UPDATED 1:11 P.M.
NEW YORK (Reuters) – A judge overseeing Donald Trump’s civil fraud trial pounded his fists in frustration with the former U.S. president’s lawyers on Wednesday for what he described as redundant and “ridiculous” cross-examination of a witness.
The heated exchange occurred on the third day of trial in a lawsuit by the New York attorney general’s office that threatens to dismantle Trump’s business empire over allegations that he inflated his net worth by billions of dollars to secure better loan and insurance terms.
On Tuesday, Justice Arthur Engoron imposed a gag order on public statements about court staff after Trump took to social media to lash out at the judge’s top law clerk.
Trump, the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, has denied wrongdoing and said the case is part of a political witch hunt.
Engoron alone will decide the outcome of the trial. There is no jury. He has already disciplined Trump’s lawyers for making what he said were “frivolous” arguments.
“This is ridiculous,” Engoron said on Wednesday as one of Trump’s lawyers repeatedly asked his onetime accountant the same questions for each year at issue in the case.
“All I’m asking is that you lump things together so we do not waste time,” Engoron said.
Trump, present in court for the third straight day, has repeatedly attacked New York Attorney General Letitia James and Engoron in remarks to reporters outside the courtroom, calling them “corrupt” and decrying the case as a “fraud and a sham.”
“He already knows what he’s going to do,” Trump said of Engoron on Wednesday.
Engoron ruled last week that Trump, his two adult sons and 10 of his companies committed fraud by inflating the value of their assets. The judge canceled the business certificates for companies controlling jewels of Trump’s portfolio, including Trump Tower and 40 Wall Street in Manhattan. He said would appoint receivers to oversee the dissolution of those entities.
Trump’s lawyers appealed the decision on Wednesday.
The trial, which is expected to run through mid-December, largely concerns damages.
James, a Democrat, is seeking at least $250 million in fines, a permanent ban against Trump and his sons Donald Jr. and Eric from running businesses in New York, and a five-year commercial real estate ban against Trump and the Trump Organization.
Trump also faces four criminal indictments over his attempts to overturn Democrat Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential election victory, his handling of classified documents after he left the White House, and hush money paid to a porn star. Trump has denied wrongdoing and pleaded not guilty in all of the cases. He also faces a January civil damages trial for defaming a writer who accused him of rape, which he denies.
(Reporting by Jack Queen; editing by Grant McCool)
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UPDATED 11:47 A.M.
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Donald Trump on Wednesday appealed a New York judge’s ruling that he and his family business fraudulently inflated the value of several properties and his net worth by as much as $2.2 billion.
The appeal to the Appellate Division, a mid-level appeals court in Manhattan, comes as a civil trial in the case brought by Letitia James, New York’s attorney general, got under way on Monday to determine the remaining claims and penalties.
James is accusing Trump, three of his adult children and the Trump Organization of lying for a decade about asset values, in a “staggering fraud” designed to obtain better terms on bank loans and insurance.
On Sept. 26, Justice Arthur Engoron of the New York state court in Manhattan found “conclusive evidence” that Trump inflated his fortune.
The judge said Trump overvalued properties such as his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, his penthouse apartment in Manhattan’s Trump Tower, and various office buildings and golf courses.
Engoron also ordered the cancellation of certificates that let some of Trump’s businesses, including the Trump Organization, operate in New York.
James is seeking at least $250 million in damages.
She also wants Trump and his sons Donald Jr and Eric banned from running businesses in New York, as well as a five-year commercial real estate ban for Trump and the Trump Organization.
Trump is seeking the Republican presidential nomination for 2024 and has maintained a commanding lead in the race.
Following Engoron’s decision, Trump called accusations that he committed fraud “ridiculous and untrue” and labeled the judge “DERANGED.”
Trump has also pleaded not guilty to unrelated charges in four indictments accusing him of trying to overturn the 2020 presidential election, hoarding classified materials, and covering up hush money payments to a porn star.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel; Editing by Noeleen Walder and Daniel Wallis)
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NEW YORK – Former President Donald Trump was back in court in New York City Wednesday morning, as he faces allegations of business fraud.
New York Attorney General Letitia James has accused Trump of defrauding financial institutions and investors about his net work to get better loan rates and business deals.
Former President Trump claims the case is an effort to make him look bad in the presidential polls, according to Fox News.
“I’m leading Joe Biden by a lot, and that’s probably why this is all happening…not probably, definitely. They’re coordinating with Washington, 100-percent,” Trump said in the courtroom Wednesday morning.
Attorney General James is asking the court to impose a $250 million fine and ban Trump and his family from doing business in the state of New York.
A judge already ruled Trump committed fraud by exaggerating the size of his penthouse at Trump Tower, claiming his Mar-A-Lago Club in Florida was worth as much as $739 million and putting similar oversized values on his offices, golf courses and other assets.
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