October 3, 2023 - Trump civil fraud trial continues in New York

Before former President Donald Trump appeared in court Tuesday for the second day of his civil fraud trial in New York, he claimed on social media that it has now “been agreed in Court that Mar-a-Lago is WORTH 50 to 100 times the Value” New York Attorney General Letitia James had ascribed to it, $18 million.

Trump was claiming, therefore, that the court had agreed the Florida property is worth $900 million to $1.8 billion.

Facts First: Trump’s claim is false. There has been no such agreement in court. Judge Arthur Engoron and a lawyer for James’ office did not endorse a Trump lawyer’s Monday claim in court that Mar-a-Lago could be sold for more than $1 billion.

In Engoron’s decision last week finding Trump liable for fraud, he wrote that “from 2011-2021, the Palm Beach County Assessor appraised the market value of Mar-a-Lago at between $18 million and $27.6 million.”

He also noted that there are significant land use restrictions attached to the property, and he wrote that Trump’s financial statements, valuing Mar-a-Lago at roughly $426.5 million to $612.1 million between 2011 and 2021, are “materially false and misleading” because they don’t reflect those restrictions.

Trump lawyer Alina Habba sharply disputed this conclusion in court on Monday, saying that “we have experts, renowned experts, who have said that properties like Mar-a-Lago are worth over a billion dollars, $1.5 billion, and I assure you that there is a person out there that would buy that property, that spectacular property, for way over a billion dollars."

Trump and his team are entitled to argue that the judge’s analysis is inaccurate. But Trump himself was wrong to suggest that the judge had agreed in court that Mar-a-Lago is worth even more than his financial statements claimed. The judge did nothing of the sort. 

Engoron noted again in court on Monday that there were “significant” limitations on how the property can be used, and he said he had “specifically said” in the decision last week that “I'm not valuing or evaluating properties.” 

He said, “Please, press, stop saying that I valued it at $18 million. That was a tax assessment. Or, something in that range. There would have been issues of fact as to what the value was.”

Former President Donald Trump is fundraising off of his time in court.

“I just finished the second day of my sham trial in New York," Trump said in an email to supporters. "For the past two days, I sat in a courtroom in the city I grew up in, the city I raised my family in, the city I built a tremendous organization in, the city I loved – and I listened to the Democrats fervently try to destroy everything my family and I have built.”

Trump does not mention New York Attorney General Letitia James or the judge in his case, nor does he mention the gag order that prevents him from publicly discussing the court's staff.

He does, however, note the charges and arrest brought earlier this year against him by New York District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who Trump calls "Soros-backed."

The judge overseeing the New York civil trial against former President Donald Trump issued something prosecutors for special counsel Jack Smith have been asking for in the federal election subversion case against Trump: a limited gag order on the former president.

While Judge Arthur Engoron’s order Tuesday was specifically aimed at social media posts Trump had made earlier about his clerk, prosecutors in Washington, DC, have been warning a federal judge in several filings about Trump’s social media posts against court staff there, as well as potential witnesses in the case.

Judge Tanya Chutkan – who is presiding over the DC case – has scheduled an October 16 hearing with prosecutors and defense counsel for Trump on the proposed limited gag order.

Special counsel prosecutors have highlighted recent attacks Trump has made on potential witnesses including former Vice President Mike Pence and former Attorney General Bill Barr as well as departing Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley.

Trump has also attacked Chutkan, Smith and members of his team.

“The defendant’s relentless public posts marshaling anger and mistrust in the justice system, the Court, and prosecutors have already influenced the public,” prosecutors wrote in a filing last month. “For instance, on August 5, 2023, an individual was arrested because she called the Court’s chambers and made racist death threats to the Court that were tied to the Court’s role in presiding over the defendant’s case.”

Trump’s attorneys have argued the prosecutors' request was trying to muzzle the former president and violate his free speech rights, all during his 2024 run for president.

Former President Donald Trump said he will be back Wednesday as he left the courtroom Tuesday afternoon.

The afternoon session started after a 45-minute delay and unusual activity outside the courtroom during the lunch break. Trump went in and out of the courtroom during the break. 

Testimony re-started after Judge Arthur Engoron rebuked Trump for attacking his clerk in a social media post and in comments on Monday. He has now banned all parties from making any public comments about his staff.

