Thread: Legal Charges Against Trump

• Ex-Chief of Staff Mark Meadows granted immunity, tells special counsel he warned Trump about 2020 claims: Sources

Former President Donald Trump's final chief of staff in the White House, Mark Meadows, has spoken with special counsel Jack Smith's team at least three times this year, including once before a federal grand jury, which came only after Smith granted Meadows immunity to testify under oath, according to sources familiar with the matter.

The sources said Meadows informed Smith's team that he repeatedly told Trump in the weeks after the 2020 presidential election that the allegations of significant voting fraud coming to them were baseless, a striking break from Trump's prolific rhetoric regarding the election.

According to the sources, Meadows also told the federal investigators Trump was being "dishonest" with the public when he first claimed to have won the election only hours after polls closed on Nov. 3, 2020, before final results were in.

"Obviously we didn't win," a source quoted Meadows as telling Smith's team in hindsight.

Trump has called Meadows, one of the former president's closest and highest-ranking aides in the White House, a "special friend" and "a great chief of staff -- as good as it gets."

The descriptions of what Meadows allegedly told investigators shed further light on the evidence Smith's team has amassed as it prosecutes Trump for allegedly trying to unlawfully retain power and "spread lies" about the 2020 election. The descriptions also expose how far Trump loyalists like Meadows have gone to support and defend Trump.

Sources told ABC News that Smith's investigators were keenly interested in questioning Meadows about election-related conversations he had with Trump during his final months in office, and whether Meadows actually believed some of the claims he included in a book he published after Trump left office -- a book that promised to "correct the record" on Trump.

ABC News has identified several assertions in the book that appear to be contradicted by what Meadows allegedly told investigators behind closed doors.

According to Meadows' book, the election was "stolen" and "rigged" with help from "allies in the liberal media," who ignored "actual evidence of fraud, right there in plain sight for anyone to access and analyze."

But, as described to ABC News, Meadows privately told Smith's investigators that -- to this day -- he has yet to see any evidence of fraud that would have kept now-president Joe Biden from the White House, and he told them he agrees with a government assessment at the time that the 2020 presidential election was the most secure election in U.S. history.

Much more bad news for trump in the link

Trump fraud trial live updates: Cohen combative during forceful cross-examination

• 'There was nothing wrong with the financials,' Trump says

When Mazars USA said that Trump's financial statements were no longer reliable in 2022, the accounting firm did not conduct an audit or identify any "material discrepancies" in Trump's statements, Mazars General Counsel Bill Kelly testified.

"As we have stated in the Statements of Financial Condition, Mazars performed its work in accordance with professional standards. A subsequent review of those workpapers confirms this," Kelly wrote in a 2022 letter to the Trump Organization entered into evidence.

Both Trump and his lawyer Jesus Suarez seized on the admission from Mazars.

During cross examination, Suarez displayed multiple financial statements and repeatedly asked Kelly about the lack of discrepancies identified in the statements. Exiting court for a break, Trump also focused on that portion of the testimony.

• Michael Cohen takes the stand as Trump looks on

Former Trump attorney Michael Cohen has begun his testimony in his former boss' civil fraud trial.

• Cohen says he was tasked to 'reverse engineer' asset values

Michael Cohen, under questioning from state attorneys, testified it was his job to help Trump look as rich as he wanted to.

"I was tasked by Mr. Trump to increase the total assets based upon a number that he arbitrarily elected, and my responsibility -- along with Allen Weisselberg -- predominantly was to reverse engineer the various different asset classes, increase those assets in order to achieve the number that Mr. Trump had tasked us with," Cohen said, referring to former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg.

Cohen joined the Trump Organization in 2007 as executive vice president and special counsel to Trump, putting him "directly under Mr. Trump" in the corporate hierarchy, Cohen said.

"I reported and only handled work for Mr. Trump and so I was his special counsel. Whatever issues he had, whatever created ire for him, he would bring it to me to resolve," Cohen said.

"So the only person who asked you to perform work was Donald J. Trump?" state attorney Colleen Faherty asked.

"Correct," Cohen responded.

Cohen affirmed his involvement in preparing Trump's statements of financial condition and told the judge those documents were "shared with third parties," including insurance brokers.

• Cohen details how he says he inflated Trump's statements

According to Michael Cohen, the process of "reverse engineering" Donald Trump's 2011 financial statement began with a phone call.

