New York
The Civil Fraud Ruling on Donald Trump, Annotated
Former President Donald J. Trump was penalized $355 million, plus millions more in interest, and banned for three years from serving in any top roles at a New York company, including his own, in a ruling on Friday by Justice Arthur F. Engoron. The decision comes after the state Attorney General Letitia James sued Mr. Trump, members of his family and his company in 2022.
The ruling expands on Justice Engoron’s decision last fall, which found that Mr. Trump’s financial statements were filled with fraudulent claims. Mr. Trump will appeal the financial penalty and is likely to appeal other restrictions; he has already appealed last fall’s ruling.
The New York Times annotated the document.
Download the original PDF.
New York Times Analysis
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1
This ruling by Justice Arthur F. Engoron is a result of a 2022 lawsuit filed by New York’s attorney general, Letitia James, against Donald J. Trump and the Trump Organization; his adult sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump; the company’s former chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg and former controller Jeffrey McConney; and several of their related entities. Mr. Trump’s daughter, Ivanka Trump, was also initially a defendant until an appeals court dismissed the case against her.
New York Times Analysis
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2
The law under which Ms. James sued, known by its shorthand 63(12), requires the plaintiff to show a defendant’s conduct was deceptive. If that standard is met, a judge can impose severe punishment, including forfeiting the money obtained through fraud. Ms. James has also used this law against the oil company ExxonMobil, the tobacco brand Juul and the pharma executive Martin Shkreli.
New York Times Analysis
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3
Justice Engoron is now providing a background of this case. This ruling comes after a three-year investigation by the attorney general’s office and the conclusion of a trial that ended last month. But this likely won’t be Mr. Trump’s last word on the matter — he will appeal the financial penalty and is likely to appeal other restrictions, as he has already appealed other rulings.
4
In late 2022, Justice Engoron assigned a former federal judge, Barbara Jones, to serve as a monitor at the Trump Organization and tasked her with keeping an eye on the company and its lending relationships. Last month, she issued a report citing inconsistencies in its financial reporting, which “may reflect a lack of adequate internal controls.”
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Here, Justice Engoron is laying out the laws he considered in his ruling beyond 63(12). The attorney general’s lawsuit included allegations of violations of falsifying business records, issuing false financial statements, insurance fraud and related conspiracy offenses.
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For over 50 pages, Justice Engoron describes his conclusions about the testimony of all of the witnesses who spoke during the trial.
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Justice Engoron discusses Mr. McConney’s important role in preparing Mr. Trump’s financial statements. The judge points out that Mr. McConney prepared all the valuations on the statements in consultation with Mr. Weisselberg.
New York Times Analysis
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In his discussion of Mr. Weisselberg, Justice Engoron calls his testimony in the trial “intentionally evasive.” Justice Engoron then brings up Mr. Weisselberg’s separation agreement from the Trump Organization, which prohibited him from voluntarily cooperating with any entities “adverse” to the organization. Justice Engoron says that this renders Mr. Weisselberg’s testimony highly unreliable.
New York Times Analysis
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10
When Donald Trump Jr. testified in court, he disavowed responsibility for his father’s financial statements despite serving as a trustee of the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust while his father was president. But Justice Engoron specifically cites here that Donald Trump Jr. certified that he was responsible for the financial statements, and testified that he intended for the banks to rely on them and that the statements were “materially accurate.”
New York Times Analysis
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During his testimony, Eric Trump, the Trump Organization’s de facto chief executive, initially denied knowing about his father’s financial statements until this case. As Justice Engoron points out here, Eric Trump eventually conceded to knowing about them as early as 2013. As a result, Justice Engoron calls Eric Trump’s credibility “severely damaged.”
New York Times Analysis
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12
Justice Engoron points to Mr. Trump’s testimony when he took the witness stand in November when Mr. Trump acknowledged that he helped put together his annual financial statements. Mr. Trump said he would see them and occasionally have suggestions.
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After four pages of describing Mr. Trump’s testimony, Justice Engoron says Mr. Trump rarely responded to the questions asked and frequently interjected long, irrelevant speeches, which all “severely compromised his credibility.”
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For more than a dozen pages, Justice Engoron provides background on specific assets that Mr. Trump included in his annual financial statements.
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The judge is clarifying that Ms. James had to prove her claims by a “preponderance of the evidence,” meaning she had to demonstrate it was more likely than not that Mr. Trump and the co-defendants should be held liable. This is a lower standard than that of a criminal trial, which requires that evidence be proven “beyond a reasonable doubt.”
