NEW YORK (AP) — After a fiery first day of opening arguments, lawyers in Donald Trump’s business fraud trial in New York will move on Tuesday to the more…
— After a fiery first day of opening arguments, lawyers in Donald Trump’s business fraud trial in New York will move on Tuesday to the more plodding task of going through years of his financial documents in what’s expected to be a weekslong fight over whether they constitute proof of fraud.
An accountant who prepared Trump’s financial statements for years was expected to be back on the witness stand for a second day.
Trump, who spent a full day Monday as an angry spectator at the civil trial, was contemplating a return to court as well.
After denouncing the judge and New York’s attorney general, who brought the lawsuit, Trump said in a courtroom hallway that he “may” be back for a second day, though he noted, “I’d love to be campaigning instead of doing this.”
The trial is the culmination of a lawsuit in which Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat, has accused Trump of deceiving banks, insurers and others for years by giving them papers that misstated the value of his assets.
Judge Arthur Engoron already delivered an early victory to James, ruling that Trump committed fraud by exaggerating the size of his penthouse at Trump Tower, claiming his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida was worth as much as $739 million, and putting similar oversized valuations on office towers, golf courses and other assets.
