October 2, 2023 - Trump civil fraud trial in New York begins

Former President Donald Trump attacked Arthur Engoron, the judge overseeing his civil case, as he left the courtroom during a lunch break following opening statements this morning.

Trump called Engoron a Democrat and “an operative,” saying that the case against him was a “disgrace.” He also attacked the New York Attorney General Letitia James for going after him instead of violent crime. 

“We’re going to be here for months with a judge that already made up his mind. It’s ridiculous,” Trump said.

“They waste their time with this, with banks that were very happy that got all their money back. They weren’t defrauded. I’ve been defrauded,” Trump said. 

Asked if he was coming back to the courtroom after lunch, Trump said, “probably.”

Engoron ruled last week that Trump and his co-defendants were liable for fraud in the attorney general’s civil case, one of the seven claims that are a part of the lawsuit.

During the four opening statements of the civil fraud trial, former President Donald Trump sat at the defense table between two of his lawyers.

He never spoke to Judge Arthur Engoron. 

Trump often faced forward, watching the small video monitor in front of him which displayed the opening presentations by the state and his defense lawyer.

Trump occasionally sat with his arms folded or leaned over to whisper to his lawyers. When Alina Habba and Clifford Robert, who are lawyers for the other defendants, spoke without video presentations, Trump looked at them intently.

Habba, who represents Trump, Allen Weisselberg, Jeffrey McConney and other employees of the Trump Organization, at times turned to him when she was discussing the valuation of his Mar-a-Lago resort.

As Trump’s lawyer, Chris Kise, answered questions from the judge, Trump wrote notes and passed them to him. 

Eric Trump, who is also a defendant, sat in the front row of the courtroom gallery, on the defense side behind and to his father’s left.

New York State Attorney General Letitia James sat in the front row on the other side of the courtroom, behind the former president and about 15 feet to his right. 

The former president only once looked at James, as he left the courtroom for the lunch break, turning his head as he walked past where she was seated.

Eric Trump stopped and shook her hands using both of his hands as he followed his father out of the courtroom. 

Court resumes at 2:15 p.m. ET after a lunch break.

Former President Donald Trump has not expressed much emotion in the courtroom for the first session of the criminal fraud trial.

During the four opening statements, Trump sat at the defense table between two of his lawyers. He never spoke to the judge. Trump often faced forward, watching the small video monitor in front of him which displayed the opening presentations by the state and his defense lawyer.

When Alina Habba and Cliff Robert, who are lawyers for Trump's co-defendants, spoke without video presentations, Trump looked at them intently. Habba, who represents Allen Weiselberg, Jeff McConney and other employees of the Trump Organization, at times turned to Trump when she was discussing the valuation of his Mar-a-Lago resort.

As Trump’s lawyer, Christopher Kise, answered questions from the judge, Trump wrote notes and passed them to him. Eric Trump, who is also a defendant, sat in the front row of the courtroom gallery, on the defense side behind and to his father’s left. New York State Attorney General Letitia James sat in the front row on the other side of the courtroom, behind the former president and about 15 feet to his right.

Trump only once looked at James, as he left the courtroom for the lunch break, turning his head as he walked past where she was seated. Eric Trump stopped and shook her hands using both of his hands as he followed his father out of the courtroom.

The attorney for Donald Trump’s adult sons said he “vigorously” disagrees with most of the opening statement given on behalf of the attorney general.

Cliff Robert, who represents Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, began his opening statement by attacking Kevin Wallace, who spoke for New York Attorney General Letitia James' office.

“I vigorously on behalf of my clients disagree with just about everything Mr. Wallace said,” Robert began.

“You need to judge credibility,” Robert said, urging the judge to determine the credibility of the people who were involved in the transactions, namely Michael Cohen.

“I don’t think that could be overstated,” he added.

Robert argued that there was nothing materially wrong with the valuations of financial conditions that Don Jr. and Eric signed, and they would not be “running away” from them.

“They relied on the work product of others” when they signed the statements of financial condition after Trump took office, Robert said.

Judge Arthur Engoron rebutted attacks from Donald Trump's attorney Alina Habba against New York Attorney General Letitia James, responding to her opening statement and getting into a debate with the attorney over her claims.

In her statement, Habba attacked James for saying in her campaign for attorney general that she was going to “get Trump.”

Engoron, who ruled last week that Trump and his co-defendants were liable for fraud in the attorney general’s civil case against Trump, responded by noting that the defense already tried to dismiss the case claiming that James brought it as a “witch hunt” against Trump.

Trump intently watched Habba as she sparred with the judge. 

"These statements of financial condition were current, current market value. The point is what were they worth then," Engoron said, pushing back on Habba's assertion that the inflated values showed what they could be sold for at some point in the future.

