NY now wants Trump to pay back $370M in civil fraud-trial damages: how that breaks down

• NY officials have upped the ante in their fraud lawsuit against Trump and Trump Organization.
• On Friday, the AG said Trump should pay $370M for lying about his net worth in official documents.
• Trump counters that NY law does not allow any such penalties, an argument that's repeatedly failed.

The New York attorney general's office has upped the ante against Donald Trump, asking that his Manhattan fraud judge hit the former president with $370 million in penalties for a decade-long pattern of lying to banks and others about his net worth.

The requested sum reflects additional evidence of "ill-gotten gains" gleaned since September of 2022, when Attorney General Letitia James filed her original lawsuit requesting $250 million.

If the trial judge, New York Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron, agrees with the AG's number, Trump would have to pay back not only the $370 million, but millions more in a decade's worth of interest on that sum.

In filings of their own, Trump defense lawyers claimed that state law does not allow an attorney general to seek such financial penalties, reprising an argument that has repeatedly failed them in court.

Closing arguments in the four-month trial are set for January 11; Engoron has said he will decide on penalties by the end of the month.

This is a breaking story. Please check back for developments.