Four-times-convicted former US President Donald Trump on Tuesday attended a second day of fraud hearing in a New York court and reiterated his claim that he is the target of a political witch-hunt, weeks after being found liable in financial misconduct. Are.
The criminally charged former commander-in-chief, who is facing multiple cases, attacked the US legal system and termed the cases against him as a scam and fraud.
Donald Trump on Tuesday also attacked New York Attorney General Letitia James, who is leading the case against him, calling her “grossly corrupt” and “grossly incompetent”, before entering the chamber where she would ultimately be impeached on state business. Could have been prevented from doing. ,
The 77-year-old had previously condemned the affair as a “sham” to sabotage his bid to retake the White House next year and on Monday called James, who is African American, a “racist”.
The clear leading candidate in the Republican presidential primaries was not required to appear in court the first two days, but he chose to do so, taking a seat at the defense table with his lawyers.
Also in the courtroom were his two sons, Don Jr. and Eric, who are on trial before New York Judge Arthur Angorone, whom Trump has called “insane.”
On Tuesday, Republicans watched the proceedings, which are in a technical phase, often staring or looking away wearily.
Before the hearing convened for an afternoon session, Angoron rebuked Donald Trump for an offensive social media post about a court clerk and verbally issued an order to all parties not to comment on his staff. After this Trump’s post was removed.
Donald Trump and the witch hunt
Trump had refused to appear personally in the civil case earlier this year, in which he was found liable for sexually assaulting and defaming E. Jean Carroll, a former American magazine columnist, and fined $5 million. An order was given to pay compensation.
This time, he is not wasting the opportunity to publicly portray himself as the victim.
The move comes as Trump faces criminal charges in four separate cases that are scheduled to go to trial in 2024 — some in the middle of the Republican Party primaries.
“I’d like to see this witch hunt myself,” he told reporters a day earlier.
Trump does not risk going to jail in a civil lawsuit, but James is seeking a $250 million fine and the removal of the former president and his sons from management of the family empire.
The state attorney general has accused Trump, his sons and other officials of drastically inflating the value of their properties to obtain more favorable bank loans and insurance terms.
charges set aside
The allegations have been rejected by Trump, who since Monday has mocked a court’s $18 million appraisal of his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. He claims the property is worth $1.5 billion.
The civil lawsuit also includes several other properties of the Trump Organization such as Trump Tower and the 40 Wall Street building in New York, as well as golf courses.
Angoron ruled last week that Trump, his two eldest sons and other Trump Organization executives lied to tax collectors, lenders and insurers for years as part of a scheme that inflated the value of their assets by $812 million between 2014 and 2021. increased to $2.2 billion.
As a result, the judge revoked the state business licenses that allowed the Trump Organization to operate some of its New York properties and asked the parties to propose receivers to manage the dissolution of the related companies.
