NEWS
Donald Trump Back in Court Tuesday For Civil Fraud Trial in New York
Brendan McDermid
Former President Donald Trump will appear in court for a second day on Tuesday as the fraud trial against him, his two adult sons, and Trump Organization executives continues.
The $250 million civil fraud lawsuit brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James opened on Monday, after Judge Arthur Engoron last week ruled that Trump committed financial fraud for a decade by overvaluing assets, and revoked the Trump Organizations business certification in the state.
Engoron granted the motion for summary judgment, finding Trump and his sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, to be liable as a matter of law for persistent violations of New York state law. The state will not have to prove at trial that the financial statements are fraudulent, but several other claims are still to be decided, including allegations of conspiracy, falsifying business records and insurance fraud.
The judge found that Trump repeatedly provided false financial statements that overvalued assets and his net worth in order to deceive banks and insurers to receive favorable terms. Engoron also found that Trump repeatedly overvalued the Mar-a-Lago property in Palm Beach, Fla., by as much as 2,300%, and lied about the size of his Trump Tower penthouse in Manhattan, tripling it and valuing it at $327 million.
“A discrepancy of this order of magnitude, by a real estate developer sizing up his own living space of decades, can only be considered fraud,” Engoron said.
Trump’s attorney Christopher Kise said in his opening statement Monday that the evidence would show that Trump built one of the most successful real estate empires in the world and made many billions of dollars being right about real estate investments.
He argued that there was no fraud because asset valuations are subjective. President Trump did not make any false statements, Kise said.
Speaking with reporters during the lunch break on Monday, Trump called the proceedings ridiculous.
Were going to be here for months with a judge that already made up his mind. Its ridiculous, Trump said.
This is a judge that should be disbarred. This is a judge that should be out of office. This is a judge that some people say could be charged criminally for what hes doing. Hes interfering with an election, and its a disgrace, Trump said.
The first witness called by the attorney general’s office was Trump’s former accountant, Donald Bender, who previously testified at a 2022 tax fraud trial against two Trump Organization entities that were fined $1.6 million.
Bender testified on Monday that he compiled the financial statements Engoron found to be fraudulent based on information provided by the company.
The trial is not taking place in front of a jury. Trump attorney Alina Habba said that Trump wanted a jury, but Engoron noted his lawyers did not ask for a jury trial.
Trump and his two adult sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump are all listed as possible witnesses in the trial.
Trump is also facing more than 90 criminal charges across four separate cases, two of which are connected to efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
TMX contributed to this article.