An accounting disclaimer from Mazars, Trump’s former accounting firm, essentially said, “We're relying on the Trump Organization," Engoron said. "That's how I read it.”

“No, your honor," Habba responded, arguing that the Trump Organization relied on Mazars and "they're the accountants."

Alina Habba, an attorney for former President Donald Trump, Allen Weisselberg, former Trump Organization chief financial officer, and other Trump Organization employees, delivered an opening statement in court Monday attacking New York Attorney General Letitia James. 

Habba’s comments echoed Trump — who has tried to tie the civil case against him in New York as an effort to attack him and his presidential campaign.  

“Ms. James said she was going to come into office and ‘get Trump,’” Habba said, claiming that the case could have been brought three years ago before she took office.

Habba also criticized the valuations the judge gave for properties like Mar-a-Lago, which the judge valued at $18 million in his ruling last week, finding Trump and his co-defendants liable for “persistent and repeated” fraud. 

Habba argued that if Trump was trying to show a higher net worth, he would have included things like the rights to “The Apprentice” and the Trump brand. 

“There would have been the brand, the same brand that got that man elected for president,” she said. "There’s a lot of people in this room that probably don’t like that and that’s why we’re here."

Trump was looking at Habba as she spoke in the courtroom.

Donald Trump’s campaign deployed out-of-date crime data about New York City in a Monday attack on state Attorney General Letitia James, who brought the lawsuit in which the former president is now facing a civil fraud trial for inflating asset valuations on financial statements. 

In a news release the campaign distributed shortly before Trump appeared in a New York courtroom for the start of the trial, the former president’s campaign delivered a variety of attacks against James — one of them pointing out that she received a campaign donation from liberal billionaire George Soros, a Jewish philanthropist and Democratic donor who has been a frequent target of antisemitic conspiracy theories baselessly depicting him as a puppet master behind various domestic and international events.

The Trump campaign concluded the Monday release by claiming that New York crime has “skyrocketed” under James, who took office in 2019. But the campaign repeatedly used crime data from 2021 or 2022 even though more recent data is available — making the crime picture look worse than it is, since the situation with some major crime categories has improved markedly this year and last. 

For example, the Trump campaign said, “In New York City, shootings increased by 71% from 2018 to 2022.”

While that’s accurate, the campaign didn’t mention that the number of shootings in the city has plummeted by about 27% so far in 2023 compared to the same point in 2022 — after also falling about 17% for the full year of 2022 compared to the full year of 2021.

In other words, the Trump campaign didn’t explain that New York City is now well into a second straight year with an improving shootings trendline, and, if current trends roughly hold for the rest of the year, that 2023 will end with a much less than 71% increase over the number of shootings compared to 2018.

Similarly, the Trump campaign said, “Murders increased by 48% from 2018 to 2022 in New York City.” The Trump campaign didn’t mention that the number of murders in the city declined by about 10% in 2022 and has fallen by about 11% so far in 2023 compared to the same point in 2022. Again, the trendline is well into a second year of significant improvement.

And the numbers aside, it's also highly questionable at best to blame or credit an individual attorney general for the crime situation in their state. 

The number of murders spiked around the country beginning in 2020, when there was widespread economic and social upheaval because of the Covid-19 pandemic, and has improved around the country in 2022 and 2023 — complicating attempts to assign blame for the increases or credit for the decreases to any particular state or local official.

In addition, the precise causes of crime fluctuations are difficult to pinpoint even decades after the fact; they are affected by numerous factors, from the economy to government policy to sociocultural factors to policing strategies to the corrections system.

Former President Donald Trump returned to court following the short break after opening statements were given by attorneys for the New York attorney general's office and Trump.

Trump averted making eye contact with New York Attorney General Letitia James as he entered and walked past her. James is sitting in the first row.

Eric Trump also did not make eye contact with James.

Alina Habba, the attorney who represents Allen Weisselberg, Jeffrey McConney and other employees of the Trump Organization, is now speaking.

“I wasn’t planning to speak today until I saw what the attorney general said outside and the presentation by Mr. (Kevin) Wallace,” Habba said.

Videos of New York Attorney General Letitia James talking about suing Donald Trump were being posted on the former president’s social media account while he sat inside a Manhattan courtroom for the civil fraud trial that James brought against him.

Trump is arguing that the case, which began Monday, is politically motivated.  

In one video, James can be heard saying, “Oh we’re going to definitely sue him. We’re going to be a real pain in the ass.”

In another clip, she says, “What is fueling my soul right now is Trump.”

The videos are posted on social media platform Truth Social.

“New York embarrassment Letitia James is politically targeting President Trump,” the text in one video reads. “Letitia James is abusing her office.”