New York Times Analysis
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During the trial, Mr. Trump and his legal team tried to shift the blame for any inaccuracies in his financial statements onto his outside accountants. But Justice Engoron criticizes that argument here.
New York Times Analysis
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During the monthslong trial, Mr. Trump, his legal team and several witnesses stressed that real estate appraisals are an art, not a science. But here it’s clear Justice Engoron, while agreeing with that sentiment, also believes it’s deceptive when different appraisals rely on different assumptions.
New York Times Analysis
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Justice Engoron is now going through the defendants one by one and articulating the evidence that shows each of their “intent to defraud,” which is required by the statute against falsifying business records. Notably, his first paragraph describing the former president’s intent provides examples including Mr. Trump’s awareness that his triplex apartment was not 30,000 square feet and his valuation of Mar-a-Lago as a single-family residence even though it was deeded as a social club.
New York Times Analysis
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Among the defendants, Justice Engoron finds only Allen Weisselberg and Jeffrey McConney liable for insurance fraud. Here, he doesn’t provide an explanation for why the other defendants, including Mr. Trump and his adult sons, were not found liable, and he says that both Mr. Weisselberg and Mr. McConney made false representations to insurance companies about Mr. Trump’s financial statements.
20
While Mr. Trump and his adult sons were not found liable for insurance fraud, here Justice Engoron finds them liable for conspiracy to commit insurance fraud, explaining that they all “aided and abetted” the conspiracy to commit insurance fraud by falsifying business records.
New York Times Analysis
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21
Justice Engoron here adopts the approximations of the attorney general’s expert witness Michiel McCarty, whom Justice Engoron says testified “reliably and convincingly,” and finds that the defendants’ fraud saved them over $168 million in interest.
New York Times Analysis
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22
In finding that the defendants were able to purchase the Old Post Office in Washington, D.C., through their use of the fraudulent financial statements, Justice Engoron rules that the defendants’ proceeds from the sale of the post office in 2022 should be considered “ill-gotten gains.” He penalizes Donald Trump and his companies over $126 million, and Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump $4 million each, for this one property.
New York Times Analysis
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23
Justice Engoron blasts the defendants for failing to admit that they were wrong in their valuations — adding that “their complete lack of contrition and remorse borders on pathological.” He says that this inability to admit error makes him believe they will continue their fraudulent activities unless “judicially restrained.”
New York Times Analysis
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25
Justice Engoron states that Judge Barbara Jones, who has been serving as an independent monitor at the Trump Organization since 2022, will continue in that role for at least three years. He clarifies that going forward, her role will be enhanced and she will review Trump Organization financial disclosures before they are submitted to any third party, to ensure that there are no material misstatements.
New York Times Analysis
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New York Times Analysis
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27
Justice Engoron lays out his bans against the defendants, ruling that Mr. Trump, Mr. Weisselberg and Mr. McConney cannot serve as officers or directors of any corporation or legal entity in New York for the next three years, and bans his sons Donald Trump Jr., and Eric Trump for two years from the same. He also prohibits Mr. Trump from applying for any loans from any New York banks for the next three years. The ruling goes further in the cases of Mr. Weisselberg and Mr. McConney, permanently barring them from serving in the financial control function of any New York business.
New York Times Analysis
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28
Justice Engoron also ordered that Mr. Trump and his sons pay the interest, pushing the penalty to $450 million, according to Ms. James.
Every week since 1976, Metropolitan Diary has published stories by, and for, New Yorkers of all ages and eras (no matter where they live now): anecdotes and memories, quirky encounters and overheard snippets that reveal the city’s spirit and heart.
For the past four years, we’ve asked for your help picking the best Diary entry of the year. Now we’re asking again.
We’ve narrowed the field to the five finalists here. Read them and vote for your favorite. The author of the item that gets the most votes will receive a print of the illustration that accompanied it, signed by the artist, Agnes Lee.
The voting closes at 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 21. You can change your vote as many times as you’d like until then, but you may only pick one. Choose wisely.
Click “VOTE” to choose your favorite Metropolitan Diary entry of 2025, and come back on Sunday, Dec. 28, to see which one our readers picked as their favorite.
Click “VOTE” to choose your favorite Metropolitan Diary entry of 2025, and come back on Sunday, Dec. 28, to see which one our readers picked as their favorite.
