34/ Okay, got Rubin back:

We are back from the break, and Trump is now being asked about the value of his partnership with Vornado Realty over two buildings, in which Trump held 30% of both assets.

Trump just testified, “I was a limited partner; I did not put up any money; I had no liability for what I owned.” He can’t help himself and is boasting about the structure of the deal in ways that are belied by the statement itself.

35/ Blow dryer works again. Hair dry, at my computer. What a morning. Ugh.

Rubin:

The Vornado valuation in 2014 was $816 million. Asked whether that was based on accurate information, Trump testifies, “I think so; I hope so.” He pauses and then says, “I think it’s low.”

36/ Klasfeld:

Trump concedes, while disclaiming responsibility for it:

“The number was too high. They lowered it after that.”

Trump:

"I thought it was too high. I don't know what's too high any more."

He claims that the number wasn't "too far off" when you add rooftop access.

37/ REMINDER: I can't even start to read all your replies after this hectic morning. I'll read later, 100s of them to catch up on. Patience.

Moving on.

Klasfeld:
Trump:

"They took 10,000 feet per floor, and they went times three. But they didn't take out elevator shafts and different things."

38/ Klasfeld:

AG's counsel moves on to Mar-a-Lago:

He shows Trump language describing it as an "exclusive private club."

Asked if that was true, Trump responds: "Yes."

(Whether it's a club or a residence is a key issue in the case.)

The financial statements also notes that Mar-a-Lago is wholly owned by a limited liability company.

39/ Klasfeld:

Asked whether he now believes Mar-a-Lago is worth $1.5 billion, Trump responds: "I think between a billion and a billion-five."🙄

Back to Rubin:

State attorney Kevin Wallace asks Trump about his involvement in the 2021 statement of financial condition. Trump says his focus at that time was on China and Russia and "keeping our country safe," 👉🏼drawing some laughs from the courtroom.👈🏼

Wallace reminds him he wasn't president in 2021. (Trump left office on Jan. 20, 2021.)

40/ Klasfeld:

NYAG's counsel confronts Trump with the deed stating that "the Club and Trump intend to forever extinguish their right to develop or use the Property for any purpose other than club use."

Trump parses: "'Intend' doesn’t mean we will do it."

(That remark may rank up there in the annals of presidential testimony with Clinton's: "It depends on what the definition of what 'is' is.)

41/ [Me: Trump "believes".... He "believes" people have a right to do lots of things... that are illegal/unethical. Nice try.]

Klasfeld:

Trump:

"I don't think so. It says 'intends.'"

If someone wanted to change it later, Trump says, "I believe they would have the right to do it."

42/ Rubin:

Wallace, state atty, handed Trump “deed of development rights” that bound Trump to leave MAL as private club. Trump said he intended to “forever extinguish” his rts to develop or use property for anything other than club use, but that doesn’t mean he couldn’t change his mind.

I would bet good $ that the counterparty to this deed of conservation & preservation easement, the Natl Trust for Historic Preservation, has a very diff position about the legally binding nature of this doc

43 Rubin:

As Wallace is recounting now, the deed prohibits the construction of new buildings as well as the renovation of the interior of the mansion in a way that would make it inhabitable as a single-family home.

44/ [Me: Trump uses that "bravado" excuse a lot, doesn't he? Psst. Doesn't work]

Klasfeld:

Trump is shown an interview of him saying that "the Mar-a-Lago Club is a great success. It will forever be a club."

He says he said it as "bravado," not "legal intent."

Asked if he got tax benefits from it being a club, Trump answers yes.

45/ orden:

Though Trump has offered some asides and long-winded answers during the post-break testimony, he has been sticking to responsive answers more than he did before the morning break. [Me: Someone yelled at him during break to STFU]

46/ NBC's Chloe Atkins:

BIG MOMENTS from Trump's testimony so far 👇

Kevin Wallace, a lawyer for the AG's office, asked Trump about the appointment and acceptance of trustees, and in response, he said, "You and every other Democrat … coming after me from 15 different sides … all haters."

47/ Rubin:

Tump insists nothing has to be done to convert MAL to a single-family home. He also recalls the “very large and beautiful” ballroom at Mar-a-Lago was built by him, notwithstanding the deed. “This property is more valuable with that building on it!” he testifies.

“I personally would never change it,” but if his children want to change it, for example, it would be their right, Trump says.

