One day in a meeting in front of the red caps of his supporters, the next day in court: Donald Trump returns on Tuesday to attend his civil trial in New York for vast alleged financial fraud, illustrating his dual campaign, between platforms and courtrooms.
The 77-year-old former American president, who wants to reconquer the White House in 2024, had already gone at the beginning of October to the opening of this trial, in which he is accused with two of his children, Eric and Donald Jr, of having overvalued its New York golf courses, residences and skyscrapers by several billion dollars to obtain more advantageous loans from the banks.
Donald Trump, who is not required to appear, is playing big during this civil trial: control of his economic empire is at stake, in addition to financial penalties of up to $250 million.
His hearing is expected to take place later in the trial.
During the first three days of the hearing, he did not miss an opportunity to appear before the cameras as the victim of a legal scheme hatched by the Democrats, while his campaign team solicited donations from his supporters.
– “Thug” –
Outside the courtroom, Donald Trump had repeatedly and virulently attacked New York State Attorney General Letitia James, “corrupt” and “racist”, the judge leading the proceedings Arthur Engoron, “a thug”, and even the clerk whom he made fun of on social networks, attracting a sharp reprimand and a ban on doing it again by the magistrate.
In one of the other trials awaiting Donald Trump, over his alleged attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, the judge on Monday also banned any public comments targeting prosecutors, court staff and witnesses. “A TERRIBLE THING FOR DEMOCRACY,” lamented the Republican billionaire on his Truth Social network.
The return of the former American president to his civil trial on Tuesday, confirmed to AFP by one of his spokespersons, could augur an explosive duel with his former lawyer turned sworn enemy, Michael Cohen. But the latter’s testimony was postponed for medical reasons.
The Republican billionaire should also be present at the hearings on Wednesday and Thursday, after two meetings on Monday in Iowa, as a presage of his campaign for the Republican primaries, of which he is the favorite in the polls.
In total, four criminal trials await the former President of the United States, the first of which, on his attempts to reverse the 2020 results, is due to open on March 4 before federal justice in Washington, the day before one of the biggest deadlines in the Republican primaries, “Super Tuesday”, which concerns around fifteen states.
– Established frauds –
The Attorney General of the State of New York accuses Donald Trump, his two children and two former executives of the Trump Organization of having very significantly overvalued his properties during the 2010s, from his triplex in the Trump Tower, to the buildings Park Avenue or 40 Wall Street in New York.
Even before the opening of the proceedings, Judge Engoron decided that repeated fraud had been established and that the assets had been overvalued between 812 million and 2.2 billion dollars per year between 2014 and 2021. He therefore took measures confiscation and liquidation of companies which could lead to the dismantling of Donald Trump’s real estate empire. But their application was suspended on appeal.
According to American media, Donald Trump is also expected Tuesday, after the hearing in his civil trial, to give a deposition in the context of lawsuits filed against the Department of Justice by a former agent and an ex-lawyer working for the FBI , on the sidelines of the investigation into possible Russian interference during the 2016 presidential election.
2023-10-17 00:55:02
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