Trump makes courtroom appearance as New York civil fraud trial nears finish line

Former President Donald Trump appeared in Manhattan on Thursday to watch one of the last witnesses in his civil fraud case testify on his behalf, marking one of the handful of occasions the former president has made in-person appearances for the weekslong trial.

Trump, who himself is scheduled to testify as the final witness in the case on Monday, railed against New York Attorney General Letitia James outside the courtroom, calling her an unfair “lunatic” and predicting she would rule against him.

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“She knows that she has a judge that no matter all the evidence, that judge is going to rule in her favor. … He ruled against me before the case even started. He knew nothing, and he ruled against me,” Trump said.

James has accused Trump, his two adult sons, and two Trump Organization executives of conspiring to inflate Trump’s net worth grossly over several years to obtain more favorable loans.

Judge Arthur Engoron found Trump liable in a pretrial ruling for most of James’s claims, and the trial is weighing more narrow outstanding portions of her charges against him and assessing whether she will be awarded damages. She is seeking $250 million and aiming to strip Trump and the Trump Organization from doing any business in her state.

As part of his pretrial ruling, Engoron ordered the process of Trump losing his business certificates to begin. However, Trump appealed the decision, and James agreed to halt action on Trump’s business activity until after the trial has concluded and Engoron has issued final rulings on the case.

In a small victory on Thursday, an appeals court upheld a request from Trump that action against his businesses be temporarily paused.

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Trump appeared on Thursday to watch New York University accounting professor Eli Bartov testify.

Bartov, who earned his CPA in Israel and has an extensive academic history, testified that some of James’s accusations against Trump “really border on the absurd,” according to the Messenger.