruling will be appealed.

“We respectfully disagree with the court's decision. All documents responsive to the subpoena were produced to the attorney general months ago,” she said.

James has been conducting a lengthy investigation into the Trump Organization, the former president’s family company, centering around what she has claimed is a pattern of misleading banks and tax authorities about the value of his properties.

“Today, justice prevailed,” James said in a release after Engoron’s ruling. “For years, Donald Trump has tried to evade the law and stop our lawful investigation into him and his company’s financial dealings. Today’s ruling makes clear: No one is above the law.”

A parallel criminal investigation is being conducted by the Manhattan District Attorney, Alvin Bragg, also a Democrat.

– The Associated Press

mark meadows

Text messages reveal Trump’s inner circle communications

CNN has obtained 2,319 text messages that former President Donald Trump's White House chief of staff Mark Meadows sent and received between Election Day 2020 and President Joe Biden's Jan. 20, 2021, inauguration.

The vast trove of texts offers the most revealing picture to date of how Trump's inner circle, supporters and Republican lawmakers worked behind the scenes to try to overturn the election results and then reacted to the violence that effort unleashed at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

The logs, which Meadows selectively provided to the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack, show how the former chief of staff was at the nexus of sprawling conspiracy theories baselessly claiming the election had been stolen. They also demonstrate how he played a key role in the attempts to stop Biden’s certification on Jan. 6.

The never-before-seen texts include messages from Trump's family — daughter Ivanka Trump, son-in-law Jared Kushner and son Donald Trump Jr. — as well as White House and campaign officials, Cabinet members, Republican Party leaders, Jan. 6 rally organizers, Rudy Giuliani, My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell, Sean Hannity and other Fox hosts. There are also text exchanges with more than 40 current and former Republican members of Congress, including Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and Reps. Jim Jordan of Ohio, Mo Brooks of Alabama and Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia.

– CNN

congress

McCarthy downplays remarks about Trump in secret recording

WASHINGTON >> House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy on Monday downplayed secretly recorded remarks he made about Donald Trump shortly after last year's attack on the Capitol. He also said he never told the then-president that he should resign — something news organizations have not reported.

McCarthy's comments were his first public remarks since The New York Times reported last week that on a Jan. 10, 2021, phone call with fellow Republicans, he said he was “seriously thinking” about telling Trump “he should resign.” McCarthy initially called that report “totally false and wrong.” The newspaper later released a recording of him making those remarks and it was played on Rachel Maddow’s MSNBC show.

The Times and others have not reported that McCarthy ever followed through and called Trump to urge him to step down. Critics have said the recordings and his denial of what he said show McCarthy to be a liar.

McCarthy, R-Calif., said Monday that a reporter — one of two Times reporters who have written a book that includes the recorded conversation — called him “the night before he released the book.”

“My understanding is he was saying, ‘Did I ask President Trump to resign?’ No, I never did, and that's what I was answering,” McCarthy told reporters Monday in Eagle Pass, Texas, after touring the border with other Republicans.

– The Associated Press