The first witness, Trump’s long-time accountant Donald Bender, faced cross-examination from Trump attorney Jesus Suarez.

The cross-examination will resume Wednesday.

Judge Arthur Engoron rebuked Donald Trump after the former president attacked his clerk in a social media post on Tuesday and forbade the parties from making any future comments about his staff. 

"This morning one of the defendants posted on social media account a disparaging untrue and personally identifying post about a member of my staff. Although I have since ordered the post deleted and apparently it was, it was also emailed out to millions of other recipients," the judge said in court.
"Personal attacks of any member of my court staff are unacceptable, inappropriate and I will not tolerate them," the judge said.

The judge then said all parties must not speak publicly about any members of the court staff.

"Consider this statement an order forbidding all parties from posting emailing or speaking publicly about any members of my staff,” Engoron said. “Failure to abide by this .. will result in serious sanctions."

Trump posted on Truth Social Tuesday attacking Engoron’s clerk, claiming she was a “girlfriend” to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, and showing a picture of the two of them together.

“How disgraceful!” Trump wrote. “This case should be dismissed immediately.”

It was not immediately clear there was a connection between Engoron’s clerk and Schumer beyond taking a photo.

Monday, Trump also went after the clerk in his comments outside the courtroom, though he didn’t mention her by name.

“And this rogue judge, a Trump hater. The only one that hates Trump more is his associate up there,” Trump said. “The person that works with him. She’s screaming into his ear almost every time we ask a question. A disgrace. It’s a disgrace.”

The photo of Schumer and the clerk was posted last week by an obscure account on X, formerly known as Twitter, that had fewer than 200 followers as of Tuesday.

The post, which Trump included as an image in his own Truth Social post, did not allege that the clerk was Schumer's girlfriend, merely that the two were "palling around." Trump added the baseless "girlfriend" claim. The Truth Social post also included a clickable link to what appeared to be the clerk's Instagram page.

Former President Donald Trump is back in court today for the second day of a civil fraud trial in New York.

His longtime accountant, Donald Bender, was the New York attorney general’s first witness.

Trump has said that he will testify at some point later in the trial, and he is on the witness list for both the state and his own legal team.

Here's a look at photos from inside and around the courthouse today:

After Donald Trump's former longtime accountant Donald Bender's examination by the New York attorney general's legal team concluded, the court went into lunch break.

Bender will face cross examination after the court resumes.

Judge Arthur Engoron warned the defense they need to come back from the break in a timely fashion. “If you're not here I'm starting anyway," he said.

Engoron made jokes throughout the proceedings. He started the day by joking about one of his court officers after he yelled for order in the court. Engoron said, "The man you just heard, I affectionately call Tommy, and his next gig is no doubtfully going to be at the metropolitan opera."

Trump, though, was not joking when as exited the courtroom for the lunch break, complaining once again about the trial. “This is a rigged trial. It’s a fraudulent trial. The attorney general is a fraud and we have to expose her as that. You see what’s going on. It’s a rigged deal.”

 

Donald Bender, Trump’s longtime account, has finished his testimony for the New York attorney general’s team.

He was questioned by Kevin Wallace, an attorney for Attorney General Letitia James, who spent Tuesday morning methodically reviewing Trump's annual statements of financial condition. 

Bender, who worked for accounting firm Mazars, was also questioned by Wallace about accounting engagement letters for 2012 through 2020, belaboring the point that the Trump Organization provided supporting data that backed Trump's financial statements.  

He testified that it was understood that it was the Trump Organization’s duty to provide accurate information for their certification.

At some point, Bender said he learned that the Trump Organization hadn't turned over all relevant documents for the compilation of Trump's statement of financial conditions. "There were certain appraisals we hadn’t seen for certain years." 

Bender testified, to his best recollection, he started asking for those appraisals in 2016. He added that he asked Jeffrey McConney, a senior vice president for the Trump Organization, for them.

Wallace then moved through more annual statements and engagement letters through the year 2020.

Bender testified he has not had any conversations with Trump since December 2019. 

Bender testified on direct examination for nearly five hours across Monday afternoon and Tuesday. He will face cross examination after the lunch break.

Former President Donald Trump said he will testify at his civil trial, while speaking just outside the court room during a break in proceedings.

Trump is expected to testify later in the trial, and he is on the witness list for both the state and his own legal team.

Trump’s lawyer has previously said he is eager to testify in his own defense.