The proof part of the New York civil trial in opposition to former President Donald Trump and his enterprise concluded Wednesday with state Attorney General Letitia James boasting that she proved her fraud case in opposition to the 2024 Republican front-runner, whereas the protection mentioned it was trying ahead to an attraction.
Judge Arthur Engoron scheduled closing arguments for Jan. 11 and plans to rule within the case someday that month — a call which can collide with the beginning of the GOP presidential primaries in Iowa, New Hampshire and different states.
“In a strange way, I’m going to miss this trial,” Judge Engoron mused aloud Wednesday earlier than the final hours of testimony, which have been about accounting requirements.
Ms. James asserts that Mr. Trump and his actual property enterprise repeatedly submitted fraudulent monetary statements to achieve favorable phrases on loans and insurance coverage. The protection rested its case Tuesday and the state offered a short rebuttal on Wednesday.
“We rested our case against Donald Trump for years of financial fraud. The judge already found that Trump engaged in significant fraud and unjustly enriched himself and his family,” Ms. James wrote on the X platform. “This trial revealed the complete extent of that fraud, and Trump‘s inability to disprove it.”
While Judge Engoron ruled some fraud occurred, the long-running trial centered on remaining claims and damages.
The trial began in early October and featured testimony from Mr. Trump, his two eldest sons, Trump lawyer-turned-accuser Michael Cohen and a long list of experts on real estate, accounting and property valuations.
Ms. James is seeking more than $300 million and wants to stop the Trump family from doing business in New York.
Mr. Trump on Wednesday continued to rail against Ms. James and Judge Engoron as biased, and dismissed the idea he might settle the lawsuit before the judge enters a final ruling.
“HE RULED THAT I WAS A FRAUD BEFORE HE EVEN SAW THE CASE, THEN TRIED TO GET ME TO SETTLE. A TOTAL HIT JOB,” Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social Wednesday, referring to the judge.
Mr. Trump says the lawsuit was designed to thwart his 2024 presidential campaign. He is leading the rest of the GOP primary field by 40 to 50 points in most polls.
Mr. Trump says Ms. James and her lawyers do not understand basic real estate practices, and that banks were happy to work with him.
“They’ve bought nothing apart from a corrupt Attorney General, who ran on, ‘I will get TRUMP,’ and a Trump Hating Radical Left Judge, who could also be loopy,” Mr. Trump wrote on social media.
The ex-president’s legal professionals don’t anticipate to achieve success when Judge Engoron makes his ruling.
Mr. Trump‘s legal professional, Chris Kise, informed reporters on the courthouse they’re assured Mr. Trump will likely be profitable on attraction, based on ABC News.
Trump lawyer Alina Habba mentioned the protection “did an amazing job in a court where we had, frankly, lost before we even got to give any bit of evidence.”
• This story is predicated partly on wire service reviews.
