Letitia James

A New York State judge ruled for summary judgment in Attorney General Letitia James' civil fraud suit against former President Donald Trump and his adult sons, finding that they lied about the value of their assets. The only matter left for a jury to decide is how much they owe in damages.

But Trump had one particularly eye-catching defense for the Trump Organization's valuations, flagged by New York University professor and former Defense Department special counsel Ryan Goodman in the judge's ruling: the Saudis would happily buy his properties at the inflated prices he used.

New York Judge Arthur Engoron on Tuesday found former President Donald Trump and others liable in a lawsuit brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James.

Engoron entered a partial summary judgment, finding Trump fraudulently manipulated the value of his assets. Trump's son Eric Trump and former Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg are named in the lawsuit.

A furious Donald Trump again hit out at New York Attorney General Letitia James’ claims that he vastly inflated his assets in an effort to secure loans and mislead investors in his company – and he called on the “highest courts in New York State” to intervene.

In a Monday social media post, he blasted the “Trump-hating “ prosecutor who has claimed he represented his worth as being $2.2 billion greater than it really is.

The fate of the $250 million Manhattan fraud trial brought against Donald Trump and his Trump Organization by New York Attorney General Letitia James could be determined in two separate court rulings this week with one legal insider claiming Trump shouldn't get his hopes up.

What is at stake is an expected Tuesday ruling from Judge Arthur F. Engoron on what charges he will accept against the former president for massively overstating the value of his properties, and a "Hail Mary" bid to the appeals court to delay the trial or dismiss it altogether with a decision expected on Thursday.

Reacting to the transcript from a hearing in a New York court room where Judge Arthur F. Engoron harshly criticized lawyers representing Donald Trump in his $250 million fraud trial brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James, former prosecutor Glenn Kirschner remarked that the hearing could not have gone worse for the beleaguered legal team.

Appearing on MSNBC with host Jonathan Capehart early Saturday morning, the former federal prosecutor noted the brutal language the judge used in shooting down the attorney's arguments and said there are indications it will only get worse for the former president's lawyers.

"He [Engoron] called those arguments 'borderline frivolous.' He was considering sanctions against Donald Trump's attorney," he explained. "And I love this because Trump's attorney argued, with respect to Donald Trump inflating grossly the value of his properties, his attorney said well, judge, he is a master at finding value in his properties where others do not. Translation, my client is a master in the art of deception. I don't think that hearing went all that well for Trump."

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He later added, "At every turn Judge Engoron was calling Trump's defense attorneys out on their nonsense and I don't think it is going to get any better for them moving forward."

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In a court filing this Thursday, the New York attorney general’s office argued that any delay in its upcoming civil fraud trial against former President Donald Trump “is likely to create a cascade of delays in not only this case but also other litigations involving petitioner Donald J. Trump," Politico reported.

The filing is in response to a lawsuit Trump filed accusing the judge in the case of failing to comply with an earlier appeals court ruling that Trump says lessens the case's severity.

A former Wall Street Journal columnist finds special counsel Jack Smith's proposal to issue a "narrow" gag order for Donald Trump "laughable."

In a Washington Post column, conservative Jason Willick calls Smith's "halfhearted" concern for the former president's First Amendment rights as he requests the court control of Trump's outbursts as "laughable," saying the special prosecutor wants to shut down Trump's "ability to criticize the criminal case against him for trying to overturn his 2020 election loss."

Former President Donald Trump took to Truth Social on Monday to attack the lawsuit by New York Attorney General Letitia James. Trump is headed to court this week to fight a suit alleging he grossly inflated his wealth to score loans, tax breaks, insurance deals and to promote himself and his name.

"It turns out that my Financial Statements show a WORTH which is substantially more than I showed the very well represented (by top flight law firms!) & highly sophisticated Financial Institutions and Banks," Trump claimed on social media. "Also shows that each statement has a Disclaimer Clause strongly telling these institutions to do their own analysis & to not rely on the Financial Statements presented. Additionally, great liquidity - Very little Debt relative to Assets! In other words, Trump Hating Letitia James has no case!"

Pro-Donald Trump protesters arrived in New York on Sunday in a 30-car caravan ahead of a week of legal battles for the former president.

Trump has had a difficult time being able to bring together large groups of supporters in New York. For his first arrest at the court, Trump called on MAGA to take to the streets and speak out against the tyranny of his arrest.

Legal experts looking on from afar are calling Donald Trump's efforts to rid himself of the judge overseeing the $250 million fraud case brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James against his Trump Organization a ploy that will likely fail, but he has little choice because the case against him is so strong.

In interviews with the Daily Beast's Jose Pagliery, the move by Trump's lawyers to use an Article 78 to challenge Justice Arthur F. Engoron, claiming he can't be impartial, was filed way too early with one legal observer calling the former president's move "transparent," by which they meant yet another delaying tactic.

According to the Beast's Pagliery, "Engoron—who is known for keeping his cool—became much less willing to play along with what became obvious delay tactics," adding, "When the AG filed her lawsuit in September 2022, the case was immediately assigned to Engoron, who was already familiar with its long and arduous history. But Trump lawyers once again tried—and failed—to get the case moved to a judge in the commercial division."

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Noting that the judge has consistently shot down motions from Trump's legal team, the former president's lawyers are attempting to use that to prove bias and few think it will work.

According to Diane Peress, a former prosecutor who now teaches at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, "It’s kind of transparent that they’re asking this as they ask for a three-week delay. It’s like, ‘That didn’t work, so let’s throw a wrench in the machinery.'"

Peress pointed out that the former president is doing all he can to antagonize judges with plans to later label adverse rulings as examples of bias.