Accusation of tax evasion, assault on the Capitol, … Since the end of his mandate, Donald Trump has not ceased to be confronted with American justice.
The latest episode: On Monday, New York Judge Arthur F. Engoron ordered him to pay a daily fine of $10,000, as long as he refuses to provide accounting documents on his family group to the office of New York State Attorney General Letitia James.
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This conviction for "
contempt of court
" puts an end to Donald Trump's favorite legal strategy: to obstruct legal proceedings on the grounds that they are political.
After three years of investigating possible tax evasion by the
Trump Organization
, Letita James welcomed Judge Engoron's ruling, commenting, "
Today's ruling is clear: no one is above the law
”.
The prosecutor suspects the company of overestimating the value of certain real estate when it applied for bank loans, then of underestimating it to the tax authorities in order to pay less taxes.
A luxury Trump Tower apartment in Manhattan, for example, was said to be three times its actual size, resulting in an overstatement of $200 million.
Letitia James, however, believes that she lacks a few elements before initiating a lawsuit against the former president or against his group.
Lawyers for the prosecutor's office said in early April that they had made eight requests to Donald Trump to submit documents to them, all of which he refused.
Lawyers for the ex-president said they did extensive searches for the records, but were unsuccessful.
Alina Habba, one of the lawyers, claimed that if they existed, they were not in the possession of Donald Trump, but of the company.
But Judge Engoron considered that the research had been “
woefully insufficient
”.
If, thanks to the required documents, the prosecutor Letitia James establishes an offense, she can only sue Donald Trump or his group for damages.
But the Manhattan prosecutor's office is conducting a parallel criminal investigation for the same facts.
The
Trump Organization
and its director, Allen Weisselberg, are implicated in it.
The trial is due to begin this year.
Capitol Assault Investigation
Another investigation could lead to criminal charges against Donald Trump.
This is the one from the House committee on the January 6, 2021 assault.
Its nine members must prove that the politicians who wanted to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election knew their actions were illegal, but still carried out their plan and encouraged the capture of the Capitol.
If the committee manages to gather sufficient evidence, then the instigators, including Donald Trump, could face criminal charges.
And this path seems more and more likely.
On April 22, Cassidy Hutchinson, former special assistant at the White House, affirmed during his testimony that "
concerns (had) been transmitted
" to Mark Meadows, then Donald Trump's chief of staff, in the months preceding the events of the January 6.
Anthony Ornato, a senior Secret Service official, had informed him that violence was likely to occur.
According to a previous report, Donald Trump himself was aware that his plan to overturn the 2020 election was illegal.
This plan then consisted mainly of discrediting the results by claiming that there had been electoral fraud.
John Eastman, the lawyer who advised him on this subject, had explained to him that he violated the
Electoral Count Act
(1887).
For Judge David O. Carter, these elements, as well as his behavior aimed at “
galvanizing the crowd
” on January 6, testify to a desire by the former president
“to obstruct an official procedure”.