Former President Donald Trump returned to a New York courtroom on Thursday to attend his civil fraud trial, where his defense team questioned its final expert witness as the case approaches its conclusion.
Trump has attended the trial, which began Oct. 2, eight times earlier, adding that when he himself testified on Nov. 6, he clashed with Judge Arthur Engoron that day, stepping away from questions and deserving reprimands.
Trump, two of his sons and their company are accused of participating in a decade-long fraud scheme involving vast misrepresentations of Trump’s wealth to attract favorable rates on loans and insurance. They have all denied wrongdoing in the case. Eric Trump joined his father in court on Thursday.
The former president listened as his attorney questioned Eli Bartov, a New York University accounting professor who testified about the role of property valuations in financial statements that are at the heart of the fraud case. He said that he saw “no evidence whatsoever for accounting fraud,” and that the statements of financial condition “were not materially misstated.”
“So your able opinion is that, from an accounting point of view, the attorney general’s complaint was baseless?” the judge asked.
“That’s my opinion, yes,” Bartov replied.
Bartov also claimed that the price of Trump’s penthouse in Manhattan’s Trump Tower had been “inflated” in his financial statements, but attributed the discrepancy to “a miscalculation,” which he said was “not unusual. “Forbes magazine revealed in 2017 that Trump’s three-story apartment was about a third the length he had long claimed (about 11,000 square feet, rather than more than 30,000) and far less valuable.
Bartov testified as an expert in a 2019 New York State case against Exxon, but Kevin Wallace, a lawyer for New York Attorney General Letitia James, said Bartov’s opinions weren’t relevant to evidence presented at trial. He and another lawyer for James attacked Bartov’s ability to render opinions on banking decisions and credit analysis related to private companies.
When Trump left the courtroom on a mid-morning break, he stopped to read about the comic strip through forensic artist Jane Rosenberg.
“Good,” he told Rosenberg.
Moments later, he praised an appeals court ruling that extended an Oct. 6 order postponing the dissolution of Trump’s company while the trial continued. The order stems from a Sept. 26 pretrial ruling finding Trump and the company liable for fraud.
“I think it’s a smart thing for the country, a very strong resolution through the Appellate Division, which just came out right now,” Trump said. “This resolution is very powerful. “
His attorney Christopher Kise also lauded the decision in a statement to CBS News.
“President Trump greatly appreciates the court’s attention and resolution today. The resolution is helping to pave the way for a much-needed deliberative review of the trial court’s many errors,” Kise said.
Tensions in the courtroom escalated in the early afternoon after Wallace objected to some of Bartov’s testimony, describing it as “pure hypotheses about the role of someone they’ve hired to say what they want. “
“You really ought to be ashamed of yourself,” Bartov replied, his voice rising. “You make up allegations that never existed. I am here to tell the truth. You should be ashamed of yourself, talking to me like that.”
Bartov then presented testimony that reinforced Trump’s own Nov. 6 testimony in the case, which said the statements in the middle of the case warned banks to use them at their own risk.
“It’s like the surgeon general’s warning on a cigarette box,” Bartov said.
He went on to describe a disclaimer in the statements that means “use your own research and make your own estimate. “
“I never saw anything clearer than that, even my 9-year-old granddaughter … would understand that language,” Bartov said.
Trump sat with rapt attention as Bartov praised his financial statements.
“I’ve never noticed such a detailed statement,” Bartov said. “The footnotes provide an impressive amount of information. “
Bartov’s testimony was peppered with harsh complaints against the prosecutor general’s case, continually calling it “absurd. “
“It’s very unlikely to argue, it’s absurd to claim that Deutsche Bank or any bank, or any lender, would make lending decisions based on” non-public monetary statements, he said. “They can’t make decisions based on 20% information. “
“This closes the book on this case,” Bartov said.
In the civil fraud lawsuit, New York Attorney General Letitia James is seeking $250 million for the state, plus consequences for defendants who seek to seriously restrict their ability to do business in New York.
Trump has seethed at James outside the courtroom, including on Thursday, when he called her “crazy” and a “lunatic.”
He and Engoron have also been at odds since the trial began, when Trump posted a message on social media attacking his lawyer’s ruling. The ruling then imposed a limited gag order, which Trump furiously opposed and violated twice, facing a $15,000 fine.
Three of Trump’s children, Donald Trump Jr. , Eric Trump and Ivanka Trump, also testified at the trial. Both sons are defendants in the case, but Ivanka Trump is not. She originally accused, but the allegations against her were ignored. an appeals court that ruled they were outside the statute of limitations.
Donald Trump himself is expected to be the last witness in his own defense on Monday, Dec. 11.