Judge Engoron mostly rules against Letitia James on inclusion of Trump witnesses

The judge in Donald Trump's $250 million fraud trial is allowing the former president's legal team to call all 127 witnesses they want, but say they need to be sure to color in the court's lines.

New York Supreme Court Judge Arthur Engoron is willing to permit all of the witnesses that Trump's legal team wants to testify to refute the prosecutor's case.

"The judge makes clear that he's going to shut down any expert who tries to testify in contradiction of what he's already ruled on, namely in his summary judgment decision before trial," according to an online thread by Law 360's Stewart Bishop.

The decision comes in spite of Attorney General Letitia James' office formally filing objection to four experts — Steven Laposa, of Laposa Realty Advisors, Jason Flemmons, a forensic accounting expert, Steve Witkoff, a New York City real estate investor, and David Miller.

"The valuation and accounting issues raised in this case with respect to the preparation of the [financial statements] have already been resolved in plaintiff’s favor by the court on summary judgment," according to a letter filed by the AG's office last night.

It also dovetailed vigorous efforts by prosecutors to require anybody called to the witness stand to respect the judge's decision from September where he found that the 45th president and his eponymous company duped banks, insurers, and others by committing a sweeping inflation of his assets and net worth to gain leverage on loans and other business deals.

“In defendants’ world: rent regulated apartments are worth the same as unregulated apartments; restricted land is worth the same as unrestricted land; restrictions can evaporate into thin air; a disclaimer by one party casting responsibility on another party exonerates the other party’s lies,” he wrote in his 35-page ruling. “That is a fantasy world, not the real world.”