"Mr. Trump would like to see you," Trump's executive assistant told Cohen, according to his testimony today.

Cohen testified that he then personally met with Trump and former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg to begin the process of inflating Trump's financial statement.

"I am actually not worth 4.5 billion. I am really worth six," Trump directed him and Weisselberg, according to Cohen.

Following that meeting, he and Weisselberg engaged in a multi-day process of marking up Trump's financial statement with red ink to eventually increase Trump's total net worth to Trump's "desired number," Cohen said.

Apart from the marked-up document, which Cohen said was scanned, he left behind no contemporaneous notes, text messages, or emails about the process.

"What is the highest price per square foot achieved in the city," Cohen described about the process to determine comparable properties to value Trump assets. "We would use those numbers to inflate these numbers."

• Cohen testifies how Trump's inflated statements were used

Donald Trump used his inflated financial statements to convince journalists about his net worth, to lower his insurance premiums, and even to support his bid to purchase the Buffalo Bills football team, according to Michael Cohen.

Cohen described how the Trump Organization would grant external parties only limited access to the documents themselves, often presenting them during video calls -- rather than handing out the document for external parties to keep -- in the process of demonstrating Trump's net worth.

For example, Cohen described using the documents in a meeting with a journalist from real estate news site "The Real Deal" to "create the story about how much Trump was actually worth," Cohen said.

According to Cohen, Trump Organization executives used Trump's financial statements in meetings with insurance companies to obtain lower premiums, and Trump would occasionally attend these meetings to help move the process along.

• Trump claimed $8B net worth when bidding for Buffalo Bills

When Donald Trump attempted to bid for the Buffalo Bills football team in 2014, he claimed that his net worth was "in excess of eight billion dollars," according to a document entered evidence during Michael Cohen's testimony.

To support the bid, Trump's frequent lender Deutsche Bank sent a letter to Morgan Stanley to demonstrate that Trump had the "financial wherewithal" to support his bid, according to Cohen.

The New York attorney general alleges that Trump used his inflated financial statement to convince Deutsche Bank to support Trump's financial strength.

The line of questioning prompted strong objections from Trump lawyer Chris Kise, who argued that the bid for the Buffalo Bills is not related to any of the attorney general's causes of action.

"I think this is arguably false, particularly the eight billion dollars ... and this shows a pattern of practice of fraud," Judge Engoron said when overruling the objection.

• Cohen combative during forceful cross-examination

Michael Cohen underwent a forceful cross-examination by Trump attorney Alina Habba in the day's final court session.

"You are not on Mea Culpa. You are not on your podcast, and you are not on CNN. You're here with me," Habba instructed Trump's former attorney during the questioning.

Compared to Cohen's direct examination -- when Trump could often be seen conferring with the lawyers by his side, examining exhibits, or passing notes around -- Trump had a more positive demeanor during the cross.

Cohen himself grew combative at parts of the questioning, responding "objection" and "asked and answered" as if he were a lawyer at counsel table, rather than a witness on the stand.

"You have lied under oath numerous times, isn't that correct, Mr. Cohen?" Habba asked at one point.

"That is correct," Cohen replied.

Habba even admitted that she was enjoying herself during the questioning, after Judge Engoron offered to cut testimony short for the day.

"It is entertaining -- I am happy to go all night," Habba said.

Exiting court at the end of the afternoon, Cohen declined to comment about the ongoing cross-examination.

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A little more about Ellis.

five years of probation along with $5,000 in restitution, 100 hours of community service, writing an apology letter to the people of Georgia and testifying truthfully in trials related to this case

• Jenna Ellis becomes latest Trump lawyer to plead guilty over efforts to overturn Georgia’s election
  

She rose to speak after pleading guilty, fighting back tears as she said she would have not have represented Trump after the 2020 election if she knew then what she knows now, claiming that she relied on lawyers with much more experience than her and failed to verify the things they told her.

“What I did not do but should have done, Your Honor, was to make sure that the facts the other lawyers alleged to be true were in fact true,” the 38-year-old Ellis said.

Originally Posted by S Landreth

Soon Willis and team will have enough flippers and have rock solid cases against the rest. The slow defendants will get jail time.

They've got Rudy by the balls by now and dear Rudy isn't someone the orange one can dismiss as someone he barely knows. However, I'm guessing Rudy will do a Wesselburg and go to jail rather than incriminate the orange one.

