– Donald Trump prepares to testify at his civil trial
After his children Eric and Donald Jr last week, it is the turn of Donald Trump himself to be questioned this Monday during his civil trial in New York.
Published today at 4:33 a.m.
Donald Trump, in New York court on October 25, 2023.
AFP
Donald Trump is expected in New York court on Monday to defend himself in a high-risk civil trial for his real estate empire, the first in a long series of legal meetings that will upend his path to a possible return to the House -White.
At 10:00 a.m. local time (4:00 p.m. Swiss), the tempestuous 77-year-old billionaire will sit to the left of his judge, Arthur Engoron, whom he has called all the names – “thug”, “disturbed”, “hateful” – since the trial opened on October 2. For his part, the 74-year-old magistrate with slightly disheveled white hair issued him two fines of 5,000 and 10,000 dollars (approximately 4,500 and 9,000 francs) for attacking his clerk.
Three years of investigations
Under the large mural with slightly faded colors celebrating the adoption of a “Charter of Liberties” in 1683, the former President of the United States must take the oath, like his two children Donald Jr and Eric a few days ago , and being questioned by one of New York State Attorney General Letitia James’ deputies.
After three years of investigations, the elected Democrat filed a civil lawsuit against the staff of the Trump Organization, accusing the Trump father and son of having colossally inflated the assets of the group – a myriad of companies managing skyscrapers, hotels and luxury residences or golf courses around the world – to obtain better bank loans and more favorable insurance conditions.
She is demanding a $250 million fine and bans on the Republican billionaire and his children from running businesses. Heard twice during the investigation, Donald Trump denounced, in the preamble to his first testimony on August 10, 2022, “the biggest witch hunt in the history of our country”, before remaining silent. During his second hearing, on April 13, 2023, he refuted any fraud, ensuring that the banks “had made a lot of money”.
“Repeated frauds”
The trial is off to a bad start for the Trump family: a few days before its opening, the judge ruled that the New York State Attorney General’s Office presented “conclusive evidence that between 2014 and 2021, the defendants overvalued the assets” of the group of “812 million (to) 2.2 billion dollars” depending on the year, in the figures recorded on Donald Trump’s annual financial statements.
As a result of “repeated fraud,” he ordered the liquidation of companies managing these assets, such as the Trump Tower on New York’s 5th Avenue or the soon-to-be century-old neo-Gothic style skyscraper at 40 Wall Street. In other words, if the decision, suspended on appeal, was applied, the Republican billionaire would lose control of part of his real estate empire, he who had launched into politics on his image as a successful builder.
For the past month, Donald Trump, who is not facing prison in this civil case, has regularly attended the debates, taking advantage of his visits to pose as the victim of a legal scheme in front of the cameras. Theses were repeated the same evening on most of the media popular with conservatives, such as Fox News. On the merits of the case, his lawyers refute any fraud, arguing that real estate evaluations are necessarily subjective and that the lending banks have not lost a dollar.
AFP
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2023-11-06 03:33:38
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