Judge Arthur Engoron's courtroom is illustrated with murals of court scenes. They allude to the transfer in 1664 of the province of New Amsterdam (today Lower Manhattan, where the court is located) from the hands of the Dutch to those of the English.
It feels like a deal on good terms. The exact opposite was observed yesterday in Donald Trump's behavior. Regardless of his insults, the expression on his face was a statement of his anger. When he entered and took his seat on the bench, he avoided looking at Letitia James, one of his nightmares as attorney general of the state of New York.
James led the investigations that led to this civil trial. He accuses Trump of continuing to defraud banks by inflating his assets. “While it may be one thing to exaggerate for Forbes magazine, doing business in the state of New York is not permitted,” Kevin Wallace, a prosecutor in James' office, said in his opening arguments.
He maintained that the business procedure was full of “lies after lies.” The company used a scheme of “persistent illegal acts” that were decided by Trump himself. His children Donald Jr. also appear in the case. and Eric, who accompanied his father, and a couple of employees.
Wallace stressed that they inflated their reports by a figure ranging between $812 million and $2.2 billion, knowing that they were false statements. The state demands up to 250 million in fines and for the company to lose its license to operate in New York.
This is the first of the trials that await him in the coming months. He is charged with 91 charges, some as serious as conspiring to overturn the 2020 election result. But this lawsuit, which unlike the others does not result in prison, is a key issue for Trump. He attacks the foundation of the myth that he is a great businessman. In this investigation, the Prosecutor's Office exposes that myth.
“I came because I wanted to see this witch hunt for myself,” Trump declared outside the room. He had no obligation to attend. But he is a showman. He took the opportunity to attack James, an African American whom he accuses of being racist. Once again he spoke of electoral interference to stop his campaign for the 2024 elections. And he charged against the judge, whom he described as an “agent” of the Democrats and whom “some suggest should be charged for what he does".
In a matter without a jury, the sentence falls to Judge Engoron, who last week considered that there was fraud and, pending the appeal, stripped Trump of control of his flagship buildings, such as the tower with his last name on the Fifth Avenue in Manhattan.
Chris Kise, his lawyer, replied that there is no fraud, that valuations are subjective – as with the Mona Lisa, one of his collaborators pointed out – and Trump paid. “There are no victims,” Kise added.
“No one is above the law,” James stressed before the start of the session. At the end of the morning's work, Trump walked past her and looked at her. Her son Eric greeted her and shook her hand.
