He’s now back in a New York court as the prosecution look at demonstrating “the full extent of his fraud and illegality”.<\/p>\n
Attorney General Letitia James, who sued Mr Trump in this case, is seeking at least $250m (\u00a3201m) in fines and a permanent ban against him and his sons Donald Jr and Eric from running businesses in New York.<\/p>\n
She also wants a five-year commercial real estate ban against Mr Trump and the Trump Organisation. He could even lose Trump Tower.<\/p>\n
The case is centred on accusations that Mr Trump inflated his assets and net worth from 2011 to 2021 to get hold of favourable bank loans and lower insurance premiums.<\/p>\n
Before the trial began, Mr Trump dismissed the case as a “scam” and a “sham”, claiming it is a “continuation of the single greatest witch hunt of all time”.<\/p>\n
During a lunch break, he called the Democrat “a corrupt person, a terrible person, driving people out of New York”.<\/p>\n
He was equally scathing of the judge, Arthur Engoron, calling him a partisan Democrat who is using the case to interfere with the 2024 presidential election.<\/p>\n
“This is a judge that should be disbarred,” he told reporters. “This is a judge that should be out of office.”<\/p>\n
Six additional claims<\/strong><\/p>\n The trial – which is without a jury – will review six additional claims including falsifying business records, insurance fraud and conspiracy, and rule how much the defendants should pay in fines.<\/p>\n Last week, the judge found Mr Trump, his adult sons and 10 of his companies liable for fraud, describing in scathing terms how the defendants made up valuations.<\/p>\n These included, he said, valuing the Trump Tower apartment as if it were three times its actual size, and estimating Mar-a-Lago was worth up to $739m – even though an outside assessment pit it at no more than $28m.<\/p>\n The judge cancelled business certificates for companies controlling pillars of his empire, while Mr Trump responded at the time by calling Mr Engoron “deranged”.<\/p>\n Mr Trump is accused of inflating his own fortune by as much as $2.2bn.<\/p>\n “This isn’t business as usual, and this isn’t how sophisticated parties deal with each other,” a lawyer from Ms James’ office, Kevin Wallace, said in court.<\/p>\n “These are not victimless crimes.”<\/p>\n Christopher Kise, a lawyer for Mr Trump, responded that his financials were entirely legal.<\/p>\n Read more: “He has made a fortune literally being right about real estate investments,” Mr Kise said.<\/p>\n Alina Habba, another lawyer, separately told Mr Engoron that Mr Trump’s assets were “Mona Lisa properties” that could fetch premium prices if Mr Trump sold them.<\/p>\n After the opening day concluded, Mr Trump said is it “unfair” he does not have a jury.<\/p>\n The trial could last until 22 December.<\/p>\n The takeaway phrase from day one of this first of so many court cases against Donald Trump?<\/p>\n “Rampant fraud”.<\/p>\n That’s not, legally at least, a point of debate. The judge has concluded, in a pre-trial ruling, that\u00a0the Trump Organisation did commit widespread fraud<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n Politically though, it is deeply debatable: due process versus partisan witch-hunt.<\/p>\n If you remove the context of the crimes here, then you can see how Trump’s witch-hunt narrative plays well in his America.<\/p>\n The attorney general is a Democrat and the judge is Democrat-appointed. This is not unusual. Across the country legal officials are aligned, by appointment or by election, to one party or the other.<\/p>\n But the judicial system here stands on its ability to be impartial regardless of any perceived or real political affiliation. And crucially it stands on public trust in that ability.<\/p>\n This is a wedge Trump is exploiting.<\/p>\n He questions why it matters if he inflated the price of his properties. The banks don’t care, he says. They got their money back; there is no victim. He ignores the fact that fraud does not require a victim.<\/p>\n And as he left court, he deployed his trademark doublespeak, designed to conflate and confuse. He expressed victim-laden outrage that the trial was not a jury trial.<\/p>\n Read more:<\/strong><\/p>\n As it happened: Donald Trump’s day in court<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n He totally ignored the fact that it could have been a jury trial if he had asked for one. And he did not.<\/p>\n Under New York State law, if any of the defendants had asked for a jury, they would have received one.<\/p>\n So – what to look out for now? First, what happens to Mr Trump’s properties here in New York City?<\/p>\n He’s lost his business licence here in the city. The judge has now given him ten days to say how he will dissolve his assets here. Selling Trump Tower? Quite possibly.<\/p>\n And then there is the poll watch; how America reacts to this.<\/p>\n It’s telling that he doesn’t bother to turn up to the Republican Party debates with the other candidates, but he does turn up to court.<\/p>\n In his America – this is his campaign trail.<\/p>\n
\nWhat are Trump’s biggest assets and how much does he claim they are worth?<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\nAnalysis – By Mark Stone<\/a><\/span>\u00a0US correspondent @Stone_SkyNews<\/a><\/h3>\n
Trump has lost his New York business licence – but he claims it’s a politically motivated ‘witch-hunt’<\/span><\/h3>\n
Source: \u00a0
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