Judge warned Trump he risked being thrown off the stand…
In a surreal exchange, a defiant Donald Trump testified in court before Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Arthur Engoron.
The New York civil fraud trial aims to establish the amount that the Trump family must pay in damages for falsely inflating property values to obtain investments and later deflating them to obtain tax and loan benefits. It has already been established that the 45th president is liable for fraud.
Trump used his time on the witness stand to evade prosecutors' questions. He hammered Judge Engoron's proceedings, New York Attorney General Letitia James' prosecution and the Democratic Party as a whole, while portraying himself as a victim of political persecution.
At one point, Trump called out Engoron directly, saying “I'm sure the judge will rule against me because he always rules against me.”
Engoron quickly lost his patience for the political theatrics, admonishing Trump attorney Chris Kise: “Mr. Kise – can you control your client? This is not a political rally . . . maybe you should have a talk with him right now.”
Judge Engoron later told Kise to “control [Trump]” or “I will.”
Engoron will solely determine the amount of compensation to be paid out in the $250 million lawsuit.
His judgement could lead to Trump losing control of his most famous New York properties.
After today's proceedings, Alina Habba, another Trump attorney, strongly criticized Engoron in an apparent effort to further sway public opinion ahead of next year's presidential election.
Following Habba's remarks, Michael Cohen's lawyer, Jeffrey Levine, felt compelled to respond to her statements impugning Cohen's integrity.
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