President Trump appeared in court on Thursday morning for the closing arguments in the civil fraud case brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James.
James is seeking $370 million in damages and a ban on Trump and his sons from operating any businesses in New York. She accuses Trump of inflating his assets and defrauding lenders and insurance companies.
Originally, James sought $250 million in damages from Trump. Now, she wants to increase that amount and also impose a lifetime ban on him from the real estate industry.
A Deutsche Bank executive testified in November that it is not uncommon to reduce a client’s asset values while approving a loan, especially for high net-worth individuals like Donald Trump.
Trump has referred to the prosecution as “election interference at the highest level.”
“It’s coordination with the White House and Joe Biden,” Trump said outside the Manhattan courthouse before he entered the court for closing arguments.
The defense presented their closing arguments first, which lasted for two hours. Following this, the state attorney general officials are scheduled to deliver their closing arguments later in the afternoon.
Accompanied by his attorneys Alina Habba and Chris Kise, Trump stood alongside them and stared directly at the judge as his legal team prepared to present their closing arguments.
Initially, President Trump was not permitted to give a closing statement in his own defense after Judge Engoron revoked permission.
However, Trump took control of the courtroom and directed his criticism towards Judge Engoron and Letitia James. Trump expressed that he believed he was a victim of fraud and accused the judge of having personal motives or bias.
Interrupting Trump, the judge instructed his lawyer Chris Kise to maintain control over his client’s behavior.
Excerpt on Trump’s courtroom rant from CBS News:
“Well, I think, your honor, that this case goes outside just the facts. The financial statements were perfect, the banks got back their money and are happy as can be,” Trump said.
“When you say don’t go outside of these things, we have a situation where I’m an innocent man, I’ve been persecuted by someone running for office and I think you have to go outside the bounds,” Trump said, referring to James.
He said the attorney general had misused a statute designed to target consumer fraud.
“This is a fraud on me. What’s happened here, sir, is a fraud on me,” Trump said, before adding that the state should be forced to pay him damages as punishment for pursuing the case.
Trump said he “never had a problem” before running for office and directed his ire toward the judge.
“You have your own agenda, you can’t listen for more than one minute, this has been a persecution,” he told Engoron, who interrupted and told Kise to “control your client.”
Engoron then continued: “By the way, you said you’ve never had a problem. Haven’t you been sued before?”
Trump demurred. “Your honor, look, I did nothing wrong. They should pay me for what we had to go through,” he said.
More on this story from Fox News:
ICYMI: DA Fani Willis May Have Colluded with January 6 Committee
