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New York Attorney General Letitia James said “the Trump show is over” as the fraud trial against him resumed Wednesday afternoon in NYC, with the former president conspicuously absent following a lunch break.

Donald Trump was slated to return to Mar-a-Lago after attending the first three days of the trial that began Monday, Oct. 2, where he took every opportunity to blast James, the case, the judge and even the judge’s clerk, prompting a partial gag order. Trump is not required to appear in court.

Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron will decide Trump’s fate in the non-jury trial, which is scheduled to run until the end of December.

The $250 million fraud lawsuit brought by NY AG James accuses Trump, sons Eric and Don Jr., and the Trump Organization of a decades-long scheme, over-inflating the values of his many properties.

The former commander-in-chief has claimed that the charges against him amount to election interference in the 2024 presidential race.

Trump, Don Jr., and daughter Ivanka Trump are all on the witness list.

This live blog has ended.

Follow the Post’s live coverage of theNYC civil fraud trial against Donald Trumphere.

What to know

Judge shoots down Trump's bid to pause civil fraud trial

By Elizabeth Karpen

An appeals judge Friday rejected Donald Trump’s bid to halt his $250 million civil fraud trial that began this week.

First Department Justice Peter Moulton rejected the motion to put the trial on hold but did grant Trump’s side’s request to temporarily stop the cancellation of his business certificates from taking effect while the appeal plays out.

The trial went forward in Manhattan Supreme Court to determine how much Trump should pay for the fraud — which the AG says should be at least $250 million — and the additional claims in the suit.

Donald Trump
Former President Donald Trump sits in the courtroom before the continuation of his civil business fraud trial at New York Supreme Court. AP

Trump shouldn’t be rewarded for waiting until after the trial began to ask “in a highly disruptive manner” for the pause, AG lawyer Dennis Fan wrote in the filing.

“Defendants seek to sow chaos by disrupting an ongoing trial that has now been going for a week,” Fan said. 

Friday’s trial proceeding ended around 1 p.m. with testimony from former Trump Org controller Jeffrey McConney, concluding without cross examination from Trump’s side. 

Former Trump Org CFO Allen Weisselberg is expected to take the witness stand Tuesday after the long weekend.

AG Tish James says Trump ‘doesn’t care about numbers or facts’ in scathing post

By Priscilla DeGregory
New York Attorney General Letitia James' post is pictured
New York Letitia James blasted Donald Trump on social media in rare move during her fraud trial against the former president. Twitter/@NewYorkStateAG

The state’s top prosecutor ripped a page right out of the Donald Trump playbook — bashing the former president in a video posted on social media..

New York Attorney General Letitia James took the rare step of ripping Trump in footage posted on X during her ongoing $250 million civil fraud suit against the 77-year-old former president.

“Donald Trump often calls his business ‘perfect,’ and ‘beautiful’,” James said in the roughly minute-long social media bash Thursday night.

“But it’s clear that when it comes to running a company [Trump] doesn’t care about the real numbers or the facts. He is more interested in personal attacks and distractions.”

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Trump’s lawyers ask appeals court to halt current $250M civil fraud trial

By Priscilla DeGregory and Ben Kochman

Donald Trump’s lawyers Friday asked an appeals court to halt the $250 million civil fraud trial that began this week against the former president.

Trump, 77, had separately filed a notice of appeal Wednesday seeking to overturn a bombshell ruling from Justice Arthur Engoron that sided with New York Attorney General Letitia James on one of her main fraud claims against the real-estate tycoon.

Engoron — who is deciding on the Manhattan trial rather than a jury –found that the 45th president was liable for fraud when he exaggerated the value of his assets for years.

As part of the summary judgment ruling, Engoron also revoked some of Trump’s business licenses in the Empire State and said a receiver needed to be appointed to oversee the winding down of those companies.

Meanwhile, the trial went forward in the Manhattan Supreme Court on the remaining claims and to determine how much Trump should pay for the fraud — which the AG says should be at least $250 million.

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Trump again blasts 'witch hunt' as trial concludes for day

By Priscilla DeGregory and Kyle Schnitzer

A few hours after leaving trial and heading back to Florida, Trump again attacked James, the case and Engoron on Truth Social.

