Former President Donald Trump’s defense team pleaded with a New York judge to deliver an early verdict in their favor Thursday, saying New York Attorney General Letitia James was unable to prove the Trump Organization engaged in fraud.
Judge Arthur Engoron, presiding in Manhattan, did not issue an immediate decision but said he would take the arguments “under advisement.” He indicated that the trial will go on as scheduled Monday with Donald Trump Jr. returning to the stand as the first defense witness.
Ms. James says Mr. Trump and his real estate business submitted fraudulent financial statements to gain favorable terms on loans and insurance. She is seeking hundreds of millions of dollars in fines and wants to bar the Trumps from doing business in New York.
Ms. James rested her case at midweek, so the defense requested a directed verdict — a mechanism that would have allowed Mr. Trump to snatch a quick victory if the state failed to prove its claims were more likely true than not.
Defense attorneys on Thursday argued that banks were happy with Mr. Trump and continued to lend money to the company.
“There’s no victim. There’s no complainant. There’s no injury. All of that is established now by the evidence,” Trump lawyer Christopher Kise said.
Mr. Kise emphasized that lender Deutsche Bank made its own adjustments to the asset values listed on Mr. Trump’s financial statements, giving substantial “haircuts” to the estimates for Trump Tower and other properties, and decided to lend him hundreds of millions of dollars anyway.
He also said one of the state’s star witnesses, Trump lawyer-turned-accuser Michael Cohen, conceded that Mr. Trump never told him to inflate the numbers on his personal statement.
Prosecution lawyer Kevin Wallace said the defense’s arguments “sounded more like closing arguments” and that there was no basis for a directed verdict.
Requests for a directed verdict are common but rarely granted.
Judge Engoron has signaled interest in seeing the trial to its conclusion and asked defense lawyers for witness schedules. The trial is expected to run through mid-December.
The defense will start to present its case on Monday.
Judge Engoron handed Mr. Trump’s team a victory Thursday by overruling the state and allowing the defense to call several expert witnesses who will attempt to refute earlier testimony about Mr. Trump’s financial statements.
Ms. James and her team finished their presentation of witnesses and evidence during the midweek questioning of Ivanka Trump, Mr. Trump’s elder daughter.
Ms. Trump said she was not involved in preparing the statements of financial condition at the heart of the case and that it was hard to recall the particulars of major deals made a decade ago.
Ms. Trump is not named in the lawsuit, though her brothers Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump are targeted alongside their famous father, who is leading the GOP field in the 2024 presidential campaign.
Before the trial, Judge Engoron ruled in favor of Ms. James on one of her claims. The trial is examining other claims and possible penalties.
“The judge has already ruled that Donald Trump committed repeated and persistent fraud, and now it’s Trump’s turn to try to defend that fraud,” Ms. James said. “I am confident that we will prevail because the facts don’t lie.”
Defense attorney Alina Habba said anyone who’s been following the case can see faults in it. She pointed to inconsistent testimony from Mr. Cohen, even arguing he should be investigated for perjury.
“He’s been inconsistent, it’s been proven and frankly he needs to be prosecuted for it,” Ms. Habba said Wednesday. “They relied on Michael Cohen. I don’t care what side of the fence you are on in politics, you can’t rely on Michael Cohen.”
Ms. Habba also said there should be a review of “how much money was wasted by New York on a fake, phony case.”
Mr. Trump agreed with his attorney’s assessment.
“Their only witness, already convicted felon Michael Cohen, crumbled like nothing I have ever seen before,” he wrote Thursday on Truth Social. “Everybody thinks that this political Witch Hunt should END TODAY. It is an embarrassment to New York.”
• This story is based in part on wire service reports.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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