👉🏼Trump concedes👈🏼 that they pay less taxes because of Mar-a-Lago’s designation as a private club.

48/ REMINDER: There is some redundancy in my posts bc reporters have diff takes on same facts. Kthxbye.

Klasfeld:

Questioning turns to Trump's property in Aberdeen.

49/ Orden:

"Aberdeen is the oil capital of Europe, very rich..." Trump says, at which point, 👉🏼the judge interjects: "Irrelevant!"👈🏼

Trump adds softly, "It is." [Me: He always does this. Has to have the last word. His base loves it]

50/ Via Forbes' Chase Peterson-Withorn

"And different things" includes an entirely separate penthouse belonging to someone else. And, by the way, Trump is making it sound like he wasn't aware, but he spent two hours personally telling me his apartment was 33,000 square feet and took up all of the top 3 floors...

re: Trump:

"They took 10,000 feet per floor, and they went times three. But they didn't take out elevator shafts and different things."

51/ [Trump doing caricature of himself is perversely amusing]

Klasfeld:

Trump:

"Aberdeen is a very rich place. It's an incredible piece of land, and it may be the greatest golf course ever built."

52/ Klasfeld:

Justice Engoron tells the NYAG's counsel that he's following his lead, and if he wants to let the witness "ramble" on with "unresponsive" answers, he'll do that.

🤦🏻‍♀️Kise defends what he describes as Trump's "brilliant" response.🤦🏻‍♀️

[Me: Kise: "We're ALL Trump now! Weeeee!"]

[Me:Trump, doing his impression of Trump:]

Trump:

"I have a lot of money, a lot more money than you thought."

Orden: Trump: "I’m not a windmill person."

53/ Klasfeld:

Are you aware of any valuations on the statements of financial condition from 2017 through 2021?

Trump:

"I'm worth billions of dollars more than the financial statements" — and anything "off" would be "non-material."

(The judge rejected materiality arguments before trial.)

54/ [Me: So much for Trump getting more succinct after the break. Nope. We knew that could never last]

Klasfeld:

Trump returns to the "disclaimer clause" and "worthless statement clause," in a lengthy monologue — again, an issue decided against him before trial and brought up apropos of nothing.

55/ Rubin, next few posts:

Wallace has moved on to Trump properties abroad, specifically the Aberdeen development in Scotland. The supporting data spreadsheet presented by the attorney general's office reflects that the valuation as of June 30, 2014, had jumped by roughly $250 million over the prior year.

As of 2014, Trump affirms he had not yet built a second golf course; rather, he testifies, “l am building it now.”

56/ He digresses once again, declaring the Scotland property is "one of the greatest pieces of land I have ever seen."

Wallace refocuses Trump, forcing admissions that between 2013 and 2014, he did not build another golf course, hotel or even homes. Wallace states plainly, “I’m focused on how we got a $245 million increase between 2013 and 2014.”

57/ Wallace later returns to the statement of financial condition, which refers to 1,486 homes, only 500 of which are described as single-family homes. The state attorney asks Trump to confirm that the number in the "backup data does not match the number of homes in the statement of financial condition."

Trump suggests it’s like a painting; the land is there, but “you can do what you want to do.”

[Me: Huh?]

58/ Even worse, Wallace asked Trump to admit that in 2014, because of wind farms that had been put in, then-Trump Org. CFO Allen Weisselberg told Scottish regulators that they did not intend to develop the property further.

When asked as of today whether he has yet to build homes at Aberdeen, Trump doesn't say yes; instead, he says “there’s nothing wrong” with holding on to that piece of property.🤭

59/ Back to Klasfeld:

Trump, to the AG's counsel Kevin Wallace:

"People like you go around to try to demean me, and try to hurt me." 🎻 #victimhood

Wallace tells the judge he won't move to strike because he has a lot of ground to cover.

After Trump repeats his talking points about the disclaimer clause, Wallace tells him he already said that.

"I'm trying to make you understand it," Trump replies. [Me--Narrator: The prosecutors understand it all too well, Defendant Trump]

60/ Rubin for next few:

Wallace asks Trump if he stands by the valuations of all other assets in the 2014 statement of financial condition (aside from the Trump Tower triplex apartment.)

Trump deflects, insisting that it’s been a long time since he looked at them. He says that he is worth billions more than the AG thought. Any overvaluations would be non-material, Trump maintains, before also acknowledging he hasn’t looked.

