Day 1 – Trump In Court For Fraud

Donald Trump has appeared in court in Lower Manhattan for his New York civil fraud trial where a judge will determine what penalties he will face over his fraudulent business activities.

The former president took to Truth Social on Sunday night to attack both New York Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron and New York Attorney General Letitia James ahead of his appearance.

The trial began 10-15 minutes late on Monday morning after Mr Trump stopped to give extensive remarks in the hall outside the courtroom. He baselessly claimed that the trial was a “scam and a sham” while further attacking the judge and Ms James. Proceedings are not being televised.

Judge Engoron last week found that the former president, his adult sons Donald Jr and Eric, his companies and executives, all overvalued the assets of their company for years to gain favorable loans and insurance.

Meanwhile, the House of Representatives and Senate voted overwhelmingly to pass a funding resolution and keep the federal government open on Saturday after Speaker Kevin McCarthy ended his attempts to work with far-right hardliners and instead cut a deal with Democrats.

Court resumes after break with Trump team arguing Mar-a-Lago worth $1bn

Alina Habba, a lawyer who has represented Trump, arrives at a Manhattan courthouse on 2 October 2023

(REUTERS)
Trump lawyer Alina Habba is now addressing the court.

“We are attacking a sitting president and two of his children and his employees for a [statement of financial condition] that is frankly worth less than what they are worth,” she told the judge.

She also condemned the valuation of Mar-a-Lago at $18m and accused the attorney general of conflating a tax assessment and a property’s market value. She said defendants will have “experts” show that the value of the former president’s resort property is well over $1bn.

“The value is the value, and the value of anything … is what someone is willing to pay,” she said. “The Trump properties are Mona Lisa properties. … That is not fraud. That is real estate.”

Trump is glued to watching her speak at a lectern on the right side of the courtroom, the opposite side of where the defence is.

8 hours ago
Courtroom packed for first day of trial

Mr Kise said bank officer testimony in the trial will prove that Mr Trump was “overqualified” to receive favourable loans, rejecting arguments from the attorney general that he said show “somehow the defendants received access on terms they otherwise could not have obtained.”

Mr Trump’s “net worth far exceeded the minimum required” to receive those benefits, according to Mr Kise.

In a closing remark from Team Trump’s opening statement, Mr Kise claimed the allegations show no evidence of fraud, no victims, and that “evidence will demonstrate … that the attorney general has no case.”

8 hours ago
Trump defence continued…
Trump lawyer Christopher Kise is arguing essentially that the statements of financial condition at the centre of the case are “materially accurate”, adding that there is a “wide latitude” to value assets, not just appraisals and that disagreements with those statements do not establish fraud.

On the use of the disclaimers that Mr Trump has defended (and which the judge rejected in his ruling), Mr Kise argued that the valuations are not “intentional defrauding”.

“It’s simply the opinion of the owner of the property, and it’s up to [financial institutions] to do their own due diligence,” he said.

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