Former President Trump said he chose to attend his $250 million civil business fraud trial in New York this week to show "how corrupt it is." He also claimed Wednesday that "I'm stuck here because I have a corrupt attorney general," referring to Letitia James, a Black woman whom he also called a "political animal." Trump, who was not required to attend the trial, soon after showed how unstuck he was. He picked up and left Manhattan Supreme Court halfway through Wednesday's court proceeding and ultimately flew out of New York, per CNBC. Attorney General James then announced "the Donald Trump show is over." "I will not be bullied," she told reporters, adding the former president had turned his two-and-a-half day appearance into a "political stunt" and "fundraising stop."
She also blasted Trump—whose derogatory social media posts about a law clerk prompted the judge to issue a gag order Monday—for "comments that unfortunately fomented violence; comments that I would describe as race-baiting; comments, unfortunately, that appeal to the bottom of our humanity," per Axios. They were "offensive" and "void of any facts and or any evidence," James said. "This case was brought simply because it was a case where individuals have engaged in a pattern and practice of fraud and I will not sit idly by and allow anyone to subvert the law," she said. The judge overseeing the case has already concluded Trump, his two eldest sons, and the Trump Organization committed fraud by massively inflating the value of assets for years. He will determine damages. (More Donald Trump stories.)
,
uBlock 
,
and
Ghostery 
)
