Aggrieved and defiant, former President Donald Trump sat through hours of sometimes testy opening statements Monday in a fraud lawsuit that could cost him control of Trump Tower and other prized properties.
“Disgraceful trial,” he declared during a lunch break, after listening to lawyers for New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat, excoriate him as a habitual liar. The state’s lawsuit accuses the business-mogul-turned-politician and his company of deceiving banks, insurers, and others by misstating his wealth in financial statements.
“They were lying year after year after year,” Kevin Wallace, a lawyer in James’ office, said as Trump sat at the defense table. He looked straight ahead, arms crossed, facing away from a screen that showed details of Wallace’s presentation.
Defense lawyers, in response, said the financial statements were legitimate. Trump’s holdings are “Mona Lisa properties” that can command top dollar, attorney Alina Habba said.
“That is not fraud. That is real estate,” she said, accusing the attorney general’s office of “setting a very dangerous precedent for all business owners in the state of New York.”
Trump voluntarily attended a trial that he called a “sham,” a “scam” and “a continuation of the single greatest witch hunt of all time.” Currently the Republican front-runner in the 2024 presidential race, he reiterated claims that James, a Democrat, is trying to thwart his return to the White House.
“What we have here is an attempt to hurt me in an election,” he said outside court, adding: “I don’t think the people of this country are going to stand for it.”
Judge Arthur Engoron ruled last week that Trump committed fraud in his business dealings. If upheld on appeal, the ruling could force Trump to give up New York properties including Trump Tower, a Wall Street office building, golf courses, and a suburban estate. Trump has called it a “a corporate death penalty” and insisted the judge is unfair and out to get him.
This trial concerns six remaining claims in the lawsuit, including allegations of conspiracy, falsifying business records, and insurance fraud. It is a non-jury trial, which Engoron said was legally required when a suit seeks not only money but a court order setting out something a defendant must do or not do.
James is seeking $250 million in penalties and a ban on Trump doing business in the state of New York.
“No matter how powerful you are, and no matter how much money you think you have, no one is above the law,” she said on her way into the courthouse.
Trump denies wrongdoing. He says that James and the judge are undervaluing such assets as his Palm Beach, Florida, resort, Mar-a-Lago, and that it didn’t matter what he put on his financial statements because they had a disclaimer that says they shouldn’t be trusted.
The former president and a who’s who of people in his orbit — his two eldest sons, Trump Organization executives, and lawyer-turned-foe Michael Cohen — are all listed among dozens of potential witnesses.
Trump isn’t expected to testify for several weeks. His trip to court Monday marked a remarkable departure from his past practice.
This time, “I wanted to watch this witch hunt myself,” he said outside court.
Trump lawyer Christopher Kise said defense experts will testify that assigning values to properties is, by nature, a matter of opinion.
“There is no such thing as objective valuation,” Kise said in an opening statement.
And any discrepancies in values don’t amount to fraud and disclaimers on the financial statements made clear that these were estimates and that banks would have to perform their own analysis, Trump’s lawyers said.
Trump and his lawyers have also argued that no one was harmed by anything in the financial statements. Banks that made loans to him were fully repaid. Business partners made money. And Trump’s own company flourished.
Kise blasted last week’s fraud ruling, telling the judge he shouldn’t have made a decision before hearing expert trial testimony on property valuations.
James’ lawsuit is one of several legal headaches for Trump as he campaigns to return to the White House. He has been indicted four times since March.
The New York fraud trial is expected to last into December, Engoron said.
The Horn editorial team and the Associated Press contributed to this article