#Trump’s #Trial in #NewYork #Civil #Fraud Case Begins
The trial is scheduled to last until the end of Dec but is expected to end sooner.
Trump arrived in the courtroom & strode past AG #LetitiaJames, seated in the first row, w/o making eye contact & immediately took a seat at the defense table.
While pool photographers took his picture at the defense table, looking solemn, in camera-ready way, Judge #Engoron looked amused.
Pool photographers were allowed in the #court room for a few minutes to take #Trump’s photo. Reporter Susanne Craig (whose Pulitzer winning NYT articles exposed the extent of Trump’s #tax #fraud) is in the overflow room of the courthouse watching a live feed, which has a camera trained on Trump & his legal team. As soon as the cameras were in front of Trump, he clenched his jaw & cocked his head up & to the side. His face looked like the mug shot that resulted after his arrest in Atlanta.
Kevin Wallace, a #lawyer for the AG, will deliver his side’s opening . Wallace has led the AG’s case from the beginning & has been the central lawyer at most of these proceedings, often clashing w/lawyers for #Trump.
Wallace, answers the question that everyone has asked since #Engoron ruled Trump #liable for #fraud: What remains for the AG’s office to prove? His team, he says, “will establish that the defendants engaged in repeated, persistent #illegal acts in the conduct of business.”
Which acts? The #falsification of #business #records & a #conspiracy to make those #false entries. The issuing of false #financial statements, & a conspiracy to issue those statements. And finally, #InsuranceFraud & the conspiracy to commit #insurance #fraud.
Before the proceedings began, a group of #demonstrators gathered outside the courthouse, carrying signs that read “No one is above the #law” & chanting, “#Trump #lies all the time.”
“We are here to uphold #democracy & make sure that it works,” said Jamie Bauer, 64.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/10/02/trump-fraud-trial-ny-2/
Jonah Bromwich NYT:
As I write these posts about “generally accepted accounting principles” & “materiality” it occurs to me that this opening statement is already deep in the #legal & #financial weeds where most of this #trial will take place. Were this a #jury trial, we might be getting a glossier, more exciting… opening statement. But perhaps because #Engoron is the arbiter of fact here, #Wallace seems to feel no qualms about a far more detailed, less flashy presentation.
Shayna Jacobs WaPo:
Wallace, #lawyer for the AG has a PowerPoint presentation going through its case, which Donald #Trump can see on a monitor in front of him.
The presentation played a portion of Trump son Eric’s videotaped #deposition from March 7, in which he told investigators he doesn’t remember signing any statements of #financial condition.
From last week’s #SummaryJudgement ruling on the #fact that #Trump is #liable for committing #fraud:
"Exacerbating defendants' obstreperous conduct is their continued reliance on bogus arguments, in papers & oral argument... That is a fantasy world, not the real world."
- JUDGE ARTHUR #ENGORON
#NY Supreme Court; 1st Judicial District
🔥🔥🔥
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23991862-engoron-decision-and-order-september-26
My thread last week on #Engoron’s #SummaryJudgement:
Woo Hoo! #Trump is found #liable for #fraud in #NewYork #civil case A #NY #judge ruled Donald Trump is liable for fraud for #exaggerating his #NetWorth by #billions of dollars a year on #financial #records submitted to #banks & #insurers, a major #victory for the state’s AG #TishJames before a high-stakes #civil #trial over remaining claims in the case. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-09-26/trump-found-liable-for-fraud-in-ny-attorney-general-s-case
Cohen’s testimony at a congressional hearing spurred James to open the investigation.
#Cohen is also a key #witness in 1 of Trump’s #criminal cases.
#Trump stared intently at the screen while the Cohen video played. Arms folded, shaking his head.
As James's case proceeded from investigative to #lawsuit, the public focused on particular assets’ inflated values. Wallace argued, to advance his case regarding the #conspiracy, the #assets were vehicles by which Trump burnished his overall net worth.
Wallace explained how the #financial statements were used. He tells a story of #Trump meeting w/a potential #lender, & the company sending an email afterward w/the statement attached & a note: “Hope you will be impressed.”
Wallace has moved on to why the #defendants concocted this #conspiracy. He argues that beyond just a place on the #ForbesBillionaireList, the defendants knew a high net worth was necessary to maintain #financial benefits, such as securing a #loan at a lower rate.
#Wallace, the attorney general's lawyer, is noting that the defendants received remarkably #favorable #InterestRates on the #loans for which they used the statements, & that they gained more than $250 million. The attorney general is asking the court to assess #Trump a penalty of that amount.
Wallace concludes, saying that while it may be one thing to exaggerate for #Forbes Magazine & a #television audience, “you cannot do it while conducting #business in the State of #NewYork.”
