(New York) Donald Trump’s lawyers were thwarted Thursday in their attempt to immediately end the civil fraud trial in New York that threatens the former president’s real estate empire.
Judge Arthur Engoron did not rule on their request, but indicated that the trial would continue as scheduled on Monday with the return of Donald Trump Jr to the stand as the first defense witness.
Donald Trump’s lawyers had asked Mr. Engoron to shorten the trial and return a verdict exonerating their client, his company and his top executives, including Trump Jr.
They made the request midway through New York Attorney General Letitia James’ trial, arguing that the state had failed to prove its case. Mme James alleges that Donald Trump and other defendants misled banks, insurers and others by inflating his wealth on financial statements.
Judge Engoron said the defense arguments seeking what is known as a directed verdict had been “taken under advisement”. He took no further action when he returned to court Thursday afternoon to rule on another matter.
In that ruling, Mr. Engoron handed Mr. Trump’s lawyers a victory, allowing them to call several expert witnesses to try to rebut testimony that Mr. Trump’s financial statements offered him better loan terms, better insurance premiums and were a factor in reaching deals.
The judge, who has ruled against Mr. Trump in the past, has expressed interest in seeing the trial through to its conclusion, asking defense lawyers about witness schedules and setting closing arguments closer to Christmas .
“No victim, no complainant, no damage”
In seeking to short-circuit the case, Mr. Trump’s lawyer, Christopher Kise, argued that the state’s lawyers had failed to meet “any legal standard” to prove the conspiracy, wire fraud and fraud allegations. insurance and falsification of commercial records.
“There are no victims. There are no complainants. There is no damage. All this is now established by the evidence,” argued Mr.e Kiss.
State’s attorney Kevin Wallace responded that there was no reason to end the trial, saying the evidence was “more than sufficient to continue to the final verdict.”
Donald Trump, on the stand Monday, denied any wrongdoing and said lenders were “extremely happy” to do business with him. Rather, he testified, his financial statements understated his wealth and the value of assets such as his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
Me Kise implored Judge Engoron to give special weight to Mr. Trump’s testimony, citing the ex-president’s decades of experience as a real estate developer. Speaking of real estate, “if my choices were Donald Trump or Attorney General James, respectfully, I would go with Donald Trump,” Mr.e Kiss.
Acquittal of Trump sons demanded
Defense lawyer Clifford Robert urged the judge to dismiss the claims against Mr. Trump’s older sons, Eric and Donald Trump Jr. The lawyer argued that the state’s lawyers failed to prove that the sons, whom Mr. Trump had appointed to run his company when he arrived at the White House in 2017, worked on the ex-president’s financial statements.
The sons, who signed some documents evidencing their father’s resources, said they trusted accountants and lawyers to ensure the documents were accurate. Me Robert said they “acted appropriately” in doing so.
Me Wallace countered that Mr. Trump and his sons each signed documents claiming they were responsible for the preparation and fair presentation of the financial statements, which Engoron has previously found to be false and misleading.
Thursday’s arguments came a day after Mr. Trump’s daughter, Ivanka Trump, testified as the state’s final witness. She had fought in vain for a summons to appear.
Also on Thursday, Mr. Trump’s lawyers renewed their call to suspend the trial at least until the appeals court makes a final decision on Engoron’s fraud finding. In court documents, they wrote that the judge showed a “blatant and open disregard for the integrity of the process” and was causing “increasing irreparable harm” to the defendants.
The state rested its arguments Wednesday after six weeks of testimony from more than two dozen witnesses. Mme James is seeking what she says is more than 300 million in ill-gotten gains and a ban on the defendants doing business in New York.