“There is no way,” attorney says, accusing Trump of playing “cat-and-mouse game” to derail NY AG’s prep.
Former President Donald Trump’s potential list of witnesses in his $250 million civil fraud lawsuit in New York exceeds more than 100 people, which has the potential to drag out the legal proceedings.
The lawsuit by New York Attorney General Letitia James accuses Trump and his family businesses of inflating real estate asset values to deceive lenders and insurance providers into receiving better terms for loans and insurance policies. James has asked that the former president pay $250 million and that he and his sons be permanently barred from doing business in New York.
Justice Arthur Engoron, the judge overseeing the case, already ruled before the trial even started that Trump and the other defendants were liable for fraud. However, when the trial ends, Engoron will make the final decision regarding the extent of Trump’s penalties or any other punitive measures.
Trump, his adult children, and his closest business advisers have been called to testify so far. The attorney general’s office is expected to rest its case after Ivanka’s testimony. She was the top executive at the Trump Organization between 2011 and 2017.
Trump’s lawyers filed a list of 127 potential witnesses they may ask to take the stand in the trial, including many witnesses who have already testified.
“At the end of the day, particularly in a bench trial, Mr. Trump’s histrionics and chaos creation may help him politically, but not in court,” James Sample, a Hofstra University constitutional law professor, told Salon.
