The former president and his company are on civil trial for allegedly inflating the value of their assets for personal gain.
Topline
Former President Donald Trump returned to a New York City courthouse Tuesday to attend the third week of his civil fraud trial, as New York Attorney General Letitia James’ office continues to argue Trump and his company fraudulently inflated the value of their assets for personal gain—allegations denied by Trump.Key Facts
Trump announced Monday morning he would return to the trial as he continued to attack the case against him on Truth Social, saying he was being “viciously tried” and “America cannot let this happen.”
The former president continued to decry the case as he entered the courtroom Tuesday, telling reporters it was a “rigged trial” and a “witch hunt by a radical lunatic.”
James is suing Trump, his business associates—including his sons—and the Trump Organization for alleged fraud, claiming the ex-president and his associates knowingly misstated the value of assets on financial statements in order to obtain more favorable business deals and boost Trump’s net worth.
Trump previously attended the first three days of his trial after it began on October 2, holding regular press conferences to decry the case against him as publications note his aim to turn the civil case into a “media circus.”
Judge Arthur Engoron imposed a gag order on Trump as he attended the trial in its first week, barring parties in the case from publicly talking or posting about court staff, after the ex-president made a disparaging post about Engoron’s clerk.
Ex-Trump attorney Michael Cohen had been expected to testify at the trial this week as Trump returned to the courtroom, but his testimony—which is likely to be inflammatory, given Cohen’s public attacks on Trump—has been delayed to next week at the earliest due to Cohen having a medical issue.
