Trump continued to #attack#James, #Engoron & the trial itself in posts to his social media platform this morning.
He again suggested that the trial is an attempt to interfere w/ his presidential campaign & complained about the lack of a jury in the trial.
(It is long established that either are issues)
Trump won’t be in court today. He had no legal obligation to attend, & left yesterday, noticeably angry.
Trump's lawyer #JesusSuarez continues his lengthy cross-examination.
#KevinWallace, the lead lawyer on the #NYAG’s case, objected after Suarez began to ask #Bender about financial statements year by year, despite getting similar answers each time (& being told not to by the Judge yesterday)
Suarez asked why #MarkPomerantz, a fmr prosecutor in the DA's case, said in his book that Mazars sent Bender in to meet w/them w/o his own counsel & told Mazars it was in a precarious legal position. Bender said he was “satisfied” w/his #legal representation & wasn’t aware of that convo between Pomerantz & Mazars.
#Suarez also tried to insinuate that #Mazars tried to make #Bender the fall guy by sending him in to meet w/the DA w/only the counsel for Mazars. (Counsel for the company would owe duties to the co alone & is supposed to warn employees or fmr employees that in the event of a conflict, their duties are to the co.)
Bender was called by the defense in the #TrumpOrganization#tax#fraud#trial last year & spent 3 days on the stand as their lawyers suggested he failed to alert #Trump to the scam.
Another attorney for #Trump's side, #CliffRobert, grilled #Bender about the number of times he's testified that he can't remember something since he first took the stand on Monday.
"Over the last few days, you have said 'I don’t recall' or 'I don’t remember' over 90 times?" Robert asked. "I believe that’s right," Bender answered.
Commenting on the nitpickiness of #CliffRobert's questioning, Justice #Engoron quipped that it was beginning to sound like Bill Clinton being questioned about "what the definition of 'is' is."
After some brief re-direct, #Bender is done testifying (sheesh, felt like Turturro in Quiz Show there for a bit) & the AG's office has called its 2nd witness, fmr #TrumpOrganization snr VP #JeffMcConney.
#McConney testified that he retired earlier this yr & was given a severance of $500k, $125k of which he’s still owed but isn’t contingent on anything other than his “being alive.”
Trump gripes trial is 'unfair' after judge's #GagOrder
(it was just in regards to the judge’s staff.)
After the trial wrapped up yesterday, Trump aired his #grievances in a post on his social media platform, saying the trial is “unfair” & again suggesting it was an attempt to interfere w/his presidential campaign.
#Bender’s failure to complain about the #statements of #financial condition & #valuation methods doesn’t mean those valuations & statements they were presented were reasonable. It just shows that Bender@& #Mazars were sloppy, if not financially beholden to the #TrumpOrg.
Yes Mazars had access to data that banks & lenders didn’t, but the employees & execs of #Trump Org weren’t entirely honest w/them.
Bender & Mazars may have been equal parts victims of & accomplices to Trump’s alleged fraud.
#Engoron & #Trump's lawyers engaged in a heated back & forth about #Bender’s inconsistent testimony.
“Mr. Bender is not on trial here. Someone else is,” Engoron said, prompting #Kise & #Habba to jump up to disagree. (facts)
Kise told Engoron that Bender’s #credibility is very much on #trial. Engoron pushed back, telling Kise, “You’re not allowed to waste time.” Habba then accused Bender of being evasive & “having no memory as we sit here.”
“The government brought a case accusing my client of a staggering #fraud,” specific to year, "but now when it’s time for us to defend ourselves,” Engoron will not let them examine him on a year by year basis, #Kise said, adding that he will attempt to streamline the case, but the devil’s in the details.
“This is ridiculous!” #Engoron yelled, then lowered his voice, before saying, “there’s no point” in asking #Bender year by year.
As the AG did w/ #Bender, they are reviewing specific language from #WhitleyPenn’s written description of the process. He says they went through the 2020 statement of #financial condition to understand how to obtain info & their process.
#CameronHarris discussed Whitley Penn’s internal “program” for compiling statements of financial condition, which appears to be a guide to how to handle compilations.
The internal program for compilation does “not verify any of the accuracy of the information provided,” which distinguishes a compilation from a review or an audit. It does not include, for example, analytics or inquiries of management, much less verification of work papers.
After defense highlighted Bender's inconsistent statements about Mazars' use of specialists to evaluate assets, #Bender seemed to struggle to articulate how Mazars provided #accounting expertise.
Defense atty #JesusSuarez told Justice #Engoron he planned to continue cross-examining #Bender through Thurs afternoon, but promised to "streamline" questions after the judge criticized the timing.
#JeffMcConney, a top #TrumpOrganization exec, is expected as the next witness, & he’ll be ready tomorrow in case cross-examination of Bender concludes earlier than expected.