Arthur Engoron

An expert witness called by Donald Trump's defense lawyers testified on Monday that real estate valuations presented by the Trump Organization were not "proper" or "reasonable."

Under cross-examination, real estate expert Frederick Chin was asked about property values claimed by the Trump Organization.

Donald Trump's "genius factor" could have added billions of dollars to the actual value of his property portfolio, an expert witness told the former president's fraud trial Monday.

Frederick Chin, who was called by the defense as an expert in real estate valuation, said Trump was using the "as if" investment value to put a price on his holdings, and not the "as is" market value, ABC News reported.

The New York Supreme Court's Appellate Division is expected to hear arguments on Monday afternoon after Donald Trump asked to appeal a gag order in his $250 million civil fraud trial.

Earlier on Monday, attorneys for Trump requested permission to file for appeal after a lower appeals court reinstated the gag order last week.

Donald Trump is seeking a New York Supreme Court review after an appeals court reinstated a gag order in his New York civil fraud trial.

On Thursday, a court of appeals issued a one-sentence ruling to reinstate New York Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron's gag order. Trump was banned from talking about court staff after inspiring harassment of Engoron's clerk.

During a panel discussion on the reinstatement of the gag order on Donald Trump in the $250 million Manhattan financial fraud trial, a former prosecutor bluntly stated that the former president is caught in a trap and that he knows it.

Speaking with MSNBC host Ayman Mohyeldin, legal analyst Renato Mariotti recalled trials he has been involved in and said a familiar pattern is emerging in Judge Arthur Engoron's courtroom.

"You mentioned a moment ago, Ayman, he is losing in court," the analyst explained. "In fact, I would call this basically a long, slow defeat for Trump."

Elaborating, he continued, "You know when we are prosecuting we used the term 'slow plea,' where somebody essentially is either pleading guilty and the defendant couldn't get their head around that and they would just essentially force the defense attorney to go through the motions but it would be a foregone conclusion."

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"I think that is what is happening here," he added. "Trump is trying to get us talking about something else other than his pretty much inevitable defeat in this trial."

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Donald Trump's lawyers have been scrambling to introduce evidence of alleged bias against the former president in his New York fraud case — but they haven't cited a single claim their client has been making on social media.

A spokesperson for New York's Office of Court Administration confirmed that Judge Arthur Engoron's wife never posted on social media about the former president, who had amplified posts by a right-wing influencer who had claimed the spouse had criticized Trump and called for his prosecution.

A former federal prosecutor shrugged off First Amendment concerns over a gag order imposed on Donald Trump in his New York fraud trial.

Judge Arthur Engoron imposed restrictions on what the former president can say about his court staff, and District judge Tanya Chutkan wants to prohibit him from directly targeting court personnel, potential witnesses or the special counsel and his staff, and former prosecutor Shan Wu wrote a column for The Daily Beast knocking down Trump's complaints about these orders.