DThe fraud trial against Donald Trump in New York is nearing its end. Both sides made their closing arguments on Thursday. The former US President also spoke himself and said: “I am an innocent man.” Once again he attacked the Attorney General Letitia James, who sued him, and the judge Arthur Engoron, who will decide on the case. James is demanding a fine of $370 million, which, according to her, is the amount by which Trump unjustly enriched himself using fraudulent methods. Trump said Thursday the attorney general's office should pay him money. He is the one on whom fraud was committed.
As the plaintiffs' arguments were still ongoing in the afternoon, Trump gave a press conference in one of his buildings on New York's Wall Street and described the New York lawsuit against him – as well as his various other legal disputes – as a politically motivated “witch hunt” and “conspiracy ” to influence this year’s presidential election. “They have no evidence against us.”
The New York lawsuit is a civil case, and Trump also faces several criminal charges. The New York lawsuit was filed in September 2022. Trump is accused of having stated inflated valuations for years in his real estate empire in order to get more favorable loan conditions from banks. The lawsuit cites a number of examples. It is said that Trump valued his private club Mar-a-Lago in Florida at almost $740 million, but at the time it was only worth a tenth of that amount. The former president declared an area of 2,800 square meters for his three-story apartment in New York's Trump Tower, even though it was only a little over 1,000 square meters in size.
Millions in fine demanded
Letitia James originally demanded a fine of $250 million, but a few days ago she revised the amount upwards. Shortly before the trial began in early October, Judge Engoron largely sided with the plaintiffs and made it clear that he considered Trump to be a fraud. He also ordered the cancellation of Trump's business licenses, which could cause him to lose control of some of his most prominent properties such as Trump Tower. In addition to Trump himself, the lawsuit also targeted his sons Eric and Don Jr.
Trump has regularly insulted both James and Engoron in recent months. He accused them of being “Trump haters.” He described Engoron as “deranged” and “evil,” and he called James, an African-American woman, a “racist.” Trump also appeared on the witness stand in the trial.
In their closing argument, the plaintiffs' lawyers said Trump and his sons intentionally cheated. Trump's lawyers emphasized that banks such as Deutsche Bank suffered no financial damage and did not complain of fraud. They “rolled out the red carpet” for Trump. Attorneys said there were no victims in the case.
On Thursday morning there was excitement about a bomb threat against Engoron. According to media reports, a police task force was sent to his home in Long Island outside New York. Closing arguments nevertheless took place without significant delay, and Engoron did not address the bomb threat in court. The judge promised a verdict in the case by the end of January
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