Alina Habba, prowling the well of the courtroom, said this case started before Tish James was elected, pointing at AG. Engoron reminds her to stick to the facts, which she says she is trying to do, but that James’s conduct is part of the factual record.
She turns to the claims against Weisselberg & McConney, starting with insurance fraud. The employee at Zurich on whose testimony the AG relies admitted she did not understand the difference between an appraisal and a valuation.
Zurich also continues to write bonds to Trump Org. without statements of financial condition. They wrote 7 alone in 2023. How then was this “sophisticated,” highly regulated entity defrauded?
Habba insists McConney was “human, not AI,” taking an under-her-breath swipe at Michael Cohen, and relied on Bender and other professionals who supplied valuation information to him.
And finally, the triplex: Habba essentially says that if someone were trying to commit fraud, they would not ask a broker for the square footage of that apartment. In other words, my clients are too smart to do something so transparently stupid.
In the same sarcastic tone, Habba disputes that Trump intentionally inflated the size of his New York triplex.
“Explain to me, if you’re trying to commit fraud, why you would put in writing to a real estate agent, 'Excuse me, can you tell me how big this apartment is?'”
NFL Habba spent the morning daydreaming about who will play her in the movie version of this. Although she is hoping for Kim Kardashian, the role is going to require someone with comedy chops, like Sunita Mani from Glow.
After Alina Habba says of Tish James, “I turned around this morning and I looked back and her shoes were off and she has a Starbucks coffee,” the judge lightly scolds Habba for bringing up a topic that doesn't have to do with the evidence or the law.
The last person to speak is Cliff Robert, who represents the people who perhaps have the most to lose, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., who run the Trump Organization today and are their dad’s figurative and literal heirs.
Robert has less than 15 minutes, but he’s focused: No witness has testified to Eric or Junior having anything more than “peripheral involvement” with the statements of financial condition.
Robert is conveniently forgetting that a Trump Org. witness testified to a relatively recent Zoom call with those two specifically about the statements of financial condition.
Don Jr. and Eric Trump's defense lawyer, Cliff Robert, is now up. He's pleading for the judge to let the grown up boys off the hook.
"They’re seeking the death penalty against them, professionally."
“There are thousands of employees that rely on Eric and Don keeping their hands on the wheel,” he said. “Payroll doesn’t come from the heavens. Payroll comes from work.”
every big corporation that goes bankrupt or falls victim to corporate raiders puts thousands of innocent, hard working people out of work. Unlike Enron, most of them were not criminal enterprises. Trump org is Enron on steroids.
Wallace continues that Don Jr. admitted he knows nothing about GAAP—and it would have been “gross recklessness” on my clients’ part if they substituted their judgment for those of the accountants.
Robert goes on, “The law is not stupid.” He puts up Kevin Wallace’s own certification of the complaint, which he says contains a “material misstatement.” Should we disbar or suspend Mr. Wallace? Claw back his salary? Of course not. It was a mistake.
Robert tried to chalk up entire case roping in Eric to a single email from 10 yrs ago.
👉🏼That apparently did not go over well w judge, who's been inundated with MAGA death threats.
"I’ve been getting a lot of emails lately that I don’t read": Engoron👈🏼
Robert: AG trying to take away "my client’s ability to do biz in NY, my client’s ability to lease car, my client’s ability to get mortgage… to run a business their father started…"
(As an aside, Robert is the sleeper hit of the Trump lawyers today. Even though there is indeed evidence of his clients’ liability, his argument, which is also more respectful than anyone else’s, has intuitive appeal and just woke up a tired press corps.)
Robert calls Michael Cohen a "loser" with a "capital L," and says he didn't have the "chutzpah" to accuse his clients Eric Trump and Don Jr. of wrongdoing.
Robert says that the AG's office is trying to take away the Trump sons' "livelihood" because they signed financial statements and they claim they "made a mistake."
A couple points on that:
AG claims they knowingly signed to false statements.
AG asked for a 5-year ban for the sons, not a lifetime ban they asked for Trump
NEW: Chris Kise asks for permission to have Trump speak. Engoron, “Do you promise to just comment on the facts and the law?”
👉🏼Trump starts talking immediately without agreeing.👈🏼
“What has happened here is a fraud on ME. . . . The amount of taxes I have paid over this period is close to $300 million. They don’t want me here anymore. I have a problem; they want to make sure I don’t run again.”
Deny, Attack, and Reverse Victim and Offender. Jennifer Joy Freyd formulated it, and it explains Trump's typical reactions better than anything else I have ever heard. A theory from 1997, page 29 and 30 of the original paper are GOLD, and the reaction is how a serial abuser copes with being held responsible.
@zakalwe@Urban_Hermit@BernieDoesIt@GottaLaff
Yes, depressing but also naming things gives you power over the thing. “Yep, another DARVO example. Wish the orange turd would pick a new technique. Or, better yet, that the voters who voted for him and his Republican enablers will also recognize DARVO and switch their votes.”
That last part was a fantasy….