^ Yeah, she was broke after firing her Trump supplied legal counsel. Luckily she found a pro bono firm to pull her out of the mud and get her on the stand.

before this afternoon's update........

Exclusive: Fulton County DA has discussed plea deals with at least 6 more Trump co-defendants

“The first to squeal gets the deal.”

Trump fraud trial: Judge finds Trump's testimony was 'hollow and untrue'

• Insurance underwriter to testify

An underwriter who worked on a Trump Organization insurance policy to cover legal expenses incurred by the firm's executives is scheduled to testify this morning.

Michael Holl, an underwriter at Tokio Marine HCC, worked on the Trump Organization's Directors and Officers insurance policy in 2016 and 2017, according to the New York attorney general.

With Donald Trump about to be inaugurated president at the time, the Trump Organization attempted to increase their policy's limit to $50,000,000, which was ten times higher than their previous limit, according to the attorney general.

"In response to specific questioning from the underwriters, the Trump Organization personnel represented that there was no material litigation or inquiry from anyone that could potentially lead to a claim under the D&O coverage," the state alleged in their complaint.

However, four months before that representation was made, Trump Organization executives learned about an ongoing investigation by the attorney general into the Trump Foundation as well as Trump family members, according to the complaint.

• Defense asks judge to reconsider gag order fine

Defense attorney Chris Kise requested that Judge Engoron again reconsider his decision to fine Donald Trump $10,000 for violating the case's limited gag order yesterday, offering a broader criticism of the gag order based on First Amendment grounds.

"This is open, public, and the defendant has a First Amendment right to comment on what he sees and perceives as a potential source of bias," Kise said.

Judge Engoron said he would reconsider the fine but stood by his gag order.

• Judge upholds Trump's $10,000 fine

Judge Engoron is upholding Donald Trump's $10,000 fine for violating the case's limited gag order yesterday.

During a break, Engoron said he reviewed the video of Trump's hallway statement and reached the same conclusion as yesterday: that Trump was referring to Engoron's law clerk when he told reporters that the judge has a "person who is very partisan sitting alongside of him." The gag order prohibits public comments about the judge's staff.

Trump's lawyer Chris Kise had argued that a later portion of Trump's statement supported that he was referring to Michael Cohen, rather than the judge's law clerk.

But Engoron disagreed, saying, "That was a clear transition from one person to another, and I think the person he originally referred to is very clear."

• Judge allows testimony about Trump's charity

State attorney Louis Solomon focused on the activities of The Donald J. Trump Foundation, Trump's defunct charity organization, during his direct examination of tax lawyer Sheri Dillon.

Dillon, who worked with Trump between 2005 and 2020, testified that she received a letter from the New York attorney general in 2016 regarding a potential violation by Trump's charity, which she discussed with then-Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg.

Solomon's line of questioning prompted an objection from Trump's attorney Chris Kise, who argued that Trump's charity was irrelevant to the state's case. But Judge Engoron overruled the objection.

"To me, this case is not just about financial statements being submitted to insurance companies. It is about whether or not defendants were committing fraud," Engoron said. "If the evidence shows a particular defendant was consistently acting fraudulently, the law says there can be particular forms of equitable relief."

• Judge finds Trump's testimony was 'hollow and untrue'

The sworn testimony of former President Trump in court yesterday was "hollow and untrue," according to a written order issued today by Judge Engoron.

The order, which memorializes yesterday's ruling that Trump violated the case's limited gag order, offers a stronger repudiation of Trump's sworn testimony than the judge articulated yesterday, when he called Trump's testimony "not credible."

"I then conducted a brief hearing, during which Donald Trump testified, under oath that he was referring to Michael Cohen. However, as the trier of fact, I find this testimony rings hollow and untrue," Engoron wrote in his order.

• Trump overvalued LA golf course by $100M, evidence shows

Donald Trump, in 2014, valued his Los Angeles golf club at over $100 million more than the amount it was appraised at, according to evidence shown in court.

Trump's former tax attorney, Sheri Dillon, testified that when working on a conservation easement for the driving range at Trump National Golf Club in Los Angeles in 2014, she received an appraisal that valued the entire club at $107 million.

However, the spreadsheet used to create Trump's financial statements placed the value of the golf club at $213 million that same year, according to documents entered into evidence.

