Former President Donald Trump will testify Monday in the $250 million civil fraud trial that could decide the fate of the New York real estate empire that propelled him to fame.
Trump, 77, is expected to take the stand around 10 a.m. in Manhattan Supreme Court in the lawsuit brought by New York State Attorney General Letitia James, accusing him of exaggerating his wealth to deceive banks and insurance companies and save money.
Their testimony will mark the climax of a month-long trial in which the attorney general’s office has questioned a steady stream of accountants, appraisers and Trump Organization officials, including the former president’s eldest sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, who are also defendants in the lawsuit.
Both testified last week that they did not participate in their father’s annual “financial disclosure statements,” documents that James alleges Trump falsified for a decade by inflating his assets to the tune of billions a year to obtain better loan terms. and insurance.
Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron, who is deciding the case, already found Trump liable for fraud in a ruling issued days before the trial, writing that the real estate mogul had valued his assets as if he lived in a “world “fantasy” in their financial presentations. between 2011 and 2021.
Donald Trump is expected to testify in a $250 million fraud lawsuit that threatens his real estate empire.AP
The filings contained “indisputably false” claims, Engoron wrote, including that Trump’s lofty Midtown penthouse was 30,000 square feet when it was actually closer to 11,000 feet.
Engoron ordered the dissolution of Trump’s New York-based companies, which could force the 2024 Republican presidential candidate to eventually turn over Trump Tower and other properties to a court-ordered receiver.
Trump’s legal team is appealing that ruling, and James’ office has agreed to suspend the cancellations as the case progresses.
Six other claims remain to be decided, including three counts of “conspiracy,” in which James’ office is tasked with proving that Trump had the “intent” to falsify business records and defraud insurers.
Trump has attended several days of trial.AP
A key witness for the state’s conspiracy case is Trump’s former personal attorney and “fixer” Michael Cohen, who claimed on the stand that his former boss made him “reverse engineer” his assets to reach “any number.” that Trump wanted.
But during questioning by Trump’s lawyers, Cohen admitted that the former president had not explicitly “ordered” him to inflate the values.
Instead, Trump acted “like a mob boss” and simply strongly implied that he and the Trump organization’s former chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, were intended to manipulate the filings to reach Trump’s desired inflated totals, he testified. Cohen.
“He tells you what he wants without specifically telling you,” Cohen said.
Trump will likely be asked about these alleged meetings with Cohen and Weisselberg on Monday.
New York Attorney General Letitia James, whose office is prosecuting the case, was also present on key days of the trial and when Trump was present.
It will technically be Trump’s second time testifying during the trial in the lower Manhattan courtroom, although this time he will speak for much longer and is expected to be the only witness called on Monday.
When Cohen testified on Oct. 25, Trump was called to the witness stand for a surprise hearing after he appeared to smear the court’s top law clerk while speaking to reporters during a morning break.
After Trump claimed he was actually attacking Cohen and not the secretary, an unconvinced Engoron scolded him as “not credible” (and fined him $10,000) for violating a limited gag order from the start of the trial. that prohibited the former president from speaking publicly about court personnel.
Tracking all Trump accusations
Former President Donald Trump faces 91 charges in four different criminal cases after his term in office.
Here are all the legal problems Trump will face heading into the 2024 elections.
Mar-a-Lago Classified Documents
- Trump is the first former president to face a federal indictment.
Former President Donald Trump faces a series of accusations as he approaches the 2024 election. AFP via Getty Images
- Trump is accused of taking about 11,000 documents, some of which contain sensitive national security secrets, and haphazardly hoarding them at his estate in Palm Beach, Florida.
- The most serious charge, in this case, carries a sentence of up to 20 years in prison.
Stormy Daniels ‘hush money’
Former President Donald Trump is accused of falsifying business records in his “hush money” payment to Stormy Daniels. AP
- Trump’s then-lawyer Michael Cohen paid Daniels $130,000 in exchange for her silence about a sexual encounter she claimed the two had.
- Trump has pleaded not guilty to the charges and is seeking to have the case moved to federal court. He is scheduled to appear in court on January 4, 2024.
2020 Election Annulment Offer
- Special prosecutor Jack Smith charged the former president with four counts in connection with his attempts to overturn the 2020 election.
- Prosecutors charged that the 45th president’s incessant claims about election fraud that cost him re-election “were false and [Trump] “I knew they were fake.”
Supporters of President Donald Trump storm the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021. AP
- The accusation is the second that Smith has brought against Trump, 77.
- A mob of Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, following his speech on the Ellipse.
- Charges against the former president include violation of Georgia’s racketeering law, conspiracy, making false statements and asking a public official to violate his or her oath of office.
Georgia 2020 Election Research
- Trump and 18 of his allies and supporters were indicted by a Georgia grand jury in connection with their efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election in the Peach State.
- The former president faces 13 charges in the case, which match a docket prematurely posted on the Fulton County Superior Court website around noon.
New York Civil Cases
- The former president was sued by New York Attorney General Letitia James.
- James alleges that Trump and three of his children lied to banks about their assets and net worth in the billions.
- She seeks a $250 million fine and a ban on Trump from doing business in New York state.
(From right to left) Trump and his children Ivanka, Don Jr. and Eric are named in James’ lawsuit.AP
- In another civil case, Trump was found responsible for sexually abusing and defaming writer E. Jean Carroll in the 1990s.
- Carroll was awarded $5 million in damages by Trump.
- Trump was not found guilty of rape after the jury rejected Carroll’s claim that Trump raped her in a Bergdorf Goodman fitting room.
Last week Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump testified. AFP via Getty Images
Trump had already been fined $5,000 and warned twice not to make public attacks on paralegal Allison Greenfield, whom he disparaged near the start of the trial in a post on Truth Social that was later deleted.
The attorney general’s office had planned to call Trump as its final witness in the case, but the former president’s daughter, Ivanka Trump, is now scheduled to testify Wednesday as the state concludes its case. The courts are closed on Tuesday for Election Day.
Trump took to Truth Social on Thursday when his older children were in court criticizing the case, the judge and the attorney general, claiming his children were being “persecuted.”
The case threatens Trump’s real estate company because the judge ruled that its business licenses in the state must be revoked.dpa/picture Alliance via Getty Images
The favorite for the presidency of the Republican Party in 2024 has attended the trial for seven days, since he is not required to appear in the civil case, as he would be in a criminal one.
He took every opportunity in front of media cameras in court to criticize the judge, the attorney general and the trial as a political witch hunt and has denied any wrongdoing.
In the five weeks of the trial so far, the prosecution itself has been present watching from the front row on key days, often when Trump was also present and when important witnesses such as Trump’s children testified.
On Thursday, an appeals court judge denied Ivanka’s bid to try not to testify in the case, from which she was dismissed earlier this year due to the statute of limitations. Following her loss, she withdrew her appeal.
When the attorney general’s case concludes after Ivanka’s testimony, Trump’s lawyers will be able to present their own case and question their own witnesses, of whom they have 128 on the list to potentially call.
The trial is expected to end around Christmas.
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