Former President Donald Trump returned to his fraud trial in New York for a third day this Wednesday after clashing with the judge by disparaging a court official on social media.
The lawsuit from New York Attorney General Letitia James accuses Trump and his company of inflating his wealth in statements sent to banks, insurance companies and others.
With accountant Donald Bender on the witness stand, state attorneys sought to show that Trump and others at his company had complete control over the preparation of the financial statements.
Bender testified Tuesday that the Trump Organization did not always provide all the information needed to produce the documents.
Trump, who plans to testify later, denies any wrongdoing and his defense today continued to blame Bender for any flaws in the statements.
Attorney Jesus M. Suarez noted that the accounting firm told clients it may need help from experts to value assets such as works of art, jewelry and some types of securities in closely held businesses and real estate.
Suarez later showed video of pre-trial testimony in which Bender said he did not remember whether he consulted experts in preparing Trump’s financial statements.
Earlier, during questioning, Bender acknowledged Tuesday that he had missed a change in information about the size of the former president’s Trump Tower apartment.
The lawyer described it as a big mistake and told the accountant that Trump’s company and employees were “going through hell” because he lost the information.
Bender responded that it was a mistake by the Trump Organization that was never understood.
Trial is “a disgrace,” Trump says
Trump, the Republican front-runner in the 2024 presidential race, is voluntarily taking time off the campaign trail to attend the trial.
Judge Arthur Engoron has already ruled that Trump committed fraud by inflating the value of valuable assets and that the decision, if upheld on appeal, could cost the former president control of his skyscraper and some other properties.
Trump today branded James as incompetent, portraying her as part of a broader Democratic effort to weaken his 2024 prospects and calling the process “a disgrace.”
Trump has regularly vented about the trial in the hallways of the courtroom and on social media, James and Engoron, also a Democrat.
But after Trump attacked Engoron’s top legal assistant on social media on Tuesday, the judge imposed a limited silence order, ordering all participants in the trial not to launch personal attacks on court officials.
The judge told Trump to remove the “derogatory, false and personally identifiable post,” and the former president deleted it.
Source: DN