Shown the document during her testimony, Dillion said she was unfamiliar with it.

"I have never seen this document. I don't even know what this is," she said when she was shown the spreadsheet, which Trump Organization controller Jeffrey McConney previously testified he maintained.

• Judge to hold hearing on Ivanka Trump subpoenas

Judge Engoron will hear arguments Friday morning about Ivanka Trump's efforts to quash three subpoenas related to her potential testimony at her father's civil trial.

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• Colorado judge rejects Trump's bid to toss lawsuit aimed at keeping him off 2024 ballot

A Colorado judge on Wednesday denied the latest attempt by former President Donald Trump to dismiss a lawsuit seeking to remove him from the state’s 2024 ballot because of his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack.

The decision comes just days before a trial on Trump’s eligibility for the ballot is expected to begin.

The lawsuit, filed on behalf of six voters in Denver district court last month, says Trump should be disqualified from running in future elections under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, which states no person shall hold any office if they “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” after having taken an oath to support the Constitution. It argues that Trump violated his oath as president through his connection to the Capitol attack.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington and several law firms filed the lawsuit on behalf of the six voters — four Republicans and two unaffiliated.

In a 24-page ruling, Colorado District Judge Sarah Wallace pushed back on Trump’s argument that Congress, not courts, should handle questions related to his ballot eligibility. She also sided against Trump’s claim that state election officials lack the power to enforce Section 3 of the 14th Amendment.

Before this evening’s update…….

• Some of Trump’s closest allies have yet to be offered plea deals in Georgia case

Donald Trump’s top co-defendants charged with conspiring to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia have not been offered plea deals since they were indicted, people close to the matter said, fueling concerns among some in the group that prosecutors are vindictively forcing them to trial.

The co-defendants without offers include the former US president himself, former Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, and former Trump lawyers John Eastman and Rudy Giuliani, the people said – individuals who played leading roles in the alleged conspiracies.

The lack of offers from the Fulton county district attorney, Fani Willis, in contrast to those deals agreed with the other Trump election lawyers Kenneth Chesebro and Sidney Powell, has caused some of Trump’s top co-defendants to reconsider their legal strategy and weigh options such as seeking an expedited trial or trying to sever their cases.

Trump and his original 19 co-defendants pleaded not guilty in August to charges that they violated the Rico statute in Georgia in trying to reverse his election defeat. But the pressure on Trump’s closest allies has increased in recent weeks after four co-defendants accepted plea agreements.

The Fulton county superior court judge Scott McAfee has not set a trial date for the remaining co-defendants in part because he has been advised that further plea deals are possible, a person familiar with the matter said, though on Thursday he scheduled a motions hearing for Trump in December.

At least part of the reason why Fulton county prosecutors have not extended plea offers to Trump’s top allies could be a strategic decision to move from the lower-level defendants upwards, where each defendant provides incriminating evidence against the next biggest prosecution targets.

That has been a preferred tactic for the Fulton county district attorney’s office in other Rico cases, with defendants who agree to plea deals earlier than others receiving the most favorable terms – a process that prosecutors have jokingly compared to bingo, a person briefed on the matter said.

For the moment, prosecutors have discussed the prospect of plea deals with at least seven co-defendants on a list that includes several Trump 2020 campaign associates and the fake electors who did not end up with plea agreements pre-indictment, the person said.

Going to try again. Little news before tonight's update

• Judge Chutkan Puts Trump in a Box on a Televised Trial

Judge Chutkan today ordered Donald Trump's legal team to file a response by November 10 on whether they object or agree with the media's request to have a pool camera provide televised coverage of his J6 trial to the American public.

Although federal trials are not televised, a media consortium filed a motion on October 5 arguing that since this is such an unprecedented case with enormous public interest, the decades-old practice of prohibiting the public from viewing a federal criminal trial should be dispensed with.

NBC filed their own motion last week arguing different grounds, asserting that the public has a First Amendment and statutory right to have this type of trial available for public view, but only a tiny percentage of the public and press will be able to view it because of the physical size of any courtroom.

Judge Chutkan's order puts Trump in a bind politically. If he opposes the trial being televised, it forces him to put his reasons for wanting to hide the testimony and evidence from the public at a time when he is asking them to vote for him for president. It will necessarily look like he has something to hide because the evidence is so damaging.

