Business Fraud Trial of Donald Trump in New York Advances After Contentious Opening Day

Following an intense initial day marked by opening statements, legal representatives in Donald Trump’s business fraud trial in New York are set to proceed on Tuesday with the painstaking process of examining multiple years of his financial records. This exercise is anticipated to extend over several weeks and aims to establish whether these documents serve as evidence of fraudulent activity.

A financial accountant, long responsible for preparing Trump’s financial statements, is slated to return to the witness stand for further questioning on the second day of the trial.

Having spent the entirety of Monday visibly irate while observing the civil proceedings, Donald Trump has not ruled out making a second appearance in court. In between court sessions, Trump criticized both the presiding judge and New York’s Attorney General Letitia James, who initiated the lawsuit. He indicated that while he might return for another day in court, he would prefer to focus on political campaigning.

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The ongoing trial marks the peak of a lawsuit led by Attorney General Letitia James, a member of the Democratic Party, who alleges that Trump systematically misled financial institutions, insurers, and other parties over a number of years by presenting falsified asset valuations.

Judge Arthur Engoron has already awarded an initial legal triumph to James, declaring that Trump committed fraud by inflating the valuation of his Trump Tower penthouse, falsely claiming that his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida was valued at upwards of $739 million, and assigning exaggerated values to other assets such as office buildings and golf courses.

There are six outstanding charges in the non-jury trial, focused on determining the magnitude of penalties that may be levied against Trump. Attorney General James is pursuing financial restitution amounting to $250 million, along with an injunction against Trump conducting business within the state of New York. Several of Trump’s limited liability companies have already been ordered dissolved by the judge as a form of punitive action.

On the trial’s inaugural day, Kevin Wallace, counsel for the Attorney General, asserted to Judge Engoron that Trump and his enterprises had consistently provided deceitful financial statements to enhance the appearance of his wealth. In response, Trump’s legal team argued that the financial statements were bona fide assessments of unique, luxury properties, their worth amplified due to their association with Trump. “This does not constitute fraud but rather is reflective of the real estate market,” stated attorney Alina Habba.

After refraining from attending a prior trial where his company and a senior executive were convicted of tax fraud, Trump was present for the opening arguments of this trial. He made multiple public appearances to denounce the proceedings as a politically motivated attempt to undermine his electoral chances. He exited the courtroom claiming a personal win, pointing to certain judicial comments he interpreted as sympathetic to his defense’s argument that most allegations were outdated due to the state’s statute of limitations.

Following extensive testimony from Mazars LLP partner Donald Bender about Trump’s 2011 financial statement, Judge Engoron expressed skepticism regarding its relevance, as any fraudulent elements would be time-barred. Wallace pledged to correlate this with a newer loan contract, but Trump saw the judge’s comments as a favorable turn of events for his case.

Donald Bender is expected to continue his testimony on Tuesday, and the trial is projected to run through December.

Contributions to this report were made by Big Big News journalists Jill Colvin, Jake Offenhartz, and Karen Matthews.

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More about business fraud trial

• Business Fraud Trial Overview
• Attorney General Letitia James Profile
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• New York State Statute of Limitations on Fraud
• Understanding Business Fraud Lawsuits
• Judge Arthur Engoron’s Legal History