Washington [US], December 8: Former US President Donald Trump returns to civil court in New York to be tried on charges of business fraud.
AFP on December 8 reported that former US President Donald Trump returned to court in New York in a civil case alleging business fraud and once again criticized the trial as unfair.
Mr. Trump and his two eldest sons are accused of inflating the value of real estate assets to benefit from loans and insurance.
Before the trial, he wrote on social networks that "the case was decided against me right before the start" of the trial. Speaking to the press before entering the courtroom, he said "this is a witch hunt".
During the trial on December 7, he called Judge Arthur Engoron who tried the case "crazy and heartless", and Attorney General Letitia James in New York state "racist". Ms. James is the plaintiff in the case.
Dressed in a dark blue suit and red tie, he sat flipping through documents, while the legal team questioned a witness in court, accounting professor Eli Bartov, who gave evidence supporting the argument that he Trump does not inflate property values.
MrBartov said Ms James's claim was without merit because of "rules-based accounting... some of the allegations border on the absurd".
"Three or four percent of companies report that they have errors in their financial statements. Financial errors are normal. They are unavoidable. If you intentionally make fraudulent errors, you will do everything possible to hide this mistake... there is no concealment at all," he analyzed.
He argued that balance sheet regulations meant the true value of Mr Trump's assets was underestimated because intangible assets were not taken into account. It is expected that Mr. Trump will return to court in New York on December 11.
At break time, Mr. Trump looked at a painting of him going to court, pointed to his neck and said "it seems like I need to lose a little weight." The painting was painted by media companies who hired artists to recreate the scene inside, because the court banned photography, according to The Independent.
In addition to the civil case in New York, the former president is scheduled to appear in court on March 4, 2024 in Washington DC on charges of trying to overturn the 2020 election results .
In addition, Mr. Trump faces federal charges of mishandling confidential documents after he left the White House and is accused of trying to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia.
Source: ThanhNien Newspaper
