Trump is expected to attend New York’s civil fraud trial on Monday: sources
Donald Trump is expected to fly to New York on Sunday so he can appear in court on Monday morning as the law dictates the trial of New York Attorney General Letitia James’ $250 million civil fraud case against the former president and his company -Dollar should begin enforcement sources.
Trump, 77 – who was campaigning in Iowa the Sunday before — is scheduled to stay at Trump Tower in Midtown on Sunday evening and then plans to attend opening arguments at the courthouse in Lower Manhattan and possibly be there on Tuesday as well, sources told The Post.
His possible appearance would be the first time Trump will face Judge Arthur Engoron, whom the 45th president has repeatedly accused of conducting a witch hunt against him – including in a recent post on his social media platform Truth Social.
“I have a deranged, Trump-hating judge who has sent this FALSE CASE through a New York courthouse at an unprecedented rate,” Trump recently posted.
The trial – expected to last about three months – is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. with opening statements from James’ side and attorneys for the defendants in the case, including Trump, the Trump Organization, sons Eric and Donald Trump Jr. and other former and current company officials.
Engoron will rule on the case — rather than a jury — to determine how much the defendants should owe after the judge found in a bombshell ruling Tuesday that Trump carried out a years-long fraud scheme by repeatedly lying on company documents , to increase the value of companies’ assets, to gain an advantage in loans and insurance.
Tuesday’s ruling also revoked Trump’s business licenses in the Big Apple.
Because this is a civil rather than criminal case, Trump and the other defendants do not face prison time. Rather, they are only threatened with financial compensation.
Trump’s lawyers have said in court documents in a separate case that their client plans to attend the first week of the trial in Manhattan Supreme Court.
The documents were filed as lawyers sought to delay Trump’s testimony as part of a lawsuit filed by his former “fixer” and personal attorney Michael Cohen.
Trump’s lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Sunday.
The AG’s office declined to comment on Trump’s possible court appearance, but confirmed that James plans to appear at the trial on Monday.
After Monday’s opening, James’ office will begin calling witnesses, with Donald Bender – a partner at the accounting firm Mazars, which managed the Trump Org account for years – scheduled to appear first, according to the AG’s witness list.
Trump and his sons Eric and Don. Jr. are listed as the 25th, 26th and 27th witnesses James wishes to call.
That means Trump — also known as “Witness No. 27” — and his children may not take the witness stand for several weeks.
Trump has said he plans to testify if James calls him.
Also on the witness list – and a defendant in the case – is former long-time Trump Org CFO Allen Weisselberg.
Trump’s daughter Ivanka Trump, who was dismissed from the trial, is also on the witness list, as is Cohen, court records show.
James’ office says Trump “grossly” exaggerated his net worth by as much as $3.6 billion a year – including by claiming his Trump Tower penthouse triplex was 30,000 square feet when in reality it was only was 11,000 square feet.
The embattled two-time Republican Party presidential nominee is facing a slew of criminal charges in four separate cases in four different states – New York, Florida, Washington DC and Georgia.
He is accused of making a “hush money” payment in the Big Apple, accused of misusing confidential national security documents in Florida, and accused of influencing the 2020 election results in a case in Georgia and in DC.
