Former President Donald Trump takes the stand in New York civil fraud trial

Ximena Bustillo

November 06, 2023 / 2:01 am

Updated November 6, 2023 at 11:05 AM ET

Former President Donald Trump has taken the stand to answer questions about the role he played in fraudulent financial statements filed by the Trump Organization between 2011 and 2021.

A lawyer for the attorney general's office, Kevin Wallace, opened questioning by asking Trump about his decisions to promote his son, Eric, during his run for president and whether or not Trump was responsible for the statements of financial condition.

Trump argued he was responsible for providing information to the accounting firm Mazars, which compiled the statements. While answering questions, Trump made jabs aimed at New York Judge Arthur Engoron, including that the judge "always rules against" him.

Trump is the founder and former chairman and president of the Trump Organization, a company that includes, among other things, a large real estate portfolio.

He is being accused by state Attorney General Letitia James of being a part of a scheme that involved inflating or deflating the value of assets in order to secure better business, insurance and banking deals. Trump's two older sons, Donald Jr. and Eric, are also defendants in the lawsuit.

"I think it's going to be an interesting day," James said in the courthouse hallway ahead of Trump taking the stand. "Numbers and facts matter."

Outside the courtroom, Trump said he was looking forward to testifying today. He accused the lawsuit, without evidence, of being election interference and politically motivated.

"The trial is ridiculous," he said. "The numbers are much greater than on the financial statements."

During the first hour of testimony, Trump argued that some of the properties were undervalued — even with the inflated statements of financial condition — in part because the brand value of his name, he said, is worth millions more.

This is the first time the former president is publicly called to the witness stand to answer questions about the allegations brought by the attorney general. Trump, who has attended several days of the trial over the past six weeks, was previously called up by presiding Judge Arthur Engoron to answer questions related to public comments that were later found to be in violation of a gag order.

Judge Engoron urges Trump's legal team to "control" their client

While answering questions related to the valuations of his properties in 2014, Trump made additional comments about the values of his properties, his expertise and what he perceived as the judge's bias.

"We got a speech," Engoron said following a question. "I beseech you to control him if you can."

"We are hear what he has to say," said Trump lawyer Christopher Kise.

"No, I am not here to listen to what he has to say. I am interested in hearing him answer questions," Engoron said to Kise, who was standing to engage with the judge. "Sit down!"

The exchange prompted Trump to reiterate that he believes this is a "very unfair trial."

Watching pending gag orders

Late last week, Engoron issued a second gag order — this time on Trump's legal team — after heated exchanges between the two parties during last week's testimonies. Trump's lawyers repeatedly accused Engoron's law clerk of being biased and criticized the judge for passing notes and having the clerk sit on the bench alongside him.

The second limited order filed on Friday blocks Trump's lawyers from making "further statements about internal and confidential communications" between him and his staff.

"Since the commencement of this bench trial, my chambers have been inundated with hundreds of harassing and threatening phone calls, voicemails, emails, letters and packages," Engoron wrote in the order. "The First Amendment right of defendants and their attorneys to common on my staff is far and away outweighed by the need to protect them from threats and physical harm."

The two Trump brothers testified last week

Eric and Donald Jr. Trump are both executive vice presidents of the Trump Organization and held key leadership roles during the time their father was president. They were both questioned by the attorney general's legal team last week over their roles within the Trump Organization and their interactions with those putting together the annual statements of financial condition.

Eric Trump at first denied having "anything to do" with the statements of financial condition. But the court was shown email correspondence between Trump and then-controller of the Trump Organization Jeffrey McConney (now co-defendant), in which Trump was asked to review and provide input on the statements and properties in the statements. Trump told the court he relied on others to ensure the statements were accurate, even if the court documents show he was privy to the process.

His brother Trump Jr. had a similar testimony. When asked directly by Engoron if he had anything to do with statements of financial condition issued by the Trump Organization, Trump Jr. said: "No, I did not, your honor." He was also asked about his role as a trustee of the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust.

Trustees of the Trust were "responsible for" the statements, according to the documents shown in the trial.

Throughout his testimony, Trump Jr. said also he relied on others, such as co-defendant and former Trump Organization chief financial officer Allen Wesselberg, to vet the statements of financial condition.