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The judge overseeing former President Donald Trump’s civil trial in New York used another opportunity this week to issue a blistering attack on the former president.
In the case where New York Attorney General Letitia James accuses Trump of fraudulently inflating the value of his properties and assets in financial statements, Judge Arthur Engoron rejected the former president’s appeal for a directed ruling to exonerate him.
Around the end of January or the beginning of February, Engoron is expected to decide on the severity of the punishment for Trump, who has already ruled that the 45th president committed fraud while submitting financial statements for years.
The leader of the Republican presidential primary, Trump, has denied any wrongdoing and called the investigation a “witch hunt” with a political agenda to derail his 2024 campaign.
According to Newsweek, Trump could be subject to a fine of hundreds of millions of dollars, have his properties seized, or be barred from doing business in New York State.
Engorn disagreed with Trump’s request for the court to rule in his favor and pointed out several “fatal flaws” in the former president’s defense, including the data provided by Eli Bartov, a research professor at New York University’s Stern School of Business.
There is “no evidence whatsoever” that Trump or his family committed fraud with their financial statements, according to Bartov’s testimony in the New York court. After the fact, it came to light that Bartov received $877,500—or $1,350 per hour—for defending the former president.
Engoron stated, “Bartov is a tenured professor, but his testimony proves that some experts will say whatever you want them to say for a million or so dollars,” in response to Trump and his legal team’s assumption that the court would accept Bertov’s testimony as “true and accurate.”
Engoron continued by saying that Bartov had “lost all credibility” because he had “doggedly attempted to justify every misstatement” the ousted president had made during his testimony.
Judge Engoron exhibited more bizarre behavior during a previous court session, launching a mini tirade at the former president’s legal team.
Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron slammed a hand down on his table during a cross-examination of a witness after he grew annoyed at the line of questioning, according to the New York Post.
Trump’s lawyers were getting very technical with Mazars USA partner David Bender when Engoron exclaimed, “This is ridiculous!” after the president’s attorneys accused Bender of refusing to answer questions.
“Don’t waste time,” he added as Trump’s attorneys tried arguing that they had to go through their client’s records “year by year” with the witness.
Trump’s attorneys had already spent “part of Tuesday afternoon and all of Wednesday morning” parsing Bender’s testimony, The Post noted. When they advised that he would remain on the stand for the rest of the day, that’s when Engoron lost his temper.
“This is ridiculous!” he said, adding: “Mr. Bender isn’t on trial here.”
“We need to be allowed to parse the evidence,” Trump attorney Christopher Kise argued in response, according to The Post. “We didn’t bring this case.”
“We haven’t got one answer from him,” another Trump attorney, Alina Habba, added. “He has no memory as we sit here.”
At one point, Kise agreed “to streamline” the questioning, which led Engoron to respond, “Let’s not waste time.”
Engoron indicated that Trump’s legal team appeared to be employing courtroom theatrics designed to make an impact on a jury or possibly the media but that these tactics were not conducive to a bench trial where the judge alone would make the ultimate decision.
“There is no jury here,” he told the Trump team at least once, according to the report. He then asked: “Who are you talking to — me, the press or the audience?”
Engoron, Trump, and his legal team exchanged heated exchanges for over 10 weeks before the civil trial concluded on December 13 with the conclusion of testimony.
Closing arguments are scheduled to be held in early January in New York.
