POLITICS
Trump Back In Manhattan Court Tuesday For Civil Fraud Trial
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Former President Donald Trump is back in court on Tuesday for his ongoing civil fraud trial in New York City.
The $250 million civil fraud lawsuit brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James opened earlier this month after Judge Arthur Engoron ruled that Trump committed financial fraud for a decade by overvaluing assets, and revoked the Trump Organizations business certification in the state.
Engoron found 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 has argued that there was no fraud because asset valuations are subjective. President Trump did not make any false statements, Kise said.
Trump’s former personal attorney Michael Cohen was due to testify this week, but on Friday Cohen said his testimony would be delayed for medical reasons.
Trump confirmed on the social media platform Truth Social that he would be in court Tuesday, and again decried the lack of a jury in the trial, accusing the judge of being highly political and a radical left Democrat.
Trump attorney Alina Habba has said that Trump wanted a jury, but Engoron noted his lawyers did not ask for a jury trial.
Engoron previously issued a gag order barring all parties to the case from making comments about court staff after Trump attacked a clerk on social media.
“Personal attacks of any member of my court staff are unacceptable, inappropriate and I will not tolerate them,” Engoron said.
“Consider this statement an order forbidding all parties from posting, emailing or speaking publicly about any members of my staff,” Engoron said. Failure to comply will result in serious sanctions, he said.
Trump had attacked Engoron’s clerk in a post on Truth Social, claiming she was the girlfriend of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and posting a photo of the two together. How disgraceful! Trump wrote. This case should be dismissed immediately.
Trump, 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.