Two Stops
Dear Diary:
It was a drizzly June night in 2001. I was a young magazine editor and had just enjoyed what I thought was a very blissful second date — dinner, drinks, fabulous conversation — with our technology consultant at a restaurant in Manhattan.
I lived in Williamsburg at the time, and my date lived near Murray Hill, so we grabbed a cab and headed south on Second Avenue.
“Just let me out here,” my date said to the cabby at the corner of 25th Street.
We said our goodbyes, quick and shy, knowing that we would see each other at work the next day. I was giddy and probably grinning with happiness and hope.
“Oh boy,” the cabby said, shaking his head as we drove toward Brooklyn. “Very bad.”
“What do you mean?” I asked in horror.
“He doesn’t want you to know exactly where he lives,” the cabby said. “Not a good sign.”
I spent the rest of the cab ride in shock, revisiting every moment of the date.
Happily, it turned out that my instinct about it being a great date was right, and the cabby was wrong. Twenty-four years later, my date that night is my husband, and I know that if your stop is first, it’s polite to get out so the cab can continue in a straight line to the next stop.
Ferry Farewell
Dear Diary:
On a February afternoon, I met my cousins at the Staten Island Ferry Terminal. Their spouses and several of our very-grown children were there too. I brought Prosecco, a candle, a small speaker to play music, photos and a poem.
We were there to recreate the wedding cruise of my mother, Monica, and my stepfather, Peter. They had gotten married at City Hall in August 1984. She was 61, and he, 71. It was her first marriage, and his fourth.
I was my mother’s witness that day. It was a late-in-life love story, and they were very happy. Peter died in 1996, at 82. My mother died last year. She was 100.
Peter’s ashes had waited a long time, but finally they were mingled with Monica’s. The two of them would ride the ferry a last time and then swirl together in the harbor forever. Cue the candles, bubbly, bagpipes and poems.
Two ferry workers approached us. We knew we were in trouble: Open containers and open flames were not allowed on the ferry.
My cousin’s husband, whispering, told the workers what we were doing and said we would be finished soon.
They walked off, and then returned. They said they had spoken to the captain, and they ushered us to the stern for some privacy. As the cup of ashes flew into the water, the ferry horn sounded two long blasts.
Unacceptable
Dear Diary:
I went to a new bagel store in Brooklyn Heights with my son.
When it was my turn to order, I asked for a cinnamon raisin bagel with whitefish salad and a slice of red onion.
The man behind the counter looked up at me.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I can’t do that.”
Teresa
Dear Diary:
It was February 2013. With a foot of snow expected, I left work early and drove from New Jersey warily as my wipers squeaked and snow and ice stuck to my windows.
I drove east on the Cross Bronx Expressway, which was tied up worse than usual. Trucks groaned on either side of my rattling Toyota. My fingers were cold. My toes were colder. Got to get home before it really comes down, I thought to myself.
By the time I got home to my little red bungalow a stone’s throw from the Throgs Neck Bridge, the snow was already up to my ankles.
Inside, I took off my gloves, hat, scarf, coat, sweater, pants and snow boots. The bed, still unmade, was inviting me. But first, I checked my messages.
There was one from Teresa, the 92-year-old widow on the corner.
“Call me,” she said, sounding desperate.
I looked toward the warm bed, but … Teresa. There was a storm outside, and she was alone.
On went the pants, the sweater, the coat, the scarf, the boots and the gloves, and then I went out the door.
The snow was six inches deep on the sidewalks, so I tottered on tire tracks in the middle of the street. The wind stung my face. When I got to the end of the block, I pounded on her door.
“Teresa!” I called. No answer. “Teresa!” I called again. I heard the TV blaring. Was she sprawled on the floor?
I went next door and called for Kathy.
“Teresa can’t answer the door,” I said. “Probably fell.”
Kathy had a key. In the corner of her neat living room, Teresa, in pink sweatpants and sweaters, was sitting curled in her armchair, head bent down and The Daily News in her lap.
I snapped off the TV.
Startled, she looked up.
“Kathy! Neal!” she said. “What’s a five-letter word for cabbage?”
Nice Place
Dear Diary:
When I lived in Park Slope over 20 years ago, I once had to call an ambulance because of a sudden, violent case of food poisoning.
Two paramedics, a man and a woman, entered our third-floor walk-up with a portable chair. Strapping me in, the male medic quickly inserted an IV line into my arm.
