{"id":43272,"date":"2023-11-07T01:22:02","date_gmt":"2023-11-07T01:22:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/prosfunds.com\/business\/its-called-politics-donald-trump-puts-on-a-combative-show-in-court-testimony\/"},"modified":"2023-11-07T01:22:02","modified_gmt":"2023-11-07T01:22:02","slug":"its-called-politics-donald-trump-puts-on-a-combative-show-in-court-testimony","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/prosfunds.com\/?p=43272","title":{"rendered":"\u2018It\u2019s called politics\u2019: Donald Trump puts on a combative show in court testimony"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

There was a moment, some two hours into Donald Trump\u2019s turn on the witness stand in Manhattan state court on Monday, when the larger-than-life real estate tycoon and former US president appeared oddly wounded.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe called me a fraud and he didn\u2019t know anything about me,\u201d Trump said, wagging his finger in the direction of the judge, Arthur Engoron. \u201cIt\u2019s a terrible thing you\u2019ve done. You know nothing about me!\u201d<\/p>\n

That came after another raw moment in which an emotional Trump fumed at a government lawyer: \u201cPeople don\u2019t know how good a company I built because people like you go around demeaning me!\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump was appearing in court to testify in a civil fraud case brought by the New York attorney-general in which he is accused of inflating reports of his net worth in order to secure loans on favourable terms and reap other economic benefits.<\/p>\n

Engoron has already concluded that was the case, in an order handed down on the eve of the trial. The court proceedings are meant to determine the penalties the former president and his adult sons will face.<\/p>\n

But for Trump, the trial is also something else: an unusual campaign stop in his quest to return to the White House and an occasion to defend the reputation for unassailable business success that lies at the core of his identity and is essential to his political career.<\/p>\n

That might account for Trump\u2019s seeming sensitivity. It might also explain why he decided to testify in the first place because legal experts had warned that doing so might prove perilous for the upcoming criminal trials in which the stakes involve possible prison time.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis behaviour is not doing him any favours legally,\u201d Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond, said in an email. \u201cIt almost seems as if Trump is attempting to help himself politically \u2014 at least with his base \u2014 by not co-operating with the judge or the New York attorney-general\u2019s counsel and even accusing the judge and the AG of treating him unfairly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump lumbered to the witness stand just after 10am as the room brimmed with anticipation as to how he would confront his antagonists. As it happened, the former president did not lead with anger so much as a barrage of words, circular speeches and digressive statements that irked the judge and soon led to a stern warning for Trump\u2019s lawyer, Christopher Kise.<\/p>\n

\u201cMr Kise, can you control your client? This is not a political rally,\u201d the judge said, his voice rising. Then, a few moments later: \u201cI beseech you to control him, if you can. If you can\u2019t, I will.\u201d<\/p>\n

Seated an arm\u2019s length away, Trump wore the grin of a class clown who had succeeded at unnerving the teacher.<\/p>\n

<\/source>\"Donald<\/picture>
Donald Trump leaves the courtroom in Manhattan <\/span> \u00a9 Bloomberg<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For Kevin Wallace, a lawyer for the attorney-general, examining Trump was like trying to corral a thunderstorm. <\/p>\n

Many of Wallace\u2019s questions sought \u201cyes or no\u201d answers as to whether the value of a particular property in Trump\u2019s annual \u201cstatement of financial condition\u201d was \u201ctrue and accurate\u201d.<\/p>\n

Trump dispensed with small-minded accountancy rules and replied instead with the chutzpah of a New York property developer. \u201cIt\u2019s the best location in New York,\u201d he said of the retail space at Trump Tower, which he had pegged at $348mn in 2014. \u201cI wouldn\u2019t sell it for that number.\u201d<\/p>\n

On another occasion, Trump said he was capable of valuing a property just by looking at it. That may have been the approach the Trump Organization took in Scotland, where it boosted the value of its Aberdeen golf course by $245mn in a single year, according to a spreadsheet presented by the attorney-general, apparently based on development plans that were never fulfilled. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s sort of like a painting,\u201d Trump explained. \u201cYou can do pretty much what you want to do. The land is there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Banks worry foremost about cash, Trump told the court, rejecting Wallace\u2019s suggestion that he had inflated his personal wealth to avoid breaching loan covenants. \u201cI\u2019ve had a lot of cash for a long time,\u201d the former president said. \u201cThat\u2019s all they care about.\u201d<\/p>\n

There was unexpected tenderness for his fallen lieutenant, Allen Weisselberg, the longtime former chief financial officer of the Trump Organization who served three months in jail earlier this year after pleading guilty to a tax evasion scheme.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople went after him viciously and violently just because he worked for me,\u201d Trump said. \u201cI feel very badly for him.\u201d <\/p>\n

Trump did make one concession. He allowed that somebody mistakenly overvalued his penthouse apartment \u2014 to the tune of more than $200mn, according to Engoron \u2014 presumably by tripling its square footage because it was a triplex. \u201cI can see how it was probably done,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The lunch break appeared to soothe Trump. Afterwards he looked bored, more than anything. Arms folded across his chest, he repeatedly told Wallace that if the net worth recorded in his various financial statements was inaccurate, it was not materially so. In any case, he said, his true net worth was certainly far larger because the financial statements did not include the value of the famed Trump brand. <\/p>\n

The exchanges felt less confrontational. The snarl eased. And then the fury revived.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou should be ashamed of yourself,\u201d he fumed at Wallace, calling the case \u201ca disgrace\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone\u2019s trying to figure out why you\u2019re doing this,\u201d Trump said, noting that his lenders had been repaid in full and on time \u2014 possibly ahead of time. \u201cNobody understands it. I understand it. It\u2019s called politics.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Read the full article here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There was a moment, some two hours into Donald Trump\u2019s turn on the witness stand in Manhattan state court on Monday, when the larger-than-life real estate tycoon and former US president appeared oddly wounded. \u201cHe called me a fraud and he didn\u2019t know anything about me,\u201d Trump said, wagging his finger in the direction of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-43272","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-business"},"yoast_head":"\n\u2018It\u2019s called politics\u2019: Donald Trump puts on a combative show in court testimony | Prosfunds<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"There was a moment, some two hours into Donald Trump\u2019s turn on the witness stand in Manhattan state court on Monday, when the 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