'The Judge cut me off!' Trump explodes about closing arguments in N.Y. fraud trial
Former President Donald Trump took to his Truth Social platform on Thursday to rage about New York state Justice Arthur Engoron, the judge overseeing the former president's civil fraud trial.
"The Judge cut me off in Court and would not let me explain that I was worth much more than the 4 plus $Billion (years ago) I show in the Financial Statements, which are conservatively done," wrote Trump. "Judge Engoron, curiously, cut Mar-a-Lago’s VALUE by a Billion Dollars, all the way down to $18,000,000 (and other assets as well!) to try and save the A.G.’s case."
"What is going on here?" Trump added. "WITCH HUNT! ELECTION INTERFERENCE!"
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Originally, Engoron denied Trump the right to speak at closing arguments of the trial altogether, because he refused to agree to some of the standard terms of closing arguments, including avoiding political statements or trying to introduce new claims, as well as missing the deadline to submit his proposed statement. But at the last moment, Engoron allowed Trump to speak after his attorneys — but cut the speech short after a few minutes after he began to rage against the whole process.
The civil fraud case, brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James, accuses Trump and his two adult sons of systematically lying about Trump Organization properties' values, and sometimes even square footage. James is seeking $370 million in fines and the dissolution of the Trump Organization in New York.
Trump denies all of the allegations — although Engoron has already ruled on at least one of the counts on the merits in summary judgment, leaving the case mostly a matter of assessing damages.