Trump civil fraud trial live updates: Judge fines Trump $354 million
Former President Donald Trump has been fined $354 million in a civil fraud lawsuit that could alter the personal fortune and real estate empire that helped propel him to the White House.
Trump, his sons Eric Trump and and Donald Trump Jr., and other top Trump Organization executives were accused by New York Attorney General Letitia James of engaging in a decade-long scheme in which they used "numerous acts of fraud and misrepresentation" to inflate Trump's net worth in order get more favorable loan terms. The judge in the case ruled in a partial summary judgment that Trump had submitted "fraudulent valuations" for his assets, leaving the trial to determine additional actions and what penalty, if any, the defendants should receive.
The former president has denied all wrongdoing and his attorneys have argued that Trump's alleged inflated valuations were a product of his business skill.
