Trump's demand to dismiss fraud trial denied in scathing ruling: report
Judge Arthur Engoron Monday relentlessly mocked Trump, his attorneys and his financial expert in a scathing rejection of the former president’s fifth dismissal request in his $250 million fraud case, according to a new report.
Engoron slammed accounting expert Eli Bartov, the NYU professor who was reportedly paid nearly $900,000 to testify that Trump’s financial records did not fraudulently inflate his worth, as is contended by New York Attorney General Letitia James, ABC News reports.
"Bartov is a tenured professor, but all that his testimony proves is that for a million or so dollars, some experts will say whatever you want them to say," Engoron reportedly wrote.
Engoron was equally dismissive of Trump’s lawyers’ repeated argument that the statute of limitations had passed — James case looked at Trump Organization business dealings between 2011 and 2021 — and that his lenders' satisfaction was proof against them having been defrauded.
"That the instant lenders made millions of dollars and were happy with the transactions does not mean that they were not damaged by lending at lower interest rates than they otherwise would have," Engoron wrote.
The New York City civil court judge then targeted Trump himself, concluding his claims were "misstatements at best and fraud at worst,” according to the report.
“A lie is still a lie,” Engoron said.
For her part, James called the dismissal demand a political stunt in a letter sent to Engoron.
The filing was “designed to provide Mr. Trump, his co-defendants, and their counsel with sound bites for press conferences, Truth Social posts, and cable news appearances,” James wrote.
“Unlike a fine Bordeaux, Defendants' case for a directed verdict does not improve with age.”
Trump has denied wrongdoing, but Engoron ruled before the trial began that he was liable for fraud. The trial will determine damages.