Donald Trump takes the oath before testifying in New York court this Monday. SHANNON STAPLETON (Portal)
Donald Trump returned to a New York court on Monday to testify in a civil fraud lawsuit that threatens to undermine the real estate empire that cemented his reputation before he entered politics. His brand image, that of the powerful self-made tycoon, was the springboard to the presidency in 2016. Like his two eldest sons, Donald Jr. and Eric, last week, the former president has already responded to accounting questions from Judge Arthur Engoron, who is investigating the case Fraud Explained: How the Trumps Inflated the Value of Multiple Properties to Get Benefits from Banks and Insurance Companies. According to New York Attorney General Letitia James, the fraud spanned a decade, between 2011 and 2021 (the final period coinciding with his stay in the White House), during which he exaggerated his wealth by $2.2 billion. [unos 2.047 millones de euros]and in return received benefits amounting to a hundred million.
Under oath, Trump denounced the “political war” that he said Democrats were targeting. Early in the morning, before heading to the Manhattan courthouse, he criticized Judge Engoron and District Attorney James on social media, claiming before entering the courtroom that the case was an attempt to undermine his 2024 presidential bid. “It’s a political war, as you would call it, or a political legal war,” he said as he entered the room. When he was on the witness stand, he repeated the argument made by his two sons that the irregularities were due to the outside accounting firm that prepared the reports and that in the specific case of the Mar-a-Lago property, part of it was theirs When she investigated, she thought, “I was very undervalued, but I didn’t do anything about it, I just let it happen.” The former president has stated that he generally felt his assets were undervalued in his financial reports.
The length of Trump’s answers angered Judge Engoron, who, when addressing one of the defense attorneys, reminded him that they were in a courtroom and not at a political rally. The judge has asked the lawyer to file a counterclaim against Trump to expedite his testimony.
The Trump Organization, which, like the former president, his two eldest sons and top company executives, is accused of fraud, the judge said, inflated the value of golf courses, residential towers and other assets at a time when many lenders had refused to do business to do with him. The Republican favorite to win the White House in 2024 has denied any wrongdoing.
Unlike the four criminal cases he is facing, in this civil case he does not face prison time, but he faces a $250 million fine, which prosecutor James is demanding, and, above all, damage to the business. the organization and even disqualified the Trumps from conducting any business in New York, their home state. The judge has already canceled the trading certificates of the companies that control much of their business, although that decision is on hold pending appeal. Former President Ivanka Trump’s daughter, who has not been charged, is scheduled to testify this Wednesday.
Trump has made a virtue of disappointment, exploiting every indictment or legal setback to raise funds for his campaign amid allegations that he is being persecuted because of his political views. Prosecutor James is a Democrat, as is Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who in April handed her the first indictment in the Stormy Daniels case (allegedly paying bribes to a porn actress to silence an extramarital affair), so Trump is presenting himself Supporters as victims of a political witch hunt. At the start of the trial on October 2, he called New York Democrats “corrupt tyrants.”
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It appears that victimhood is serving him well, both in his campaign fundraising and voting intentions: The Republican is leading the polls in five of the six key states that will decide the presidency in 2024. Biden is leading in just one of the six crucial states, according to a poll released Sunday.
Evidence presented so far in the civil trial has shown that company executives, including the two eldest sons, manipulated the estimated value of iconic family properties such as the Mar-a-Lago mansion in Florida, which the indictment is linked to withholding classified information from the White House in January 2021. A key witness, the tycoon’s former lawyer and manager Michael Cohen, testified that Trump directed him to falsify financial reports to increase his net worth. In fact, the investigation began precisely after Cohen testified before Congress in 2019 that Trump and his associates had manipulated his assets to suit their interests.
Prosecutor James developed the case and detailed the Trump Organization’s pattern of inflating the value of the company’s real estate in documents filed with lenders, insurers and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). In September 2022, James’ office rejected a settlement offer from Trump’s lawyers. Days later, she filed a lawsuit against him and his company, accusing them of a wide-ranging scheme of deceptive business practices. The trial began on October 2 after a New York appeals court rejected the former president’s delaying maneuvers. The decision came after the judge overseeing the case concluded that Trump persistently committed fraud by inflating the value of his assets and deprived him of control of some of his famous New York properties, including the Trump Tower, the symbol of his empire.
Trump’s anger was evident at all times, and his angry reactions in court, where he disqualified the judge’s assistants, earned him a $15,000 fine for twice violating a confidentiality agreement that prevented him from telling court staff criticize. During his rallies and on social media, he has also derided his legal opponents as “racist” and “deranged.” Although his presence in court was not required until this Monday, he has already appeared several times with obvious gestures of contempt, using the television on the doors of the Justice Building to denounce the political persecution that he claims to be the cause of. Judge Engoron extended the gag order to the family’s lawyers on Friday.
Trump’s busy court schedule threatens to distract him from the campaign for much of next year. The trial in New York State Supreme Court in Lower Manhattan was scheduled to last until early December but could end sooner if the state calls its final witnesses to testify this week. It is unclear how many witnesses the defense will call. Trump’s appearance this Monday is the 24th in the order of testimony.
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