New York state Attorney General Letitia James is sharing short video recaps as the trial on her fraud case against former President Donald Trump and the ex-president’s family business moves forward.
On Monday, she discussed on X (formerly Twitter) testimony from a Trump executive that pointed to evident intentions from the former president himself to see his personal worth as reflected on statements of financial condition go up — without regard for the underlying evidence, James has contended. “For years, the defendants built a business on lies and misrepresentations,” James said. “To quote the judge — and the law, you can not make false statements and use them in business.”
The testimony pointing to the former president was from an assistant vice president who James said was responsible for the preparation of those contested claims of the value of Trump’s various assets. The witness was asked on the stand specifically if Allen Weisselberg — a longtime Trump ally and another defendant in the case — ever relayed a sentiment from the former president of wanting his personal net worth higher, and the executive answered affirmatively. It’s been cited previously, but there’s a particularly memorable, egregious example of the kind of tactics used in that Trump previously claimed his personal residence at Trump Tower in Manhattan was some three times as large as the reality.
Trump is continuing his incessant, highly personalized tirades against James as the trial on her claims moves forward, though she wasn’t among the forbidden targets from a limited gag order that the presiding judge already imposed. But Trump’s rhetoric is extreme. And even apart from the targeted attacks, he’s also making absurd claims like that Mar-a-Lago, his Florida estate, is appropriately valued in the billions of dollars — a level of value that would make it among the most highly valued properties in the country and world. There’s no clear evidence for the Trumps’ claims here.
Today, we began the third week of our trial against Donald Trump and the Trump Organization.
We heard from witnesses who helped to create Trump’s fraudulent statements of financial condition, the documents at the center of our case. ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/vutkFNK0Uz
— NY AG James (@NewYorkStateAG) October 17, 2023
