Donald Trump portrayed himself as a victim on the first day of a fraud trial against him in New York. “There was no crime, the crime is against me,” the former US president said on Monday before the start of the negotiations. He called the judge responsible, Arthur Engoron, a “scoundrel” and a “Trump hater” who should lose his license. He called New York Attorney General Letitia James, who sued him and who is African-American, “racist” and a “horror show.” The legal dispute is a conspiracy by the American government to influence next year’s presidential election.
With his appearance on Monday, Trump turned the trial into an even greater spectacle. He didn’t have to be there himself, but on Sunday evening he announced that he wanted to be in the courtroom in person “to fight for my name and my reputation.”
The lawsuit stems from a civil lawsuit that James filed about a year ago against Trump and several of his children and employees. She accuses Trump of having given inflated valuations of his assets for years in order to get more favorable loan terms from banks. A number of examples are listed in the lawsuit. Trump’s private club Mar-a-Lago in Florida, for example, was valued at almost $740 million, but was only worth a tenth of that amount. An area of 2,800 square meters was designated for Trump’s three-story apartment in New York’s Trump Tower, even though it was only a little over 1,000 square meters in size. Based on this inflated area, the property was valued at $327 million in 2015, far more than was ever paid for an apartment in New York.
Judge orders cancellation of Trump’s New York business licenses
In his opening statement, Kevin Wallace, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, accused Trump of lying “year after year after year.” Trump’s lawyers defended the ratings. Alina Habba said Trump has “Mona Lisa properties”; Mar-a-Lago, for example, could be sold for at least a billion dollars. “This is not a scam, this is real estate.” Trump’s side also pointed out that no one was hurt. Bank loans were paid back and banks made money from Trump.
From Trump’s point of view, the process began in a bad starting position, because last week Judge Engoron had largely sided with the Attorney General’s Office. In a ruling on motions from both parties, he wrote that Trump cheated. For example, he said the discrepancy in apartment square footage at Trump Tower “can only be viewed as fraud.”
The judge also ordered the cancellation of Trump’s New York business licenses. This could make the former president’s entrepreneurial activities in his hometown much more difficult. According to observers, he could even lose control of properties like Trump Tower.
With his decision last week, Judge Engoron significantly reduced the scope of the trial. The main open questions now include a possible fine. Letitia James is seeking $250 million, describing this as the amount by which the defendants enriched themselves through their fraudulent practices. On Monday before the trial began, she said that Trump cheated “constantly” and that she looked forward to the trial “showing the full extent of his fraud and illegal actions.” In addition to civil cases such as the New York lawsuit, Trump is also involved in four criminal legal disputes.
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