NEW YORK, NEW YORK - OCTOBER 3: Former U.S. President Donald Trump appears in the courtroom with his lawyers for his civil fraud trial at New York State Supreme Court on October 03, 2023 in New York City. Former President Trump may be forced to sell off his properties after Justice Arthur Engoron canceled his business certificates and ruled that he committed fraud for years while building his real estate empire after being sued by Attorney General Letitia James, who is seeking $250 million in damages. The trial will determine how much he and his companies will be penalized for the fraud. (Photo by Shannon Stapleton-Pool/Getty Images)
On Monday, former President Donald Trump spent four hours on the witness stand, where he repeatedly lost his temper and attacked the judge.
Trump consistently disregarded the judge’s instructions to provide concise and straightforward answers to questions and instead relied on his campaign-style attacks.
In a critical pretrial decision, the judge concluded that Trump had systematically exaggerated his assets on financial documents to secure advantageous terms from banks and insurers.
The case is a so-called “bench trial,” so Justice Arthur Engoron will determine the penalties that Trump and his company will face without the help of a jury.
Trump’s main defense, as publicly stated from the beginning of the trial and reiterated many times throughout his testimony, claims that his financial statements included “very, very powerful” disclaimers and were not intended for the use of banks or insurers.
Trump launched into several unprompted monologues about the disclaimers until Engoron eventually stopped him.
“We’re not going to hear about the disclaimer clause,” the judge said. “If you want to hear about the disclaimer clause, read my opinion again — or for the first time, perhaps.”
Trump replied, “You’re wrong in your opinion.”
Less than an hour into Trump’s turn on the witness stand, Engoron told Trump’s lawyer, Chris Kise: “I beseech you to control him if you can… If you can’t, I will… I will excuse him and draw every negative inference that I can.”
Engoron told Kise, “This is not a political rally. This is a courtroom.”
Trump’s lawyers did nothing but praise the ex-president.
Kise called Trump’s answers “brilliant” and “great.”
He referred to Trump as the “former and soon-to-be chief executive of the United States.”
As Trump left court, Kise applauded his performance and told reporters, “In 33 years, I’ve never had a witness testify better.”
This was the second time Trump has taken the stand in the trial, now a month old. He testified for several minutes in late October about out-of-court statements about the court clerk, Allison Greenfield. This resulted in the judge issuing the second of two fines for violation of the gag order.
From the witness stand, Trump told Engoron, “It’s a terrible thing you’ve done. You know nothing about me.”
Last week, Donald Trump Jr. testified that he knew nothing about basic accounting despite being the company’s top officer.
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