October 4, 2023 - Trump civil fraud trial continues in New York

The courtroom appeared less tense Wednesday afternoon after the former President Donald Trump departed the courthouse and flew back to Florida.

It was also noticeably less full. 

Tension filled the courtroom earlier in the day as Trump’s lawyers squared off in a heated debate with Judge Arthur Engoron over the tedious questioning style of Trump attorney Jesus Suarez, who methodically questioned the former president’s long-time accountant Donald Bender about his yearly financial statements for the company.

Suarez argued he had to go through all the years because “It’s important” to their case.

At one point, Engoron pounded the bench, exclaiming, “This is ridiculous. This is ridiculous,” scolding Trump’s attorney for the repetitive questioning the had already ordered Suarez to stop.

“You’re not going to get away with this,” Engoron said looking straight at Suarez.

Trump sat with his arms crossed during these exchanges, often shaking his head “No” in reaction to the judge.

“All I’m asking is that you lump things together so that we don’t waste time.” “Let’s not waste time I’m just being logical here,” the judge said.

Suarez peppered Bender, reviewing asset after asset, and asking him to confirm the accountant had ample time yet still found no issues with each line item of the spreadsheets — an attempt to attack Bender’s credibility.

Bender repeatedly confirmed he found no issues and maintained that his duty was only to compile the statements, not check the underlying data for truthfulness.

After the lunch break, Bender’s testimony was paused, allowing for the second witness to take the stand for the attorney general’s office.

Camron Harris, an audit partner for Whitley Penn, testified for about 90 minutes about his firm’s work for the Trump organization in 2021.

Whitley Penn compiled statements of financial condition for Donald Trump’s revocable trust for his time in office, along with the Trump Organization entities. 

Assistant Attorney General Sherief Gaber reviewed disclaimers in the Whitley Penn engagement letter and statements signed by Trump’s sons, acknowledging that Whitley Penn as the accountant is not responsible for verifying any information shared by the Trump Organization.  

Harris said the firm’s job was to format the data appropriately, a similar response to Bender’s testimony about compiling statements of financial condition. 

The accounting firm expressed in disclaimers that the Trump Organization is responsible for the accuracy of the supporting data in the financial statements. 

Harris said he dealt with Eric Trump, who was president of the Trump Organization at the time, but also said he never spoke to Eric Trump specifically about the statements.

The attorney general’s lawyer showed a transcript excerpt from a deposition with Harris.

Trump attorney Clifford Robert interrupted and asked Gaber to read a question he had skipped over, which asked, “Did you have any meeting with either Don Jr. or Eric with respect to the SOFCs?” “Not specifically. Not specifically in relation to the SOCFs—yeah statement of condition,” Harris answered in the transcript.  

During this exchange, Trump attorneys and Eric Trump who was in the courtroom nodded along and Trump’s son looked back at the press in the galley.  

Trump’s attorneys did not cross-examine Harris but reserved the right to call him during the defense case.

When Bender resumed cross-examination late in the afternoon, Suarez seemed to pare down his questioning enough to avoid any further admonishment from the judge. 

Bender is expected to continue cross-examination Thursday morning, his fourth day on the stand. Trump Organization controller Jeffrey McConney may also testify Thursday.

Appearing outside the courtroom where former President Donald Trump has railed against her for three days, New York Attorney General Letitia James fought back, calling Trump’s attendance a “political stunt.”

She addressed his multiple comments, saying they were void of facts or evidence.

Trump was not required to attend the $250 million civil fraud trial against him, his eldest sons, their companies and Trump Organization executives, but was in court for the first three days.

“Mr. Trump’s comments were offensive, they were baseless,” James said, adding the case was brought “simply because it was a case where individuals engaged in a pattern and practice of fraud.”

Trump called James, Judge Arthur Engoron, and the trial “corrupt” multiple times. He also accused James of targeting him in a “witch hunt.”

At one point, Trump referred to James as a political animal.

