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Trump’s trial in the USA is causing ridicule – but also serious consequences. Now Giuliani is also accused. What about the court case?
New York City – Monday would have been the second hearing in Donald Trump’s civil fraud trial in the United States. However, the Republican refused to testify, contrary to recent comments from Trump’s lawyer Alina Habba. The lawsuit is worth a total of $250 million, but Trump’s first appearance in court was chaotic.
Alina Habba insisted before the trial that Trump was “not afraid” of giving a second statement. She said outside the courthouse Thursday that the former president would not “cow” under the allegations and would be happy to take the witness stand a second time. Trump had also taken this direction until recently.
Trump’s about-face followed on Sunday. On Truth Social He explained in a post, all in capital letters, that he had already made a successful and conclusive statement in November.
Donald Trump and Alina Habba in the courtroom. (Archive photo) © IMAGO/Doug Mills
Trump’s lack of testimony causes ridicule
Trump critic Ron Filipkowski was one of the people who shared Habba’s comments and Trump’s withdrawal on X, formerly Twitter. Critics such as talk show host Barry Markson and reporter Jonathan Ford pointed out that Trump had cowered, contrary to the lawyer’s statements.
There was also criticism from the judiciary: Civil lawyer Scott Hechinger wrote a “note to lawyers [und] the public”. There he explained that there should never be any promise that a witness statement would come in handy. However, he also emphasized that withdrawing from the statement does not equate to guilt.
Donald Trump continues to deny any wrongdoing. Trump cited expert testimony from Eli Bartov, a research professor at New York University’s Stern School of Business. He said on Thursday that there was “no evidence” of financial fraud. Judge Arthur Engoron has already decided that there was fraud – only the sentence for Trump and his real estate company remains open.
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Letitia James wants Trump’s gag order extended
Trump, supported by his additional lawyer Chris Kise, argues vehemently that legal advisor James is biased against him. It was Letitia James who got Trump’s system rolling. She accused him of using fraudulent financial statements to inflate the value of his properties. His statements are not without consequences for the legal advisor’s office.
The team of senior legal advisor Letitia James spoke out in favor of extending the gag order imposed on Trump, according to the US portal Newsweek. Because of the trial and Trump’s hostile statements, they received hundreds of threatening and anti-Semitic messages. Trump’s legal team requested a ban on the gag order in November. However, the James office spoke out in favor of a gag order in court because of a connection between publicity and hostile statements from Trump and the threatening messages.
Giuliani indicted along with Trump
Former President Rudy Giuliani’s lawyer is now also on trial for defending Donald Trump’s claims of 2020 election manipulation. According to the indictment, he claimed that election workers in Atlanta counted up to 24,000 votes illegally and without observation.
Giuliani has so far been in a good public light. (Archive photo) © IMAGO/Aaron Schwartz
The irony is that the basis of the indictment is a law with which Giuliani made a name for himself early on. With the “Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act”, or Rico Act, the former mayor of New York City made a name for himself across the country in the 1980s when he acted as chief prosecutor against the Italian-American mafia.
The Trump trial, now also with Giuliani’s indictment, seems to be getting bigger and bigger – whether the whole thing will be completed by the primaries for the 2024 presidential election is questionable. Now it remains to be seen what verdict Trump and his co-defendants will face. (Lisa Mahnke)
2023-12-14 11:43:00
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