Donald Trump clashes with judge during civil fraud trial

Donald Trump, former president of the United States, is battling a civil fraud trial that threatens his real estate empire.

The $250 million lawsuit brought by Letitia James, the city’s attorney general, alleges that Trump and his co-defendants committed repeated fraud in inflating assets on financial statements to get better terms on commercial real estate loans and insurance policies.

The other defendants include the former president’s eldest sons, their companies and some Trump organisation executives.

According to the lawsuit, Trump inflated his net worth by as much as $3.6 billion in three separate years between 2011 and 2021.

The petition seeks a ban on the Trumps from serving as officers of a business in New York and to stop the company from engaging in business transactions for five years.

In a ruling on Monday, Arthur Engoron, the presiding judge, found Trump and his adult sons liable for fraud and cancelled the Trump organisation’s business certification.

However, Trump condemned the ruling in a statement and accused Engoron of “doing the bidding” of Democrats.

“It is a great company that has been slandered and maligned by this politically motivated Witch Hunt,” Trump said in the statement.

“It is very unfair, and I call for help from the highest Courts in New York State, or the Federal System, to intercede. THIS IS NOT AMERICA.”

Earlier in court while giving his testimony, Trump’s commentary on the witness stand led to multiple admonishments from the judge who repeatedly told the former president not to make speeches and just answer questions.

Trump, however, paid little attention to the judge’s instructions and continued to give lengthy speeches about the value of his properties and the perceived unfairness of the case.

The former president told the judge that he would have added brand value to his financial statements if he wanted to “build” them up.

“If I wanted to build up the statement, like you said I did before you found out just how rich we are, I would’ve added brand value here and I would’ve increased it by tens of millions of dollars,” Trump said in reference to his statements of financial conditions.

“Mr. Wallace, did you ask for an essay on brand values?” Engoron asked the New York attorney general lawyer.

Although Trump’s tone was mostly calm, he mostly spoke on why his properties are worth more than what they were listed for in the statements.

“We are here to hear him answer questions and most of the time he’s not,” Engoron said impatiently.

Although the trial is not a criminal case, losing it could result in a $250 million fine, a ban on Trump doing business in his home state, and losing control of iconic properties like Trump Tower.

Trump, who is seeking re-election next year, is also facing four criminal prosecutions, including cases in Georgia and Washington DC in which he is accused of seeking to overturn his 2020 election defeat.