Trump civil fraud trial in New York will last nearly three months, judge says
The judge presiding over the case announced Friday that the trial would run nearly three months in Letitia James' $250 million civil fraud action against former President Donald Trump, his family, and his company.
The case claims that Donald Trump, his children Don Jr. and Eric Trump, and the Trump Organization had been for years inflating their worth to the tune of billions of dollars in financial statements to banks and insurers. Judge Arthur Engoron wrote in an order laying out scheduling and administrative plans for the case, "The trial is scheduled to begin on October 2, 2023, and to end by December 22, 2023."
According to James, the false representations made it possible for them to obtain loans and transactions to which they were not entitled.
The Manhattan trial will be a bench trial, which means that there won't be a jury and the judge will determine the case. Five days a week, according to Engoron, he will hear the case.
The judge stated that the Trumps will have two hours for their opening statement, while James' office will have 90 minutes.
According to Trump, the lawsuit is part of a partisan "witch hunt" against him, and he has denied any wrongdoing.
The Trumps' attorneys said there was no fraud in a court filing on Friday. There are no casualties. Much of the case, they claimed, should be dismissed because "despite the NYAG's politically charged insults and accusations, President Trump (and all of the Defendants) have a great case focused on a phenomenal corporate empire worth billions of dollars more than the NYAG has falsely claimed, very little debt, significant cash and liquidity, powerful disclaimer clauses, paid off loans, and banks extremely pleased with highly profitable loan transactions."
James' office claimed otherwise in a court statement last month, asserting that Trump had exaggerated his wealth by between $812 million and $2.2 billion annually.
The AG's office stated the "extent of Defendants' deception is far greater" than previously believed in a new filing on Friday. According to the petition, an assessment of Trump's financial data by accounting professionals revealed that his "net worth is overstated by billions more."
After taking into account several real-world factors for potential, knowledgeable purchasers and sellers of assets similar to his, they discovered that his net worth should have decreased by $1.9 billion to $3.6 billion every year.
In retaliation, Trump's lawyer, Alina Habba, issued a statement that read, "As we will prove at trial, the Attorney General's case is severely flawed and her calculations are entirely inaccurate."
James filed the lawsuit in September of last year, alleging over 200 instances of fraud over ten years and actions by Trump that "wildly exaggerated his net worth by billions of dollars."
The lawsuit asks for additional penalties, such as a five-year ban on the former president and his company making any commercial real estate acquisitions in the state, in addition to $250 million in monetary damages. Members of the Trump family would also be permanently barred from acting as officers of New York-based businesses, among other things.
Trump might testify in the case, but that is not certain. Final witness lists should be ready in the coming weeks. Earlier this year, the AG's office temporarily removed the former president for eight hours.
In the coming year, Trump will face numerous other legal challenges, including two more New York trials. In addition to facing trial in Manhattan criminal court in March on allegations of falsifying business records in connection with his role in hush money payments toward the end of his 2016 presidential campaign, writer E. Jean Carroll is scheduled to face a defamation lawsuit brought against him in Manhattan federal court in January. He has entered a not guilty plea in the matter.
