Prosecutors for the New York attorney general, Letitia James, have reiterated that they would like to see a $370m penalty and lifetime ban from the real estate business for Donald Trump in his civil fraud trial, the Messenger reports:
They said the weighty penalty was necessary because Trump kept breaking the law even after authorities began investigating his business practices:
Prosecutors with the New York attorney general’s office are delivering their closing arguments at Donald Trump’s New York fraud trial.
Trump left the building after delivering a bizarre impromptu rant, which was cut off by the judge, who called for a lunch break.
State attorney Kevin Wallace said that Trump’s lawyers relied on expert testimony, rather than witness testimony or documented evidence, to bolster their arguments. At one point, Wallace put up a presentation slide that showed the 11 expert witnesses the defense had called during the trial. He noted that many of the expert witnesses were purposely shown limited evidence, and a handful of them were close allies of Trump.
“They cannot argue that Trump’s triplex was in fact 30,000 sq ft,” Wallace said. “Or that unsold units at Trump Park Avenue weren’t rent stabilized.”
Wallace also argued that the loans the Trump Organization received with the inflated financial statements were “critical to the business” and the business was strapped for cash in the mid-2010s as the company pursued renovation of properties and Trump was running for president.
“They could have cut costs or sell assets, but these interest rates were vital to the operation of the company,” Wallace said, adding that Trump was also able to run for president with the loans bolstering his company. “They didn’t have to choose between their priorities.”
Arguments in Donald Trump’s civil fraud trial have now resumed, MSNBC reports, and will probably conclude soon:
Hunter Biden is being arraigned in Los Angeles today on federal tax charges recently filed against him. Expect to hear plenty about this from Republicans as Joe Biden’s re-election campaign continues:
Hunter Biden is expected to be arraigned on Thursday on federal tax charges in a Los Angeles courthouse.
Biden, who has a home in Malibu, is expected to plead not guilty to nine tax-related charges that were filed in December. Three of the charges faced by Joe Biden’s son are felony counts, and he could face up to 17 years in prison if found guilty.
“The defendant engaged in a four-year scheme to not pay at least $1.4m in self-assessed federal taxes he owed for tax years 2016 through 2019,” the 56-page indictment said, adding that Biden “spent millions of dollars on an extravagant lifestyle rather than paying his tax bills”.
Hunter Biden is expected to plead not guilty.
Closing arguments in Donald Trump’s New York civil fraud trial are now paused while the court takes a brief recess, the Messenger reports.
Here’s the Guardian’s Dominic Rushe and Lauren Aratani with a recap of what has happened so far today:
Back at Donald Trump’s civil fraud trial, his attorney Chris Kise has repeatedly interrupted Kevin Wallace, who is delivering closing arguments on behalf of the New York attorney general, Letitia James.
It appears to be a tactic on Kise’s part. From MSNBC:
Donald Trump has been spending quite a bit of time in court lately, and plans to continue doing so, even though he is also campaigning for president.
In remarks this afternoon, after going on a tirade against the New York attorney general, Letitia James, and Judge Arthur Engoron during the closing arguments of his civil fraud trial and then leaving the courtroom, Trump said he would attend all of his trials in person:
That is potentially quite a lot of court proceedings. Trump has been indicted four times at the state and federal level, and is also embroiled in multiple civil suits. He will have to balance these legal matters with his quest to win the Republican presidential nomination – which polls show he is the favorite to do – and beat Joe Biden in the November general election.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre has condemned a recent wave of threats targeting elected officials and judges.
Her comments at the daily White House press briefing came after a bomb squad was dispatched to the home of judge Arthur Engoron this morning, ahead of the start of the closing arguments in Donald Trump’s civil fraud trial.
“We condemn any violence or threats against any judges … or anyone. … We are going to continue to be steadfast about that,” Jean-Pierre said.
Lawyer for the former president have spent today making Trump’s case before Engoron, who will decide whether Trump will be fined as much as $370m for falsifying financial statements to inflate his net worth.
Ahead of the hearing, police in Nassau county on Long Island said they responded to a security incident at Engoron’s residence at 5.30am. Engoron and his staff have been frequent targets of vitriolic criticism from Trump throughout the case, and his office has been bombarded with death threats.
More on that here:
New York attorney general Letitia James’s prosecutors have now started delivering their closing arguments in Donald Trump’s civil fraud trial, the Messenger reports:
Lawyer Kevin Wallace is telling the court that the former president’s arguments in his defense were based on facts already known to be invalid. Trump is not in the room, the Messenger says, having left after his unexpected tirade at the conclusion of his side’s closing arguments:
John Kirby was also questioned on the hospitalization of the US secretary of defense, Lloyd Austin, and why the White House was not informed in a timely manner that the Pentagon chief transferred his authority to his deputy.
On Thursday, the Pentagon’s internal watchdog said a review will be conducted surrounding the secrecy of Austin’s health condition and why the defense department waited days to inform the White House about the transfer of authority.
Austin is still hospitalized. He is being treated for complications from prostate cancer surgery.
Kirby said the lack of communication was a learning opportunity and that it shouldn’t have happened.
Meanwhile, as South Africa formally accuses Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians in the United Nations’ top court, John Kirby, spokesperson for the US national security council, answered questions about the war in Gaza in a White House press briefing.When asked if the US will accept any penalties or punishments handed down by the international court, Kirby said: “I’m not going to get into hypotheticals here. We’ve made our position clear.” He said the Biden administration sees “no indication Israel is violating laws surrounding armed conflict”.
He was also asked about the timeline of the US’s pleas to Israel to de-escalate the violence in Gaza, to which he responded: “You’ll have to talk to the IDF.”
The Guardian is also running a global live blog on Israel’s war in Gaza and the wider situation in the Middle East, which you can follow here.
After hours of closing arguments by his attorneys, Donald Trump went on a surprise tirade in the Manhattan courtroom where his civil fraud trial is being held, accusing Judge Arthur Engoron and the New York attorney general, Letitia James, of bias against him. He then left the courtroom, and prosecutors now are expected to deliver their final statements in the case that could see Engoron impose severe penalties on the former president and his co-defendants.
Here’s a look back at the day so far:
Donald Trump walked out of the courtroom after excoriating both New York attorney general Letitia James and Judge Arthur Engoron for the civil fraud accusations against him, MSNBC reports:
Source: US Politics - theguardian.com
