Donald Trump’s lawyer attacked the New York case that imperils his business empire as “a manufactured claim to pursue a political agenda”, as the court heard the closing arguments on Thursday in a civil fraud trial that has already impugned the former president’s reputation for financial prowess.
Christopher Kise, a lawyer for Mr Trump, told the court that the New York state attorney general’s case relied on “press releases and posturing” rather than evidence of wrongdoing. Those efforts, he said, could put a man who had been a part “of the fabric of the commercial real estate industry in this city and state for 50 years essentially out of business”.
“For what?” Mr Kise added. “Nothing.”
Mr Trump had at one point threatened to deliver part of the closing argument himself, promising further theatrics in a legal proceeding that he has managed to repurpose as a raucous campaign spectacle. He abandoned the idea after the judge, Arthur Engoron, imposed limits on what he could say. But the former president was present in court on Thursday, seated by his lawyers at the defence table.
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The trial, which began in early October, stems from a lawsuit filed by New York attorney general Letitia James claiming that Mr Trump committed fraud by overstating the value of his properties – from a Manhattan penthouse to golf courses and office buildings – by more than $2 billion. In doing so, he was able to secure bank loans and insurance on advantageous terms, Ms James alleged.
Judge Engoron has already concluded that Mr Trump committed fraud. The trial is to determine the penalties, which are potentially dire. Ms James is seeking $370 million (€337 million) in damages, as well as sanctions that would prevent Mr Trump and his adult sons from doing business in New York.
“Before this trial began, the court ruled in our favour and found that Donald Trump engaged in years of significant financial fraud and unjustly enriched himself and his family,” Ms James said in a statement on Thursday. “Throughout this trial, we revealed the full scale and scope of that fraud.”
The former president’s lawyers have indicated they are almost certain to appeal against the final judgment.
“It’s an unconstitutional witch hunt,” Mr Trump told reporters outside of the courtroom on Thursday morning. “It’s a very unfair trial.”
In a nearly two-hour summation, Mr Kise argued that valuing real estate was an inexact science, given to wide latitude and interpretation. In any case, Mr Trump had relied on “multimillion-dollar accountants”, Mr Kise said, and his chief lender, Deutsche Bank, had performed its own due diligence. The bank, he noted, regarded Mr Trump as a “whale” of a client and had never complained or suffered harm.
“There’s no party complaining or alleging any fraud,” Mr Kise said, calling the potential $370 million fine “absurdly disproportionate”.
Judge Engoron, who will determine the verdict, interrupted Mr Kise on a few occasions. In a troubling sign for the defence, he disputed the notion that a third party had to suffer harm for a defendant to be forced to pay back ill-gotten gains.
“There has to be evidence [of fraud], but there does not have to be evidence of harm to any third party,” the judge said, to Mr Kise’s apparent consternation.
The civil trial is but one of many legal fronts on which the former president is battling. He also faces criminal charges in Georgia and Washington related to his conduct after the 2020 election that threaten possible prison time. Yet the New York trial has been unique in that it has featured turns in the witness chair by Mr Trump and three of his adult children, Donald Jr, Eric and Ivanka.
While their styles differed – from a testy Eric to a sardonic Don Jr – the Trumps were uniform in insisting that they had followed the advice of their accountants. In any case, the Trump Organization had repaid all of the loans in question in full and on time. As such, no one had been victimised, they contended.
In a brief appearance on the witness stand in early November, the former president alternated between being aggrieved and full of rage. “It’s a terrible thing you’ve done. You know nothing about me!” he fumed at Judge Engoron at one point, wagging his finger. The judge, in turn, repeatedly pleaded with Mr Trump’s attorneys to restrain him.
It is Mr Trump’s second courtroom appearance in a week, after he attended a hearing before a federal appeals court in Washington over whether he can use presidential immunity to dismiss a federal criminal case over the 2020 election.
His legal schedule is heating up just as the Republican presidential primary prepares to kick off next week with the Iowa caucus. Despite his legal woes Mr Trump remains the frontrunner to secure his party’s nomination. – Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2024