“You borrow money, you pay it back and you get sued by a political animal,” Trump said earlier Wednesday morning.

James said his comments appealed to the bottom of our humanity.

“What they were, were comments that unfortunately fomented violence. Comments that I would describe as race-baiting,” James said.

As she left for the courtroom, James said she is confident that justice will be served.

Former President Donald Trump gestures while talking to the media during a break as he attends trial in a civil fraud case on Wednesday in New York.

Donald Trump resumed his attacks on Wednesday on Judge Arthur Engoron, who is overseeing the former president’s civil fraud case in New York.

The attack comes one day after the judge ordered Trump not to make any public comments about his staff.

“The judge already knows what he’s going to do, he’s a Democrat judge,” Trump said as he left the courthouse for a lunch break.

Trump also continued his attacks on New York Attorney General Letitia James, as he has done nearly every time he’s gone in or out of the courtroom this week.

Trump is not required to attend the civil trial, but was in court the first three days.

Trump left the courthouse during the lunch break and is on his way to the airport to return to his Florida residence, Mar-a-Lago, a source said. 

On his way out of the building, Trump complained that he had been “stuck” at court because of James and the “fake case” against him.

“I’d rather be right now in Iowa. I’d rather be in New Hampshire or South Carolina or Ohio or a lot of other places,” Trump said. “But I’m stuck here because I have a corrupt attorney general that communicates with the DOJ in Washington to keep me nice and busy, because I’m leading (Joe) Biden in the polls by a lot.”

Former President Donald Trump looks on during a break at a Manhattan courthouse in New York on Wednesday.

Former President Donald Trump’s lawyers on Wednesday filed a notice of appeal to a New York appellate court after Judge Arthur Engoron ruled last week that Trump and his co-defendants were liable for “persistent and repeated” fraud.

The appeal has been fully expected from Trump’s lawyers.

Engoron, who issued last week’s ruling, noted in court yesterday that the trial that began this week was not intended to litigate the rulings he had already made, but to focus on the other claims in the New York attorney general’s lawsuit.

As Donald Trump scrambles to defend his business empire in court, the former president has suffered another blow: dropping off The Forbes 400 list of the richest Americans.

Trump’s net worth tumbled by 19%, or $600 million, to an estimated $2.6 billion total. That left him $300 million shy of the Forbes cutoff when the magazine unveiled the list Tuesday.

That means that for the second time in three years, Trump did not make the cut for the annual rankings that he’s long seemed obsessed with and has even been accused of conning his way onto in the past.

The drop in Trump’s net worth was driven by two central factors: Both his social media platform and office buildings have lost value, according to Forbes.

Read more about this here.

Former President Donald Trump is planning to head straight to the airport once the court breaks for lunch, a source familiar with his plans told CNN. 

The lunch break is scheduled for around 1 p.m. ET.

Trump is expected to fly to Mar-a-Lago and remain in Florida until he flies to Iowa for his campaign stops on Saturday.

The former president is voluntarily attending the trial for the third day Wednesday — even after Judge Arthur Engoron rebuked the former president for attacking his clerk in a social media post and in comments outside his court room. 

Judge Arthur Engoron sits on the bench in the courtroom before the start of a civil business fraud trial against the Trump Organization on Wednesday in New York.

Judge Arthur Engoron, who is overseeing the civil case in New York against Donald Trump, reminded the former president’s lawyers Wednesday that they aren’t making their case to a jury during the cross-examination of a former accountant for Trump.

Trump visibly reacted, throwing his arms up in the air in response to the judge’s comments. 

Trump has complained repeatedly – including as he walked into court on Wednesday – that the state law New York Attorney General Letitia James used to sue him and his business for $250 million does not allow for a jury trial. In this trial, Engoron will decide whether Trump and his co-defendants are liable and what punishment they would face if so. He ruled last week that Trump and his co-defendants had committed fraud, one of seven claims the attorney general is seeking. 

