Judge wants sworn statements on Trump’s use of Post-it notes

Decide Arthur Engoron mentioned he wanted sworn statements describing the Trump Organization's doc retention and destruction policy, in addition to a assessment of 5 bins tied to Trump that were positioned in an off-site storage facility. The situations should be met by May 20, in any other case the decide mentioned he would restore the contempt finding and apply it retroactively.

Engoron agreed to allow Trump to put the cash in an escrow account till the former President's attraction of the contempt ruling is completed.

The choose stopped the clock on the wonderful as of last Friday when Trump's attorneys submitted further sworn statements, together with one from Trump, about his effort to adjust to the subpoena from the New York attorney common's office for data.

New York Lawyer Common Letitia James said in a statement that Wednesday's contempt decision sends a transparent message to Trump and his group, which she mentioned has tried to "thwart" the investigation for years, that "nobody can evade accountability."

"We'll continue to implement the law and search solutions as a part of this investigation," James mentioned.

The New York lawyer general's office moved to hold Trump in contempt after he didn't comply with a subpoena for documents issued in December 2021. The attorney common's workplace is investigating the accuracy of financial statements the Trump Organization supplied to lenders, insurers and for tax advantages.

At a listening to Wednesday, Andrew Amer, an lawyer for the state, homed in on the difficulty of the Put up-it notes, which Trump was identified to make use of to speak along with his staff, and whether or not they were turned over.

"To our information, we've not seen any paperwork which have Publish-its on them. And that's one of the odd issues concerning the manufacturing thus far given the statements that was a means for Mr. Trump to communicate," Ames said. He argued the dealing with of Publish-it notes ought to be included in the doc retention and destruction coverage.

Alina Habba, an lawyer for Trump, mentioned she was informed by the Trump Organization's common counsel that all Submit-it notes were already produced to the legal professional general's workplace.

"It is a bit comical," she advised the choose, while holding up a stack of Post-its. "I haven't got a proper practice on Publish-its, do you?"

The decide mentioned they may start a brand new apply in the law: the Submit-it affidavit.

The choose mentioned he additionally wished Trump's attorneys to handle any efforts to achieve former executive assistants to Trump and whether or not they could be located.

This story has been updated with further developments and background information.

CNN's Shawna Mizelle contributed to this report.