Christopher #Kise delivered the opening statement for #Trump. Kise had not really engaged directly w/the arguments about the specific #valuations made by the AG’s office.
As Kise began his opening statement, Trump appeared bored, yawning & fidgeting in his seat
Kise did not diverge from the party line, or his previous, unsuccessful arguments, at least so far.
#Kise used a slideshow. The first item noted that #Trump made “many billions of dollars being right about real estate investments” & the second stated that Trump’s is one of the most successful & highly recognized brands in the world.
Kise attacked #MichaelCohen as a serial liar, & says that the govt’s case hinges on him.
Kise didn’t provide any #evidence to support the claim that “Trump made billions in real estate” & didn’t mention the hundreds of millions #Trump #inherited from his father, Fred C. Trump, or the fortune he made from "#TheApprentice" #television show.
“President Trump did not make any false statements,” Kise read from a slide. He said that the AG’s estimates are speculative, which matters as they would determine the size of any #penalty #Trump would pay.
Kise made a potentially important distinction: He said the banks set the #loan terms based on their own due diligence, rather than the statements of #financial condition.
He concluded his opening argument & said bluntly that he disagrees w/ 1 of the judge’s rulings, & plans to #appeal it.
#Kise previewed some of the people who defense lawyers intend to call to testify on #Trump’s behalf, incl’g several #ExpertWitnesses on #valuation methods & people involved in #loan decisions. These are just a few of the 127 witnesses who were included on their witness list submitted last week.
Witness list reads like a #TrumpFamily (& company) reunion.
After the break, #Trump lawyer #AlinaHabba made an opening statement. She said she was not expecting to speak today until she saw comments from the AG & Kevin Wallace, the lawyer who delivered the state's opening.
Habba has a sense of showmanship & her opening was combative, & meant to appeal primarily to #Trump, not necessarily the judge.
#Habba’s presentation is pure #politics. She attacked the #press corps, & called #Trump the “sitting president.” She didn’t diverge at all from the substance of #Kise’s arguments, but spoke far louder & as if she were addressing a jury, or a television camera.
“These #lenders made money. They made money,” she said. “They were not #defrauded.”
#Trump was very engaged as #Habba made her presentation. She said his golf course in Doral, FL, & Mar-a-Lago estate would both sell for more than $1 billion, repeating the #FalseValuations Trump listed on the docs he submitted to the banks.
Trump seemed pleased w/her presentation. He watched her intently, occasionally nodding in agreement.
“There was no intent to defraud, period, the end,” Habba says. She said that the AG is setting a dangerous precedent for #business owners in NY.
#Habba was done, but Judge #Engoron kept her at the lectern, saying he wanted to go over some of the things that she said. He corrected her, saying that she referred to Wallace’s opening statement as “testimony,” which is incorrect. He scolded her for bringing up James’s motivations, saying the issue has been dealt w/by an appeals court.
AG #LetitiaJames was still in the courtroom & appeared to be listening intently to Habba’s attacks on her & her case.
#Engoron corrected #Habba again — she referred incorrectly to his #SummaryJudgment order as a “motion.” And he reminded her that the financial statements were meant to reflect the #estimated current value of the properties AT THE TIME they were assembled. Habba said she won’t reveal her arguments to her “adversaries” right now, but that she is confident in them.
Habba promised to “bore everyone at this room at length for three months.”
After #Habba was the opening statement, from #CliffordRobert, #lawyer for #EricTrump & #DonaldTrumpJr.
“Eric Trump & Donald Trump Jr. are not walking away from the statements of #financial condition,” Robert said. But, he argued, evidence will show there was nothing materially wrong w/the statements.
Justice #Engoron asked whether it was his position that there were no #misstatements in the financial statements. Robert insisted that there were no “#material” misstatements.
#AlinaHabba & #CliffRobert have vastly different litigation styles than the lawyers from the AG’s office. Both are presenting their case as if they are speaking to an invisible jury. Robert, in particular, used repetitive hand movements & looked around the courtroom as he spoke.
Habba is grossly incompetent but she needs only to please Trump to be defrauded herself.
"“There was no intent to defraud, period, the end,” Habba says. She said that the AG is setting a dangerous precedent for #business owners in NY"
Why do I think that
"This is high-end commercial real estate and high-end commercial real estate financing and we all lie and we all know we lie."
is not quite the defense that #Trump and #Habba and #Kise all seem to think it is?
Uuu, #DeutscheBank, the bank of the Putin connection.
Business World Columnist Holman Jenkins Jr. on an investigation into the German bank’s ties to Russian businessmen. Photo credit: Associated Press.
Nonilex
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Antonio Páez 🇲🇽🇨🇦
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