Former President Donald Trump lawyers go after accountant in NYC civil fraud case – WABC-TV
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Former President Donald Trump and AG Letitia James returned to a Manhattan courtroom for another day of his civil fraud trial. N.J. Burkett has the latest details.
LOWER MANHATTAN (WABC) — Donald Trump left New York City in apparent disgust on Wednesday and boarded his corporate jet at LaGuardia Airport after breathing fire at the judge and New York State Attorney General Letitia James.
"They made up a fake case, they're fraudulent people," Trump said. "And the judge already knows what he's going to do. He's a Democrat judge. In all fairness he has no choice."
For a third straight day, the former president insisted-without evidence-that he's the victim of a Democratic conspiracy to foil his re-election campaign.
Judge Arthur Engoron has already ruled that Trump and his associates, including his adult sons, wildly overvalued the former president's net worth and his real estate assets to make deals and to get big loans.
The judge will need to decide whether the Trumps are liable and if so, what penalties should be imposed. But the defense has claimed that no one was deceived or defrauded and that Trump's bankers profited from the loans.
In court, the defense grilled former Trump accountant Donald Bender. But after several hours, the judge grew impatient.
"Mr. Bender is not on trial here. Someone else is," he snapped.
But the defense insisted that details matter.
"The government brought a case accusing my client of a staggering fraud," said attorney Alina Habba.
"You're not allowed to waste time," barked the judge. "This is ridiculous!"
For three days, the former president has used the trial, and the national stage that it commands, as a campaign stop. He has attacked the process and the judge, while saving his sharpest attacks for the attorney general who brought the case.
Minutes after Trump left New York, Letitia James was determined to have the final word.
"The Donald Trump Show is over," James said. "This was nothing more than a publicity stunt, a fundraising stop. And now we can continue to go forward with our trial and we are confident that justice will be served."
James is seeking $250 million in fines and a lifetime ban on the Trumps from doing business in New York.
Trump was slapped Tuesday with a partial gag order by Judge Arthur Engoron, who issued a stern warning to the former president after he posted on Truth Social slamming the judge's principal law clerk.
He had posted a photo of her with Senator Charles Schumer, suggesting she was his girlfriend and that it was inappropriate for her to be in the courtroom. The judge ordered the former president to delete the post, adding that personal attacks on members of the court staff are unacceptable.
The trial could last into December, Engoron said.
(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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