61/ Trump returns to his pet issue: the “worthless statement” clause that disclaims responsibility & insists that anyone receiving it must do their own due diligence and analysis.

Trump: “If there was a mistake, it was non-material; but even if it was material, we have a disclaimer clause. I never got too involved w these statements bc that clause is on pg 1, as you well know; that’s why we shouldn’t be having a case here..." More...

62/ Trump contd: "That’s a clause every court in this country holds up except this particular judge.”

Wallace then asks whether it is Trump’s position that the statements were in fact “worthless,” which Trump also resists. “People like you try to demean me and hurt me,” he hurls at Wallace, and then he attacks AG James, too.

63/ Rubin, cont'd... Trump's playing to his base bigly here.

“I think she is a political hack; she used this case to try to become governor…. this is a disgrace. All you have to do is read the legal papers and the scholars. This is a political witch hunt, and I think you should be ashamed of herself.”

The question was solely about whether he agreed with the AG office's position that “the statements of financial condition were overstated."

64/ [Me: Wow... SO wanting headlines, SO wanting to distract from his guilt, SO playing to his violent base]

👉🏼Trump yells moments later that Engoron "ruled against me before he knew anything about me. He called me a fraud, and he didn’t know anything about me. ... The fraud is on the court; not on me."

Trump is equally furious about Wallace’s questions, which are exploring why Mar-a-Lago is assessed differently for tax purposes than it is valued in Trump’s statements of financial condition.

65/ Klasfeld:

Trump: "Every court in the United States has upheld it," referring to the disclaimer clause.

He invokes legal scholars who purportedly agree with him. "It's disgraceful," he says, referring to case.

Trump says of the NYAG: "I think that she's a political hack."

He says that the NYAG used this case to try to become the governor and to successfully become attorney general.

(Trump lost political motivation arguments before trial.)

66/ Klasfeld:

Habba objects: "Asked and answered."

Engoron: "No, it hasn't been asked and answered. It's been asked. It hasn't been answered."

Trump monologues on the disclaimer clause.

Judge: If you want to learn about the disclaimer clause, read my opinion — for the first time.

Trump: You’re wrong about the opinion.

Trump: "I think it’s fraudulent the decision. The fraud is on the court."

67/ Klasfeld for the next few:

Trump rails on about the "fraudulent" decision, claiming Engoron believed a political "hack" over him, referring to the NYAG.

Wallace: "Are you done?"

👉🏼Especially given his repeated warnings earlier this morning, the judge has given remarkable latitude for all of this.

68/ Q: Who from the Trump Org was responsible from detecting fraud?
A: Everybody.

Trump:

"Anybody sees something going wrong, come see me about it directly."

Asked if anyone did that, Trump responds in the affirmative, and the AG's counsel asks for an example. Trump responds to with a broad generality.

69/ Trump:

"Come to see management, but come to see me directly. I don't want that going on."

This is in response to Trump Org's engagement letter with Mazars, which held management responsible for "preventing and detecting fraud."

Referring to the document, Trump says: "I'd love to read this your honor. Can I do that?"

Engoron: "No, not at this point."

Trump: "Shock"

[Me, to Trump: 🖕 ]

70/ It might go without saying, but Trump's "shock" remark was said with mocking sarcasm.

Trump's shown an article by Forbes.

He scoffs: "Forbes. They're owned by China. Now, they sold it to Russia."

[Me, to Trump: 🖕. Forgive my redundancy. ]

71/ Still Klasfeld:

Trump, hammering home the point:

"I have very little respect for Forbes."

👉🏼(Forbes broke the news that Trump inflated the size of his New York penthouse and recently knocked him off the billionaires list.)

The AG's counsel plays an audio clip of the interview, which was mostly inaudible.

Kise asks if the judge made any of it out.

He didn't.

They move on. Asked if the barely audible convo refreshes his recollection of fact that he spoke to Forbes, Trump answers no.

72/ Rubin for next few:

Chuck Rosenberg examines 2 possible reasons for Trump rants

One possibility is that Trump is "trying to goad" Judge Engoron into saying something that could help Trump on appeal, Rosenberg said moments ago on MSNBC's "Andrea Mitchell Reports." For example, Trump's legal team could try to suggest the judge exhibited bias during the trial.

(more...)