The Daily Fuckup

Donald Trump was not yet in contempt on April 22, 2022, but his fight with New York Attorney General Letitia James had reached the point where contempt was already on the table. James had filed a motion on April 7 asking the court to hold Trump in civil contempt for failing to comply with a February order requiring him to turn over documents tied to her civil fraud investigation.

The dispute centered on a straightforward question: whether Trump had actually produced everything the court ordered by the March 31 deadline. James’ office said he had not. Her filing argued that the production was incomplete and that Trump also had not supplied the search-and-retention details the court wanted. Trump’s lawyers pushed back and urged the judge to reject the request.

On April 22, the only thing that had happened was the filing and the back-and-forth around it. Justice Arthur Engoron had not yet ruled. The contempt issue was pending, and the record showed a missed deadline, a contested document search, and a court order that the attorney general said had not been obeyed.

That changed on April 25, when Engoron held Trump in civil contempt and imposed a $10,000-a-day fine until he complied. But on the story’s edition date, the proper description was simpler: Trump was facing a contempt motion, not yet a contempt ruling.