New York Attorney General Letitia James plans to call former President Donald Trump and three of his children to the witness stand in their upcoming civil fraud trial.
In the lawsuit brought by Ms. James, Judge Arthur Engoron already has found that the former president and his company misled banks, insurers and others by exaggerating his net worth to get larger loans and better insurance rates.
Judge Engoron wrote that Mr. Trump, adult sons Eric and Don Jr., and other defendants fraudulently increased the value of properties including Mar-a-Lago in Florida, the former president’s Fifth Avenue apartment, 40 Wall Street, Trump Park Avenue, golf courses and an upstate New York estate.
The judge also ruled that some of Mr. Trump’s business licenses be rescinded and that an independent monitor would watch the operations of the Trump Organization.
There is a non-jury trial set for Oct. 2 and Ms. James wants $250 million in penalties and aims to ban Mr. Trump from doing business in New York.
The former president is listed as the second-last witness out of 28. Eric and Don Jr. immediately precede him — as the 25th and 26th witnesses, respectively.
Daughter Ivanka Trump, who is not charged as a defendant in the case, sits as the 14th witness. The first person to be called is Donald Bender of Mazars USA, a former accountant for the elder Mr. Trump.
Other people on Ms. James’ list include Mr. Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, and former chief financial officer for the Trump Organization, Allen Weisselberg.
There are also 25 other people named who could be called if needed, the filing shows.
There were more than 125 people on the defendant’s witness list including Mr. Trump and his two sons.
Alina Habba, the legal spokeswoman for Mr. Trump, said in a statement Tuesday that the judge’s finding of fraud was “fundamentally flawed” and would be appealed.
• Mallory Wilson can be reached at mwilson@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.