'Control your client': Trump’s fraud trial draws to a chaotic close

New York: Donald Trump’s civil fraud trial concluded Thursday much as it unfolded over the past three months: in chaos, with the former president insulting the judge to his face, lashing out at the New York attorney general who brought the case and declaring himself “an innocent man.”

Inside a packed Manhattan courtroom where each side presented its closing arguments, Trump delivered surprise remarks in his own defense with the judge staring stone-faced from the bench and Attorney General Letitia James sitting just feet away as the defendant accused her of pursuing a political vendetta.

Trump claimed that the fraud case was, in fact, “a fraud on me.” He also brazenly asserted that James, who is seeking a $370 million penalty, “should pay me” for what he has gone through.

The spectacle of Trump’s self-defense lasted only a few minutes, during which he claimed that James, a Democrat, “hates Trump and uses Trump to get elected.”

And Trump upbraided the judge, Justice Arthur F. Engoron, declaring, “You have your own agenda, I certainly understand that.” As Engoron stared at him, Trump added, “You can’t listen for more than one minute.”

Engoron instructed the former president’s lawyer to “control your client.” But Trump continued until the moment of the lunch break, when he stopped as suddenly as he had started and left the courthouse for a news conference.

The episode ushered in a dramatic conclusion to a monthslong trial that has enraged the former president and threatened his family business. James wants not only to extract the financial penalty, but also to oust Trump from his own company and the wider world of New York real estate.

The trial put Trump’s net worth under a microscope as James accused the former president of violating state law by inflating the value of his properties to obtain favorable loans and other financial benefits.

James’ team in closing statements highlighted internal documents and the testimony of onetime Trump employees, asserting that the former president’s financial statements were false every year from 2011 to 2021, inflated by as much as $2.2 billion.

Engoron, who will decide the verdict alone — there is no jury — has been persuaded by James’ arguments. Even before the trial, he ruled in her favor, finding that Trump had committed fraud by inflating his assets. The bulk of the trial concerned whether Trump’s conduct had violated other state laws, as well as the potential punishments.