Attorneys for former President Donald Trump and New York Attorney General Letitia James will make their final pitches Thursday in a trial examining allegations Trump overstated his wealth by billions of dollars.
Their closing arguments will mark the conclusion of a 2 1/2-month trial, which began in October and wrapped up in mid-December after dozens of witnesses appeared to testify in the case.
James filed a proposal last week in which she indicated the trial had reinforced her initial charges against Trump, his two adult sons, and two Trump Organization executives, and she raised her damages request by more than a hundred million dollars, to $370 million plus interest.
“The conclusion that defendants intended to defraud when preparing and certifying Trump’s SFCs [statements of financial condition] is inescapable; the myriad deceptive schemes they employed to inflate asset values and conceal facts were so outrageous that they belie innocent explanation,” James wrote.
She accused the defendants of exaggerating the value of some of Trump’s most prized assets, such as the Trump Tower in Manhattan, to secure more favorable loans and other financial benefits.
Judge Arthur Engoron, who is overseeing the case, ruled partly in favor of James in a pre-trial opinion, finding Donald Trump, his sons Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., and Trump Organization executives Allen Weisselberg and Jeffrey McConney liable for “persistent and repeated” business fraud. He determined Trump should be stripped of his business licenses in New York.
Trump is appealing the decision, which is paused while the appeal remains pending.
“One of the Great Miscarriages of Justice in the History of our Country!” Trump said of the case in a statement this week.
Trump, the leading GOP presidential contender, has also described this and other legal cases he is defending himself in as forms of election interference.
“I took a Loan, I paid it back, it was PERFECT, and New York now wants to charge me $370,000,000. ELECTION INTERFERENCE—WITCH HUNT!” Trump wrote.
The trial was intended to assess a more narrow set of claims made by James, as well as determine the full scope of penalties.
In addition to damages, James has asked Engoron to impose lifetime bans on Trump, Weisselberg, and McConney participating in the real estate industry in New York or running any business there. She has asked for five-year real estate bans on Trump’s two sons.
Engoron is expected to make a decision in the coming weeks.
The trial saw blockbuster moments, including Trump testifying as a combative witness, lobbing criticisms at James and Engoron while being questioned on the stand under oath.
Engoron also imposed a narrow gag order during the trial, prohibiting Trump from speaking about Engoron’s staff in the case after Trump publicly attacked his principal law clerk.
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Trump had initially sought to deliver his own closing statement, but after a contentious back-and-forth between Engoron and Trump’s attorneys over the scope of his statement, Engoron came to an abrupt decision to quash the idea.
“Is anyone surprised anymore?” Trump attorney Alina Habba said in a statement of the decision.