As of: February 18, 2024, 7:23 p.m
By: Jens Kiffmeier, Daniel Dillmann
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Another setback for Donald Trump: The ex-US President was sentenced to an astronomical fine in the fraud trial in New York.
Update from February 17th, 6:56 a.m.:
After ordering a fine of around $355 million (around 330 million euros) against him, former US President Donald Trump again lashed out sharply against the public prosecutor and judge and described the order as “complete and total hypocrisy”.
The entire process is part of a “witch hunt” against him ordered by his successor Joe Biden, the 77-year-old Republican said on Friday.
He will appeal and win.
Update from February 16th, 9:20 p.m
.: Mega punishment for Donald Trump: The former US President was sentenced by a court in New York to pay over 350 million dollars in a civil case.
Judge Arthur Engoron announced this on Friday in New York, as the
dpa
news agency reported.
In addition, Trump is not allowed to run a company in New York state for three years.
The civil case was about the future of the 77-year-old's corporate empire.
Prosecutors accused Trump, his sons and employees of manipulating the value of the Trump Organization for years in order to obtain cheaper loans and insurance contracts.
There was no threat of prison time or direct impact on Trump's bid for the presidency in the civil case.
Donald Trump is currently spending a lot of time in the New York courtroom.
© IMAGO/Seth Harrison
However, the ex-president is currently involved in a number of other proceedings.
Only on Thursday was the start of a trial in connection with hush money payments to a porn star on March 25th confirmed by a judge.
It would be the first criminal trial of a former president in US history.
Three further criminal trials are being prepared, including on allegations of attempted election manipulation, and civil trials are also ongoing.
But the verdict is a hard setback for Trump - especially financially.
Just at the end of January, a jury in a second libel trial awarded 80-year-old author E. Jean Carroll $83.3 million in compensation.
Trump's lawyers had announced that they wanted to appeal.
Update from February 16, 5:32 p.m.:
Shortly after the news of the death of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, former congressman Lee Zeldin built a bridge to the trials against Donald Trump.
While “the world commemorates the murder of Alexei Navalny,” it must be remembered, the Republican said, that “Democrats, at the behest of [Joe] Biden, are also trying to lock up, disqualify and secure his greatest political opponent, Donald Trump "That he dies in prison." The 44-year-old ex-MP wrote this on X (formerly Twitter).
Update from February 16, 11:27 a.m.:
For Donald Trump, the ongoing trials in New York are a nuisance that could impact the campaign for the 2024 US election.
“Instead of campaigning in South Carolina and other states, I’m stuck here.
It's a case of election interference.
There has never been anything like this in this country.
It's a disgrace," the former US president said on Thursday after a hearing that Trump personally attended.
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Donald Trump has to stand trial in New York
First report from February 16, 2024:
New York - He is doing very well in the polls for the Republican primaries for the 2024 US election.
But Donald Trump is currently facing one setback in court.
In the US state of Georgia, Trump's legal team has so far failed to prevent charges against him for attempted election manipulation.
In New York, an attempt to postpone the start of the trial against Trump in the case of hush money payments to Stormy Daniels failed.
Another civil trial against Donald Trump is also nearing its end in New York.
This began with the lawsuit filed by public prosecutor Letitia James.
She accused Trump and his family business, the Trump Organization, of falsifying balance sheets and real estate values in order to either evade taxes or get cheap loans.
40 witnesses were heard in the trial, including:
Donald Trump's children among witnesses in New York trial
Allen Weisselberg, longtime chief financial officer of the Trump Organization
Donald Trump Jr., eldest son of Donald Trump and CEO of the Trump Organization
Ivanka Trump, the eldest daughter, former White House adviser and vice president of the family company
Eric Trump, second son and current vice president of the Trump Organization
The trial ended in January 2024. A verdict is still pending, even though the responsible judge, Arthur Engoron, has already stated that Donald Trump is guilty of fraud.
According to information from the news portal
The Hill,
a verdict is expected this Friday (February 16).
Donald Trump faces an astronomically high fine
The punishment that Donald Trump is facing in New York is tough.
Prosecutor James is demanding no less than $370 million from the promising Republican candidate for the US election.
The former reality TV star and billionaire heir is also expected to receive a lifetime ban from the New York real estate market.
But according to research by the
Daily Beast
news portal , the penalty could be even higher.
Trump could be forced to pay interest on top of the fine, which would have been collected since the investigation began in 2018.
That could mean an additional $200 million in fines and Trump having to pay an astronomical sum of more than $500 million.
US experts firmly believe that Trump would not be able to raise this amount from petty cash.
The former president would then probably be forced to sell parts of his real estate empire.
The seriousness of the situation is now apparently making Donald Trump's team nervous.
His lawyer Alina Habba was pessimistic in an interview with the ultra-right TV channel
Newsmax
.
“I don’t have high hopes,” said the 39-year-old lawyer.
She doesn't expect any surprises, but she does expect her client to be convicted.
“If I could appeal now, I would do so,” said Habba, who immediately promised her audience the next rumbling performance in New York: “I will be loudly short-tempered after the decision.” (dil
)