Donald Trump was rebuked by Judge Arthur Engoron for giving “speeches” during his testimony on Monday before New York court in a civil fraud trial that will determine the future of his business empire.
“Some of your answers have not been in response to the question,” Engoron told Trump, adding that prosecuting attorney Kevin Wallace had been “very patient.”
“Please just answer the question, no speeches,” the judge said.
Trump opened his testimony by accusing Wallace and “every other Democrat […] coming after me from 15 different sides” of being all “haters.” A visibly frustrated Engoron repeatedly pushed Trump to answer the questions posed by the state’s attorneys, and at one point asked his attorneys if they could “control” their client.
The former president, his adult sons, and several of his business associates were already found liable for fraud by Judge Arthur Engoron in September, who ruled that Trump’s flagship company, the Trump Organization, overvalued his properties and inflated his net worth over several years. Engoron ordered the dissolution of the company’s business licenses and LLCs, with the trial determining what damages and penalties are owed by the defendants.
New York Attorney General Letitia James addressed reporters before court on Monday, calling out Trump’s attempts to discredit her and the case. “Before he takes the stand, I am certain that he will engage in name-calling, and taunts, and race-baiting, and call this a witch hunt,” she said. “But at the end of the day, the only thing that matters are the facts and the numbers. And numbers, my friends, don’t lie.”
Trump has been doing exactly that. Hours before appearing in court, the former president took to Truth Social to attack Engoron, James, and President Joe Biden. “Getting ready to head to the Downtown Lower Manhattan Courthouse to testify in one of the many cases that were instigated and brought by my POLITICAL OPPONENT, Crooked Joe Biden, through agencies and surrogates, for purposes of ELECTION INTERFERENCE,” Trump wrote.
“Got a really Biased, Nasty, Club controlled, but often overturned, Judge, a Racist, Evil, and Corrupt Attorney General,” he added.” A dark day for our Country. WITCH HUNT!”
Trump defended himself outside the courtroom. “These are political operatives that I’m going to be dealing with right now,” he told reporters, again calling James a “racist” and claiming that he had actually undervalued his properties and assets on his financial statements.
Trump’s sons, Eric and Donald Jr., have already testified before the court. Both claimed that they had no involvement in preparing the Trump Organization’s financial statements despite serving as executive vice presidents for the company, and claimed to recall little of the communications with other company staff presented by the prosecution. Trump’s daughter Ivanka, who was dismissed as a defendant in the case earlier this year, is expected to take the stand later this week.
The trial has featured plenty of contentious moments between Trump and Judge Engoron. The former president has already been fined twice, and threatened with jail time, for violating a gag order put in place by Engoron after he attacked one of the judge’s clerks on social media. On Friday, Engoron expanded the order, which barred the former president from publicly commenting on members of the court’s staff, to include similar restrictions on the statements of Trump’s attorneys.
