Trump is denied instant win in N.Y. civil fraud case

The New York judge in Donald Trump’s civil fraud trial denied the former president’s request for an immediate verdict in his favor, criticizing his defense and suggesting his star witness was motivated by money.

The witness, accounting expert Eli Bartov, “is a tenured professor, but all that his testimony proves is that for a million or so dollars, some experts will say whatever you want them to say,” Justice Arthur Engoron said in his ruling on Monday. Bartov, who testified earlier this month, was paid at least $877,500 for his work on the trial.

The ruling came on the heels of a filing in which New York State attacked Trump and his lawyers for claiming that it hadn’t presented any evidence of wrongdoing at the 11-week trial of its claims against him. The state called his argument “logically impossible” and “beyond frivolous.”

Trump, accused of inflating his net worth by as much as $3.6 billion a year to get better terms on loans from Deutsche Bank AG and other lenders, made the argument last week. He was seeking the instant judgment after Engoron heard from the last witness in the state trial. Closing arguments are set for Jan. 11.

‘Makes zero sense’

In its response to his bid on Monday, the office of New York Attorney General Letitia James said Trump’s argument ignored extensive testimony that he knowingly inflated the value of properties on his annual statement of financial condition, and that banks relied on those inflated figures when lending him hundreds of millions of dollars.

“The motion, as with many of the defendants’ courtroom antics and maneuvers during the course of this trial, is nothing more than a political stunt designed to provide Mr. Trump, his co-defendants and their counsel with sound bites for press conferences, Truth Social posts and cable news,” the AG’s office said, adding that it “makes zero sense.”

The office also criticized Trump’s expert witnesses, describing them as the “most ineffective team of experts that defendants’ money can buy.”

On the witness stand, Bartov had argued that Trump’s higher valuations in annual records from 2011 to 2021 were based in reality and that banks do their own due diligence anyway when deciding if a potential client is too risky.

‘Single biggest witch hunt’ 

The trial is on hiatus for the rest of the year. It’s one of six trials Trump is facing as he campaigns to return to the White House in the 2024 election, including four criminal cases. He denies wrongdoing in all of them, claiming he’s the target of the “single biggest witch hunt of all time.”

Trump and his co-defendants, including his sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, argued in their motion last week that none of the witnesses affiliated with Trump’s lenders testified that they had been defrauded by the former president. They also argued there was no evidence showing the inflated statements were material to any decision by a bank. 

The evidence was “simply insufficient,” they said.

Engoron found Trump and his sons liable for fraud before the trial started, resolving the biggest claim in the case. The trial will resolve six remaining claims as well as penalties, including as much as $250 million in damages. The judge will issue a verdict in the weeks or months following the closings.

The case is New York v. Trump, 452564/2022, New York State Supreme Court, New York County (Manhattan).