“This is yet another Witch Hunt for the purposes of Election Interference,” the GOP presidential candidate wrote in the post.

Shortly after, trial concluded for the day with Donald Bender expected to resume testimony for a fourth day Thursday.

Auditor who handled Trump's books says son Eric 'set the tone at the top' of Trump Org

By Kyle Schnitzer and Priscilla DeGregory

Camron Harris, an auditor at accounting firm Whitley Penn, testified in the afternoon that Eric Trump “set the tone at the top” for the board of trustees at the Trump Organization.

eric trump in court
An auditor testified that Eric Trump “set the tone at the top” for the board of trustees at the Trump Organization, during the $250 million fraud trial in civil court in Manhattan on Wednesday. POOL/AFP via Getty Images
eric trump in court
Eric, the Trump Org's executive vice president, is also named as a defendant in the case. Getty Images
eric trump in court
He has been present in court along with his father. Getty Images
eric trump in court, and trump attorney alina Habba
The auditor, who handled Trump’s books in 2020, said on the stand that "the client is responsible" for the documents that AG James claims Trump lied on from 2011 through 2021. REUTERS

Eric, the Trump Org's executive vice president, is also named as a defendant in the case and was present in court in the morning.

Harris, who handled Trump’s books in 2020, also testified that "the client’s responsible" for the statement of financial condition — documents which AG James claims Trump lied on from 2011 through 2021.

AG Letitia James declares 'the Trump show is over' when trial resumes without him after lunch break

By Kyle Schnitzer and Priscilla DeGregory

New York Attorney General Letitia James said “the Trump show is over” as trial resumed Wednesday afternoon with the former president conspicuously absent.

Donald Trump was slated to return to Mar-a-Lago after attending the first three days of trial – where he took every opportunity to blast James, the case, the judge and even the judge’s clerk, prompting a partial gag order.

letitia james in court hallway
AG James said “the Trump show is over” as trial resumed Wednesday afternoon with the former president conspicuously absent. AP
letitia james in court hallway
She said Trump’s appearance at the civil trial — which he’s not required to attend — was a “political stunt” and a “fundraising stop.” AP
letitia james in court hallway
"I will not be bullied," the AG said of the former president’s personal attacks on her. “Justice will be served.” AP

James said Trump’s appearance at the civil trial — which he’s not required to attend — was a “political stunt” and a “fundraising stop.”

"I will not be bullied," the AG said of the former president’s personal attacks on her. “Justice will be served.”

Meanwhile, Trump confirmed in a fundraising email minutes before the afternoon session began that he had left the trial for the day, CNN reported.

Trump's rambling pre-lunch rant: 'This is rigged ... the judge knows what he’s going to do'

By Kyle Schnitzer and Kaydi Pelletier

Maybe he's hangry.

When court proceedings broke for a lunch recess Wednesday, Donald Trump headed to the hallway to address reporters again, saying:

"Our corrupt attorney general — she totally wanted the publicity to run for governor and then she failed running for governor. She practically had nothing in terms of vote but she went after Trump because she was running for governor — that's the only reason.

Trump at one point referred to himself in the third person, accusing AG James of bringing the fraud suit against him for political reasons, saying she "practically had nothing in terms of vote but she went after Trump because she was running for governor — that's the only reason." REUTERS

“We’re going down the line, page after page, document after document and the bottom line is: This is rigged. The judge knows whatever he’s going to do. He said that Mar-a-lago is worth $18 million and it’s worth $1-and-a-half billion or thereabouts. He said it was worth $18 million, so he defrauded us. He called me a fraud, he called me a fraud and he values Mar-a-Lago at $18 million, and you can’t do that.

He continued, "The bottom line is: This is rigged. The judge knows whatever he’s going to do." John Angelillo/UPI/Shutterstock
"And by the way, my financial documents are valued much less than my actual values, which nobody even knows," he alleged. REUTERS

"She [James] got the judge to value Mar-a-Lago at $18 million. The smallest house in Palm Beach is probably worth $50 million. This is the biggest, the best anywhere in the country. So they put it down at $18 million and they said I overvalued it because we had it valued at a much lower number than it's worth.

"And by the way, my financial documents are valued much less than my actual values, which nobody even knows. But the financial documents that I gave to the bank are much less than my actual net worth."

