Former President Trump's lawyers were thwarted Thursday in their longshot bid to immediately end the New York civil fraud trial that threatens his real estate empire. Judge Arthur Engoron didn't rule on the request, but he indicated that the trial will go on as scheduled Monday with Donald Trump Jr. returning to the stand as the first defense witness. Trump's lawyers had asked Engoron to cut the trial short and issue a verdict clearing Trump, his company, and top executives including Trump Jr. of wrongdoing, the AP reports.
They made the request halfway through the trial of New York Attorney General Letitia Jame' lawsuit, arguing the state had failed to prove its case. James alleges Trump and other defendants duped banks, insurers and others by inflating his wealth on financial statements. Engoron said the defense's arguments seeking what's known as a directed verdict were "taken under advisement." He did not address them further when he returned to court Thursday afternoon to rule on another matter. In that ruling, Engoron gave Trump's lawyers a victory, allowing them to call several expert witnesses in an attempt to refute testimony that Trump's financial statements afforded him better loan terms and insurance premiums and were a factor in dealmaking.
The judge, who's had a history of ruling against Trump, has signaled interest in seeing the trial through to its conclusion, asking defense lawyers for witness schedules and pegging closing arguments close to Christmas. In seeking to short-circuit the case, Trump lawyer Christopher Kise argued state lawyers had failed to meet "any legal standard" to prove allegations of conspiracy, insurance fraud, and falsifying business records. "There's no victim. There's no complainant. There's no injury. All of that is established now by the evidence," Kise argued. State lawyer Kevin Wallace responded that there was no reason to end the trial, saying the evidence is "more than sufficient to continue to final verdict."
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