On Wednesday, during cross-examination of former Mazars accountant Donald Bender, Trump attorney Jesus Suarez tried to attack Bender’s credibility by showing that he had previously said that someone else was the lead partner on the Trump account, but the engagement documents presented in court only show his name as the Mazars partner on the Trump’s account.

Engoron stepped in an and said that there is no jury in this case, and that he didn’t think it matters who was the lead partner.

In jury trials lawyers are given leeway to raise questions about the credibility of witnesses by showing other evidence that could contradict what they’re saying; In this case, the judge is the only one to decide the witness credibility and the case.

Trump threw his hands up in the air, in response, shaking his head “no” with his arms crossed. 

As the cross-examination continued, Trump once again threw his hands in the air and pointed at his ear, frustrated that it was difficult to hear Bender speak. Another Trump attorney, Alina Habba, asked Bender to speak up.

Former President Donald Trump sits in the courtroom before the start of his civil business fraud trial on Wednesday in New York.

Former President Donald Trump attacked New York Attorney Letitia James again, along with the statute of the law used to sue him, on his way into the third day of his civil fraud trial Wednesday.

“She brought this case under this statue that had never been used for a thing like this before — ever, where I am not entitled to a jury,” Trump told reporters in the hallway before entering the courtroom. “Because if I had a jury, even though it’s in New York — and I think I can do fine in New York — but if I had a jury, I would win this case very easily. But I don’t have a jury.”

He called James “incompetent” and said she was going after him after “a failed run for governor.”

James has been in court attending the trial, but it is unclear if she heard Trump’s comments in the hallway.

Trump added that his financial statements were “perfect,” that there was no fraud and the banks “love us.”

“I borrowed the money and I paid back the money in full. 100%,” he said.

However, the law says it is no defense that the loans were paid back. The claim still holds since the judge already found Trump and his organization committed fraud by misrepresenting his finances to get better terms on the loans.

Donald Bender steps out of the courtroom on Tuesday, October 3, in New York.

Former President Donald Trump’s attorney Jesus Suarez is set to resume on Wednesday with his cross-examination of former Mazars accountant Donald Bender about his accountability as the longtime CPA for the Trump Organization and the former president. 

On Tuesday afternoon, Suarez peppered Bender with questions to establish the accountant’s knowledge of the inner workings of Trump’s business and how frequently he gave advice on business matters to the Trump Organization for decades. 

Bender said he occasionally reviewed loan agreements for the Trump Organization and did audit work for some Trump entities that owned properties over the years, including ones that are at issue in this case.

Suarez repeatedly asked Bender to acknowledge that the Trump Organization relied on him as its primary accountant.

Bender said his only duty was to compile the information given by the Trump Organization when it came to the statements of financial condition that the attorney general says were fraudulently created by the Trump Organization. 

Bender also testified that Trump Organization executives, including Allen Weisselberg and Donald Trump Jr., should have understood that property appraisals should’ve been included in the supporting data shared with Mazars to compile the statements of financial condition each year.

He also testified he did not see an error in the Trump Organization data misstating the square footage of Trump’s triplex apartment in Trump Tower.

“I missed it,” he said. 

Suarez reacted to that testimony saying Trump, his sons and their companies are going through “hell” in litigation over errors like the Trump Tower triplex square footage and its asset valuation because Bender didn’t catch it years ago. 

Bender pushed back that he did not “screw it up” as Suarez accused, and was only required to compile the statements of financial condition not check them for accuracy.

And said the Trumps are in this litigation, “because they misrepresented the numbers on the data.”

The Trump Tower triplex apartment was one of the properties highlighted in the lawsuit. It was listed at approximately 30,000 square feet in financial statements but, in reality, is around 11,000 square feet.

New York Attorney General Letitia James arrives at court on Wednesday, October 4.

New York Attorney General Letitia James has arrived at court in downtown Manhattan for the third day of the civil fraud trial against former President Donald Trump and the Trump Organization. She did not make statements.