NEW YORK – A judge warned Donald Trump and others in his civil fraud trial in New York to keep their voices down Wednesday after the former president raised his hands in frustration and spoke loudly to his lawyers as a witness testified in his against.
Judge Arthur Engoron issued the warning after Trump had a tough conversation with his lawyers at the defense table during real estate appraiser Doug Larson’s second day of testimony at the Manhattan trial.
State’s Attorney Kevin Wallace asked Engoron to ask the defense to “stop making comments during the witness testimony,” adding that the “exhortations” were audible on the witnesses’ side of the room. Then, the judge asked everyone to lower their voices, “especially if it is intended to influence the testimony.”
The 2024 Republican front-runner was in court for the second straight day Wednesday, watching the trial that threatens to upend his real estate empire and his image as a wealthy businessman. He attended the first three days, but did not attend last week. On Tuesday, he emerged during an afternoon break to give a deposition in an unrelated trial.
In a pretrial decision last month, Engoron ruled that Trump and his company, the Trump Organization, committed years of fraud by overstating the values of his assets and net worth in annual financial statements used to make deals and obtain better terms. in loans and insurance.
As punishment, Engoron ordered a court-appointed receiver to take control of some Trump companies, casting doubt on future oversight of Trump Tower and other major properties, but an appeals court has blocked it for now.
The former first lady has stayed out of public appearances, even in the midst of her husband’s election campaign and the charges against him.
Trump did not discuss the case on his way to court in front of television cameras on Wednesday, saving his usual vitriol about New York Attorney General Letitia James’ lawsuit for a morning break.
Inside the courtroom, which is closed to cameras, Trump became irritated as Larson testified. Trump’s lawyers sought to undermine the state’s claims that its top corporate representatives played games to inflate their property values and boost their bottom lines.
In a series of questions, Trump lawyer Lazaro Fields sought to establish that Larson had, at one point, exceeded the projected 2015 value of a Trump-owned Wall Street office building by $114 million. Larson said that “the values weren’t wrong; it’s what we knew at the time.”
Trump raised his hands during the exchange.
On Tuesday, Larson testified that she never consulted or gave permission to former Trump Organization comptroller Jeffrey McConney to subpoena him as an outside expert on the valuation spreadsheets he used to create Trump’s financial statements.
Fields on Wednesday accused Larson of lying, pointing to a decade-old email exchange between McConney and the appraiser.
That sparked anger between the defense and the state parties, with Trump attorney Christopher Kise suggesting Larson might be at risk of committing perjury and needed advice on her rights against self-incrimination. State’s Attorney Colleen Faherty called Kise’s comments “witness intimidation.”
After Larson was escorted out of the courtroom, Kise insisted he was trying to protect the rights of witnesses, while state attorney Kevin Wallace complained that the defense was putting on “a performance” for the media. In the end, Engoron allowed Larson to return and answer the question without legal notice. Larson said he did not remember the email.
Asked again if he understood McConney had asked for his input in making assessments, a weary Larson said, “That’s what it sounds like.”
Trump criticized that exchange during a court recess.
“Do you see what happened? The government lied. They just lie. “They didn’t reveal all the information they had,” Trump said. “They didn’t reveal all the evidence that made me totally not guilty of everything they say.”
After Larson, state attorneys called Jack Weisselberg, son of former Trump Organization chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg. The son arranged financing for Trump while he was an executive at Ladder Capital.
Trump’s civil suit involves six claims in James’ lawsuit that were not resolved in Engoron’s pretrial ruling, including allegations of conspiracy, insurance fraud and falsification of business records. Engoron will decide the case, not a jury, because state law does not allow it in these types of lawsuits.
Wednesday’s fight was just the latest confrontation between Engoron and Trump.
After Trump defamed a key court employee on social media on the second day of the trial, the judge, a Democrat, issued a limited gag order barring parties to the case from defaming members of their staff. Last year, Engoron charged Trump with contempt and fined him $110,000 for being slow to respond to a subpoena from James’ office.
Trump said outside court Tuesday that he had come to like and respect Engoron, but that he believed Democrats were “pushing him around like a billiard ball.” “It’s a very unfair situation they put me in,” Trump said.
2023-10-18 23:33:02
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