Politics

Members of former President Donald Trump's legal team have been fined for "indefensible" arguments made about the properties associated with The Trump Organization.

New York Judge Arthur Engoron ruled on Tuesday that Trump, his sons and The Trump Organization committed fraud by overvaluing several of their business properties by over $400 million.

The ruling, made in relation to a $250 million civil case originally brought forward by New York Attorney General Letitia James' office, has been described by some as a "corporate death penalty" due to business licenses being ordered to be rescinded and handed over to independent receivers.

Engoron's order included $7,500 fines for each of Trump's lawyers for their continued arguments in defense of their client, including one that the square footage of an apartment could be subjective.

"That is a fantasy world, not the real world," Engoron wrote in the order.

The fines, which were reportedly greater than James had requested, followed efforts by Trump's legal team to move the case to another judge. They also sued Engoron.

Last week, following a series of statements made by Trump attorney Christopher Kise, Ergoron reportedly pounded on the bench, stating, "You cannot make false statements and use them in business."

Newsweek reached out to Trump's legal team via email for comment.

Attorney Andrew Lieb told Newsweek that the Ergoron ruling is an indictment not just on Trump, his sons and their organization but on Trump's attorneys for not properly advocating for their legal roles and instead essentially "letting the patient run the asylum."

"Trump's lawyers need to get a backbone fast as following the Trump legal strategy keeps getting them personally damaged," Lieb said. "We've previously seen criminal charges against Trump's attorneys. There have been disbarments and don't forget about the many civil cases.

"Now, we have sanctions for frivolous conduct where his lawyers made the judge feel like he was watching Groundhog's Day in rehearing the same, previously rejected arguments," he said.

Trump himself was quick to rebuke Ergoron's order, calling the judge a "Democratic operative" and claiming on Truth Social that his Mar-a-Lago property appraised between $18 million and $27.6 million "could be worth almost 100 times that amount."

Michael Cohen, Trump's former lawyer, said Tuesday on CNN that if penalties imposed on Trump and company exceed $600 million, there is not enough liquid cash available which will lead to bankruptcy.

Even a fine over $250 million, the same number in James' litigation, would be difficult to pay off, Cohen added—even if Trump was able to sell his 40 Wall Street building in Manhattan, New York, for $400 million.

"Many of the assets that he owns, he has limited to no basis in them like 40 Wall Street, $1 million basis. You also have, say, a $100 million mortgage onto it," Cohen said. "He's also going to have to pay Uncle Sam tax on the money between the basis and the sale price.