Former US president Donald Trump has said the civil fraud case brought by authorities in New York, which could threaten his ability to continue to operate his businesses there, should be dismissed immediately.
Speaking after a day of giving evidence on oath in the case, Mr Trump described the legal action as “a scam”. He said the case should never have been brought.
New York attorney general Letitia James said after the hearing on Monday that the “numbers don’t lie”. She said the evidence was that Mr Trump had falsely inflated the value of his assets to “enrich himself and his family”.
“I will not be bullied. I will not be harassed. This case will go on,” she said.
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Ms James said Mr Trump’s daughter Ivanka would give evidence on Wednesday.
In his testimony the former president denied that he had deceived banks and insurance companies by inflating the value of his properties and assets to secure better deals on loans. “I’m worth billions of dollars more than the financial statements,” he told the court.
During his time on the stand on Monday, Mr Trump repeatedly hit out at Ms James, who brought the legal action against his company, as well as the judge who is hearing the case. He called Ms James “a political hack”.
The former president sought to play down the importance of the estimates setting out how much his properties were worth – although he accepted that some were not accurate. “I would look at them. I would see them. Maybe on occasion I would have some suggestions,” he told Kevin Wallace, a lawyer for the New York attorney general, about his involvement in their preparation.
He said for banks and lenders the documents were “almost valueless” because they carried a legal disclaimer that indicated they should not be relied upon.
Mr Trump also argued that his brand was worth significantly more than the values set out in the reports. He insisted that banks had not lost any money.
Overall the former president gave evidence for about four hours. His answers to questions were interspersed with comments about the fairness of the case and about the attorney general and the judge.
The proceedings got off to a contentious start on with judge Arthur Engoron telling Mr Trump to keep his answers concise. The judge told him: “This is not a political rally”.
Authorities in New York have contended that Mr Trump and his family inflated the value of his assets to secure better terms from banks and insurance companies. The judge has ruled that Mr Trump had fraudulently misvalued his properties for a number of years and revoked his licence to operate in New York – a ruling that has been appealed.
The current case, which is in its sixth week, will determine how much more Mr Trump should be penalised. New York’s attorney general is asking that the judge impose a $250 million penalty, and that the former president be permanently barred from running a business in the state.
Mr Trump said he had maintained a net worth of $2.5 billion and more than $50 million in cash as part of a loan deal with Deutsche Bank. He told the court in New York on Monday that he had “a lot of cash for a long time”.
He confirmed that the Trump Organisation paid the balance of a $45 million loan from Deutsche Bank for the company’s Chicago hotel project just last week.
