Former US President Donald Trump attacked the judge presiding over the $250 million civil fraud lawsuit that threatens his family’s economic empire on Monday, November 6.
It was Trump’s most dramatic outburst from the witness stand.
Trump shouted against Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Arthur Engoron on the witness stand, claiming he was prejudiced against him.personal insults at a judge he claimed was prejudiced against him and the state attorney general
Trump branded Letitia James’ civil trial “election interference” while raising the specter of urban violence.
“I believe that this case is a disgrace. Many people are leaving New York because of this type of mentality, he claims.
He complained about “everybody being killed on the streets of New York” while James was “sitting here” in court.
“We sit here all day–it’s election interference, because you want to keep me in the courthouse!” he went on to say
Then Trump added, “I want a jury.”
“She sued me under a statute that doesn’t allow it to be a jury,” he continued, later adding, “It’s an unfair witch hunt.”
The outburst came in response to questions from a lawyer representing New York Attorney General Letitia James, who accuses Trump, his two adult sons, and his firm of inflating the valuations of his assets for financial gain.
James is attempting to permanently bar Trump, Donald Trump Jr., and Eric Trump from operating businesses in New York because she claims they have engaged in years of financial deception.
Her lawsuit claims that the Trumps purposefully misrepresented the prices of Trump’s assets on financial statements in order to raise Trump’s net worth and receive tax breaks and better loan and insurance terms.
During his diatribe, Trump also called James a “political hack” and other derogatory terms.
During his first few minutes on the witness stand, Trump slammed the lawyer interrogating him and his three Democratic adversaries, calling them “all haters.”
He further claimed that Engoron “always rules against me,” causing the judge to retort that the claim “isn’t true.”
Engoron was agitated at times by Trump’s testimony and his attorneys’ interruptions. He regularly advised Trump to answer questions directly rather than deliver “speeches,” and he told the defense team that Trump’s outbursts could jeopardize his legal case.
“This is a very unfair trial,” Trump said once.
Trump’s rage was obvious even before he entered the courtroom, when he repeated his accusation that the trial was a type of “election interference” plot to derail his presidential candidacy in 2024.
“It’s a very sad situation for our country,” Trump said to reporters as he entered the courthouse.
“At the end of the day, the only thing that matters are the facts,” James said as he walked into the courthouse on Monday. “And numbers, my friends, don’t lie.”
The former president, who is currently the Republican presidential front-runner in 2024, is taking the witness stand for the first time.
Trump maintains that the financial statements at the heart of the dispute were never intended to be final.
“My worth is far greater than on financial statements, plus they contain a full disclaimer clause telling readers of this information to do their own due diligence,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social on Nov. 2.
