Judge rejects Trump’s affidavit saying he does not have paperwork sought by New York’s legal professional basic

The one-page signed affidavit filed with the court docket Friday was Trump's unsuccessful attempt to finish the civil contempt and daily high quality of $10,000 per day imposed on him earlier this week by New York state Judge Arthur Engoron.

"Mr. Trump's private affidavit is totally devoid of any helpful element. Notably, it fails to state the place he stored his files, how his files had been stored in the common course of enterprise, who had access to such files, what, if any, the retention coverage was for such recordsdata, and, importantly, the place he believes such recordsdata are at present positioned," he wrote. The judge additionally found the sworn statement from Trump's lawyer unsatisfactory.

The choose beforehand mentioned Trump could end the contempt if he complied with the subpoena or him or his attorneys detailed their efforts to search for documents sought by the subpoena. He known as Trump's lawyer's earlier response "boilerplate."

In the sworn statement signed April 27, Trump wrote, "To the perfect of my knowledge, (i) I do not need any of the paperwork requested in the subpoena dated December 1, 2021 in my private possession." He stated any data can be within the possession of the Trump Organization and he has approved them to comply with the subpoena. The previous President has additionally appealed that order.

In addition they stated affidavits from Trump's attorneys present some new details about their search, however "they're insufficient to purge the finding of contempt."

If after the overview is full and if no new information are recovered, the attorney basic's workplace stated it could counsel that Trump didn't protect data.

"It is simply not believable that Mr. Trump authored only three documents dealing with the value of his belongings and his wealth," they wrote.

The legal professional basic's office mentioned extra recordsdata still must be searched by Trump's lawyer or HaystackID, the third-party firm employed for document manufacturing, earlier than they might be happy. Among those recordsdata: all of Trump's laborious copy files in Trump Tower or its off-site storage, all of the paper recordsdata of Trump's executive assistants, all electronic units, together with cell phones and computer systems, belonging to Trump and his assistants, and each property the place Trump maintains a personal workplace or residence.

HaystackID will full many of the assessment of materials at Trump Tower by May 6, the legal professional normal's office said. They noted that Haystack identified two flip cellphones belonging to Trump but the lawyer common's office said since Trump reportedly used a smartphone "he apparently has, or must have had in the past, one or more other phones that he obtained for private use."

In addition, investigators took problem with Trump's lawyer relying on previous searches performed by the Trump Organization's lawyer in response to earlier subpoenas.

In a sworn affidavit, Trump's attorney Alina Habba, mentioned she had checked a number of the information and had gone to Florida to talk with Trump himself. She stated Trump did not have an paperwork at his houses in Bedminster, New Jersey, or Mar-a-Lago, Florida.

This story has been up to date with additional particulars.