By Luis de Jesus
06 Nov 2023, 22:27 PM EST
Former US President Donald Trump reproached Judge Arthur Engoron this Monday, during his testimony as a witness in the trial against the Trump Organization, for having summarily ruled against him on the charge of fraud. The Republican stressed that the judge “knew nothing” about him or his business to reach that decision.
“You ruled against me, you said I was a fraud before you knew anything about me,” the former president claimed to Engoron, while looking directly at him, during his testimony as a witness in the business fraud trial against the Trump Organization, which is being held. out against the former president and two of his sons.
He stated, according to what was reported by the Efe agency, that “fraud is the court” because the properties were not valued correctly and assured that he did a good job as president of the United States.
Donald Trump recalled that public appraisers in Palm Beach County, Florida, estimated that his Mar-a-Lago mansion is worth $18 million, but he assured that the property is worth hundreds of millions more. Something that, according to the tycoon, everyone knows.
On several occasions, Efe noted, the former Republican president said that the financial condition documents on which the case is based have no value. And he alleged that these papers include a clause that warns that the data is subjective and that encourages making one’s own analyzes and not relying on them.
Trump added that this provision is always respected in the courts and accused Arthur Engoron of not doing so. Faced with that, the judge invited him to learn about the clause by reading his implicit opinion in the ruling on persistent fraud against Trump and the other defendants, Efe noted.
Prosecutor Letitia James, who throughout the process has promised to go to the end and guarantee justice, and who was sitting in the front row of the audience, also received attacks from the United States presidential candidate, who described her as “corrupt.” , just like he did with Engoron.
The trial will last until the end of December. In it, several charges of illegalities in the Trump Organization related to the alleged manipulation of asset figures for years to obtain favorable conditions with insurers and banks are settled.
The judge has already resolved the main charge, holding Donald Trump, his sons Donald Jr. and Eric and two former executives responsible for continued fraud. He also ordered the suspension of their business licenses in the state.
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