Out of the corner of my eye, I could see his partner circling around and admiring the apartment.
“Nice place you’ve got here.” she said. “Do you own it?”
“Yeah,” I muttered, all but unconscious.
Once I was in the ambulance, she returned to her line of inquiry.
“Do you mind me asking how much you paid for your apartment?”
“$155,000,” I croaked.
“Wow! You must have bought during the recession.”
“Yeah” I said.
They dropped me off at Methodist Hospital, where I was tended to by a nurse as I struggled to stay lucid.
At some point, the same medic poked her head into the room with one last question:
“You wouldn’t be wanting to sell any time soon, would you?”
Illustrations by Agnes Lee.
‘Part of the job’
Edwin Guity was at the controls of a southbound D train last December, rolling through the Bronx, when suddenly someone was on the tracks in front of him.
He jammed on the emergency brake, but it was too late. The man had gone under the wheels.
Stumbling over words, Mr. Guity radioed the dispatcher and then did what the rules require of every train operator involved in such an incident. He got out of the cab and went looking for the person he had struck.
“I didn’t want to do it,” Mr. Guity said later. “But this is a part of the job.”
He found the man pinned beneath the third car. Paramedics pulled him out, but the man died at the hospital. After that, Mr. Guity wrestled with what to do next.
A 32-year-old who had once lived in a family shelter with his parents, he viewed the job as paying well and offering a rare chance at upward mobility. It also helped cover the costs of his family’s groceries and rent in the three-bedroom apartment they shared in Brooklyn.
But striking the man with the train had shaken him more than perhaps any other experience in his life, and the idea of returning to work left him feeling paralyzed.
Edwin Guity was prescribed exposure therapy after his train struck a man on the tracks.
Hundreds of train operators have found themselves in Mr. Guity’s position over the years.
And for just as long, there has been a path through the state workers’ compensation program to receiving substantive treatment to help them cope. But New York’s train operators say that their employer, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, has done too little to make them aware of that option.
After Mr. Guity’s incident, no official told him of that type of assistance, he said. Instead, they gave him the option of going back to work right away.
But Mr. Guity was lucky. He had a friend who had been through the same experience and who coached him on getting help — first through a six-week program and then, with the assistance of a lawyer, through an experienced specialist.
The specialist prescribed a six-month exposure therapy program to gradually reintroduce Mr. Guity to the subway.
His first day back at the controls of a passenger train was on Thanksgiving. Once again, he was driving on the D line — the same route he had been traveling on the day of the fatal accident.
M.T.A. representatives insisted that New York train operators involved in strikes are made aware of all options for getting treatment, but they declined to answer specific questions about how the agency ensures that drivers get the help they need.
In an interview, the president of the M.T.A. division that runs the subway, Demetrius Crichlow, said all train operators are fully briefed on the resources available to them during their job orientation.
“I really have faith in our process,” Mr. Crichlow said.
Still, other transit systems — all of which are smaller than New York’s — appear to do a better job of ensuring that operators like Mr. Guity take advantage of the services available to them, according to records and interviews.
A Times analysis shows that the incidents were on the rise in New York City’s system even as they were falling in all other American transit systems.
An Uptick in Subway Strikes
San Francisco’s system provides 24-hour access to licensed therapists through a third-party provider.
Los Angeles proactively reaches out to its operators on a regular basis to remind them of workers’ compensation options and other resources.
The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority has made it a goal to increase engagement with its employee assistance program.
The M.T.A. says it offers some version of most of these services.
But in interviews with more than two dozen subway operators who have been involved in train strikes, only one said he was aware of all those resources, and state records suggest most drivers of trains that strike people are not taking full advantage of them.
“It’s the M.T.A.’s responsibility to assist the employee both mentally and physically after these horrific events occur,” the president of the union that represents New York City transit workers, John V. Chiarello, said in a statement, “but it is a constant struggle trying to get the M.T.A. to do the right thing.”
new video loaded: Protesters Arrested After Trying to Block a Possible ICE Raid
transcript
transcript
Protesters Arrested After Trying to Block a Possible ICE Raid
Nearly 200 protesters tried to block federal agents from leaving a parking garage in Lower Manhattan on Saturday. The confrontation appeared to prevent a possible ICE raid nearby, and led to violent clashes between the police and protesters.
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[chanting] “ICE out of New York.”
By Jorge Mitssunaga
November 30, 2025
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