@zakalwe@Urban_Hermit@BernieDoesIt@GottaLaff
And years ago early in my Army training, I was taught to “lie, deny, & make counter accusations” when undergoing interrogation. Thankfully, I’ve never been interrogated but it has helped me to recognize similar behavior, particularly in Republican politicians who seem to use the technique routinely, like ALL THE TIME. It’s really something to recognize.
Trump goes on — without any interruption from Engoron or her team — and attacks James, accusing her of election interference. “You have your own agenda,” 👉🏼Trump angrily says to Engoron. “You can’t listen for more than one minute!”👈🏼
Trump, speaking to the court: "When you say, 'Don’t go outside of these things,' we have a situation where I’m an innocent man. I’ve been persecuted by someone running for office."
Engoron is looking at him with a furrowed brow.
Klasfeld:
Trump launches into a tirade about the case, calling it "disgraceful."
"This is a fraud on me. What’s happened here. sir is a fraud on me," he tells the judge.
@GottaLaff He's, again, actively defying a direct order from the court and he has no reason to expect any consequences to accrue this time either based on past experience.
Engoron pleads with Kise, “Mr. Kise, please control your client.” Trump nonetheless accuses James of going after him for her political gain, including an allegedly “failed” run for Governor, at which point Engoron shuts it down.
But it’s too late. Everything Trump wanted to say was said. And now, having said it, he has left the courtroom after insisting James should pay him for the havoc she’s wreaked on his company.
Civil contempt is usually imposed at the time of the act, as it's essentially a fiat power of the judge. Criminal contempt is usually imposed after the fact, since it requires the same elements and process as any criminal matter.
I think it's unlikely that Kise will be found in contempt here, though Trump himself might be. While it's possible to hold an attorney in contempt for the actions of a client, it's not the preferred or usual approach.
@GottaLaff
Why do they ALWAYS coddle this pile of orange crap? It really is getting disturbing. He should have been cut off as soon as he broke the rules. I guess the judge figured it's not going to make a difference? But it is with his MAGAt propaganda program. 🤬
My legally uneducated opinion is that the Judge let him go on that one because he's about to lower the boom big time, and no one will legitimately be able to say he didn't provide him every possible opportunity for a fair hearing.
Again, completely uneducated legally, just a hunch based on how people work.
@signalthirteen@GottaLaff they already have a loaded cannon for there not being a jury. We all know there's no jury because they ignored the deadline to request one, but the fact that there is no jury is tfg's fault will be completely ignored by the right wingnuts.
@GottaLaff@signalthirteen I agree. He gave Trump his moment in court. I sometimes watch courtcam videos on YouTube and the judges always seem to do this. Next, they lower the boom.
Dear the Press: The REASON Trump launches these tirades, is bc he knows you're all INCAPABLE of reporting on the evidence that came before it. Simply absolute incapable of reporting on anything but his tirade, allowing him to drown out facts.
@GottaLaff
Oh, I've made a mess here: I meant to boost your toot that had EmptyWheel's observation on the failure of the press. Instead of boosting, I accidentally did an empty reply. That led you to ask about that. I then deleted my empty reply and boosted the toot as originally intended. Sorry for confusion!
...Keep us on edge, ...keep us on edge, ...keep us on edge, ...keep us on edge, ...keep us on edge, ...keep us on edge, ...keep us on edge, ...keep us on edge, ...keep us on edge #msm
@GottaLaff
MainStream Media is no longer journalism. Big Media is obsessed with shareholder value, aka profit-driven. Which means they need eyeballs. Which can only come thru drama like Trump's tirades. Facts are boring and don't draw attention. Also, most Americans prefer drama of the stupid in the "news" instead of intelligent discourse. Sad but true.
@GottaLaff This is why I oppose including any those thousands of triumphalist photos of him with critiques. We're blotting out our own critiques, capturing a gratifying number of views but always as a victory for him rather than a defeat, regardless of the import of the critique. Just even discussing him has this effect. Imma go now and look at some flowers. Which has the effect of silencing me ...
@GottaLaff I think the judge gave the leeway so as not to be accused of censorship. Glad Habba mentioned TFG is worth billions. He shouldn't need financial help to pay the giant amount he's about to get ordered to pay. He was already found guilty or liable. This was all about the amount of the penalties and losing the ability to run a business in NY.
Also, stop sending him money. "HE'S WORTH BILLIONS."- ALINA H
@GottaLaff At what point does Trump get found in contempt? I mean, come on. We all knew this was going to happen if he was allowed to open his mouth. He can't stop himself.
Not for Laffy: Does she really think her theatrics are going to impress the judge in any kind of positive way for her client? I think they have all given up and are just perpetually auditioning for Fox News.
@mastodonmigration , I don't think it will work well at all for this case, especially given the bomb threat against the judge this morning. They can pretend that this is professional wrestling but they are hurting people.
Think you are right that this is all for Fox News and his rallies. Whipping people up with grievance and hate. They know their supporters and what works with them.
@GottaLaff
This thread (and the after-lunch thread) from @GottaLaff are great blow-by-blow accounts of the Fraud-of-Trump trial.
Such a shame that he can't be jailed on this one.
I hope Scottish prosecutors are watching.
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