Trump files notice of appeal for judge's bombshell ruling revoking his NY business licenses

By Kyle Schnitzer and Priscilla DeGregory

Donald Trump filed a notice of appeal Wednesday of Judge Arthur Engoron’s bombshell ruling from last week, which sided with AG Tish James on one of her main claims: that the former president committed fraud.

That ruling also revoked Trump’s business licenses in New York, and said a receiver must be appointed “to manage the dissolution of the canceled" business certificates.

trump speaks outside the courtroom
In the civil trial judge's ruling last week, Engoron agreed with NY AG James that Trump committed fraud by inflating his wealth. AP

Trump’s team is asking the Appellate Division, First Department, to determine whether Engoron exceeded his powers by granting the AG’s partial summary judgment and “directing the dissolution of the cancelled LLCs,” court papers from Wednesday show.

Judge losing patience with Trump team, slams the bench: 'This is ridiculous!'

By Kyle Schnitzer and Priscilla DeGregory

Judge Arthur Engoron's patience appeared to wear thin as he accused Donald Trump's team of wasting time during cross-examination of accountant Donald Bender.

"Don't waste time," said Engoron, who then exclaimed, "This is ridiculous!" and slammed his hand on the bench.

Judge Arthur Engoron before the start of trial Wednesday, when he appeared to still have patience. AP
trump sits a a table in the courtroom with his lawyers
The judge accused Trump's team of wasting time during cross-examination of accountant Donald Bender, at one point slamming the bench, exclaiming, "This is ridiculous!" via REUTERS

Meanwhile, Trump attorney Christopher Kise insisted the defense team had to be thorough because the "devil is in the details."

And Trump’s side claimed that Bender was being evasive in his answers.

“The only things he seems to recall are what the government wants him to recall,” Kise said earlier during Bender's testimony.

Another Trump attorney, Alina Habba, joined the pile-on of complaints about Bender.

"This is insane,” Habba said. “We haven’t got one answer from him … He has no memory as we sit here.”

Trump returns to courtroom from break, 30 minutes after trial resumes

By Kyle Schnitzer and Priscilla DeGregory

During the break, Donald Trump repeated his claims that the trial “is a total witch hunt” and that he “should be entitled to a jury."

Trump’s camp could have asked for a jury trial — though the process would have been more complicated due to the law under which New York Attorney General Letitia James brought her case against the ex-president.

Trump strolled slowly back into the courtroom some 30 minutes after trial resumed following the brief recess, causing accountant Donald Bender’s testimony to halt for a moment.

"Okay, let’s continue wherever you left off," Judge Arthur Engoron said.

Before Trump’s return to the courtroom, Engoron sparred with Trump’s lawyers about the method of cross-examination.

Attorney Christopher Kise insisted that the defense needed to go meticulously through financial records for each year, whining, "President Trump is accused of committing fraud.”

Engoron — who appeared visibly agitated — asked Kise if he was “speaking to me or the press.”

Can Trump be the next speaker of the House? These Republicans say they’re backing him

By Ryan King

House Speaker Donald Trump?

Now that there’s an opening, a handful of House Republicans are calling for it and the former president is both publicly and privately toying with the idea.

“A lot of people have been calling me about speaker. All I can say is we’ll do whatever is best for the country and the Republican Party,” Trump, 77, told reporters Wednesday outside the Manhattan courtroom where his civil fraud trial is ongoing.

“My total focus is on being president,” Trump added, noting that there are other “great people” in the GOP who could handle the job.

President Trump on the House Speaker's race. pic.twitter.com/JGIh4Eo01d

— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) October 4, 2023
"All I can say is we’ll do whatever is best for the country and the Republican Party,” Trump said Wednesday outside the courtroom.

However, a Republican House aide told The Post Wednesday that the GOP kingpin is indeed “interested in the job.”

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Trump absent from courtroom when testimony resumes after short break

By Kyle Schnitzer and Priscilla DeGregory

After a 10-minute morning break, Donald Bender’s testimony resumed but Donald Trump wasn’t present in the courtroom.

It was not immediately clear where he went or if he would be returning.

Meanwhile, Eric Trump was still in the courtroom when trial picked back up.

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