Trump braces for verdict in blockbuster New York fraud trial: Live – The Independent

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New York attorney general Letitia James seeking $370m in financial penalties and a ban on Republican presidential candidate doing business in his home town
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Fani Willis accuses prosecution of ‘lying’ in bid to remove her from Trump case
Judge Arthur Engoron is expected to deliver a verdict in Donald Trump’s New York civil fraud trial on Friday that could see the former president hit with millions of dollars in fines and sanctions.
The justice has already ruled that Mr Trump inflated his wealth on financial statements that were given to banks and insurers to make deals and secure favourable loans.
New York attorney general Letitia James is seeking $370m and a ban on the defendant and his fellow Trump Organization executives from doing business in the state.
On Thursday, another Big Apple justice, Judge Juan Merchan, denied Mr Trump’s motion to dismiss the case brought against him by Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg for allegedly falsifying business records to conceal a “hush money” payment made to porn star Stormy Daniels, setting a trial date of 25 March.
And in Georgia, Fulton County district attorney Fani Willis took to the witness stand to defend herself and former boyfriend Nathan Wade against a motion arguing they should be disqualified from prosecuting the sprawling racketeering case brought against Mr Trump and others over their alleged effort to interfere in the 2020 election in the Peach State.
Here’s a quick look at the potential consequences of what promises to be another very expensive day in court for the defendant.
Republican front-runner beset with legal problems and facing an expensive week
The purpose of calling Mr Barnes is to show that Mr Wade was not Ms Willis’s first choice to lead the Trump investigation and therefore she had no plans to profit from hiring her friend.
Mr Barnes knows Mr Wade well and indicated he wasn’t surprised when he was appointed to the role.
“Nathan can organise stuff, I’ve watched him over the years.”
Attorney Steve Sadow asked Mr Barnes about his experience as a lawyer, presumably as a way of highlighting Mr Wade’s relative lack of experience.
Mr Barnes explained he turned down the role because of security concerns.
“I’d lived with bodyguards for four years and I didn’t like it,” he said, referring to his time as governor.
“I wasn’t going to live with bodyguards for the rest of my life.”
He also added: “I have mouths to feed at a law office and that I could not, I would not do that.”
Court is now resuming in Fulton County, and with Mr Bradley still apparently absent, the DA’s team is calling a witness to keep things moving.
On the witness stand now is former Governor of Georgia Roy Barnes (in office 1998-2003). He was Fani Willis’s first choice to lead the investigation into the Trump-led Georgia election subversion case.
Just a reminder that we are still waiting on Judge Arthur Engoron’s verdict in the Trump Organization civil fraud case, which is expected to be published later today.
Alex Woodward reported on the trial from the New York State Supreme Court in Lower Manhattan:
His legal challenges are central to his campaign, but a fraud lawsuit that could blow up his decades-long narrative of success is as personal as it gets, Alex Woodward reports from the Manhattan courtroom
While we wait for proceedings to restart in Fulton County, here’s everything we learned yesterday in court:
‘You are mischaracterizing my testimony greatly,’ Ms Willis, the Fulton County District Attorney, told the defence attorney in a heated testimony
Anna Bower of Lawfare explains: “In a filing, Mike Roman’s counsel, Ashleigh Merchant, said that she expected Bradley to refute a key claim made by Willis and Wade: That their relationship did not begin until after he was appointed as special prosecutor.”
As we await the verdict in Trump’s New York case today, here’s Oliver O’Connell on what the affair has revealed about the former president’s real estate empire.
New York attorney general investigated 23 Trump properties and assets in case against former president
Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner revealed this week that he has no intention of serving in a second administration should his wife’s father beat Joe Biden in November, insisting he is committed to his business ventures instead.
“Nothing in my life has gone according to the plans I’ve set, and that’s been the only consistent thing,” Kushner told an Axios event in Miami, stressing that he’s “very clear” about his preference for focusing on his private equity firm “at this phase” in his life.
Kushner was a senior adviser in his father-in-law’s administration but transitioned to the financial sector after leaving the White House in January 2021, founding a Florida investment firm called Affinity Partners.
Preferring family life “out of the spotlight”, Kushner insisted he is committed to “my investors, to my firm, to my employees, to my partners, and that’s what I’m planning to do.”
On Trump’s prospects, he said, “I think that the team around him is maybe the best he’s had,” adding that a second administration would have a greater “level of competence and professionalism” than last time.
Jared Kushner
Judge Scott McAfee has called a recess while the court waits for witness Terrence Bradley to arrive.
Mr Bradley was Nathan Wade’s former law partner and was briefly on the stand yesterday. There is some debate as to whether he can testify due to attorney-client privilege.
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Donald Trump
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