Trump had approached this case with his usual false bravado. He claims that he will win, will testify in every case, and that the government's case will fall apart when challenged in court. Now he will have to take the position that he wants to hide his victory and vindication from the public.

The New York fraud trial has already shown Trump's playbook on how he intends to spin his criminal trials to the public. Since the NY trial is also not televised, each day he and his henchmen lie and spin about what just took place, and that is the only version many members of the public will ever know. If the trial is televised, even Fox and Newsmax viewers will be exposed to the truth, rather than Donald Trump's warped version of it.

This order also indicates that Judge Chutkan is seriously considering this motion from the media by requiring a response from the defendant, rather than simply denying it outright. Trump will have to give specific reasons why having a pool camera will prejudice his ability to have a fair trial. Given that many high-profile criminal trials have already been televised in this country with no adverse impact on the defendants' due process rights, that will be a tough argument to make.

If this trial is televised, and the American public can hear Trump's former political appointees testify in detail about his crimes in March and April, he will be sunk politically. If the trial is not televised, a large percentage of the public will only receive bits and pieces of it from mainstream media, which millions of Americans say they don't trust.

meidastouch.com

Today’s news then a review of last week

• Judge reinstates gag order against Trump

A federal judge has reinstated a gag order against former President Donald Trump, lifting a temporary hold she placed on it earlier this month.

U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan issued an order Sunday evening via the court’s online docket, rejecting Trump’s request to set the limits on his public statements aside while he pursues the appeal he’s already filed.

Details of Chutkan’s ruling were not immediately available due to an outage of the court’s system that makes filings and rulings available to the public. Trump, however, appeared to acknowledge the decision in a social media post Sunday evening, describing it as an attack on his free speech.

“The Corrupt Biden Administration just took away my First Amendment Right To Free Speech. NOT CONSTITUTIONAL! MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social site about an hour after the brief notice emerged from the court.

Chutkan, who is presiding over special counsel Jack Smith’s prosecution of Trump for charges stemming from his bid to subvert the 2020 election, imposed a gag order on the former president earlier this month at the request of prosecutors.

The judge, a Washington, D.C.-based appointee of former President Barack Obama, contended that Trump’s repeated inflammatory attacks on prosecutors, court officials and witnesses had threatened to undermine the case and put people at risk.

But Chutkan agreed to pause her order temporarily amid initial pushback from Trump and his attorney, John Lauro, who argued the order was vaguely worded, unmanageable and unjustified.

Chutkan’s order is separate from one issued by a judge in New York handling a state-court civil case aimed at his business empire. Trump has been twice fined by the judge there, for a total of $15,000, for violating a directive to cease public statements about the judge’s clerk and other court staff.

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Trump fraud trial updates: Ivanka Trump must testify

• Ivanka Trump must testify at her father’s fraud trial

Ivanka Trump must appear to testify at her father’s fraud trial, Judge Arthur Engoron decided from the bench Friday morning.

“I want to see her in person. That is how we prefer testimony,” Engoron said after denying Ivanka Trump’s motion to quash the trial subpoenas she was served.

While Ivanka Trump was not in attendance at Friday's hearing, her lawyer Bennet Moskowitz argued that the state’s justification for bringing Ivanka to the courtroom “falls on its face.”

• Judge loses patience with state's questions

The testimony of Donald Trump’s former tax lawyer Sheri Dillon continued Friday morning after a hearing where Judge Arthur Engoron ordered Ivanka Trump to testify at the trial as early as next week.

State attorney Louis Solomon attempted to highlight development restrictions that Trump allegedly agreed to for two properties that appeared to contradict proposed conservation easements.

“Yes, it’s complicated. For the most part, it didn't matter,” Dillon testified, arguing that the restrictions would not impact Trump’s conservation easements.

After an hour of similar questions and responses, Engoron appeared to lose patience and briefly excused the witness from the stand.

“I feel we are two or three elements away from anything that is relevant,” Engoron said. “It seems to me this is becoming a game of gotcha.”

• AG sets schedule for testimony from Donald Trump, his children

New York Attorney General Letitia James will likely rest her case against former President Donald Trump during the week of Nov. 6 following at least four days of testimony from Trump and his children.

State attorney Kevin Wallace told Judge Arthur Engoron that the state plans to call Donald Trump Jr. on Wednesday, followed by Eric and Ivanka Trump on the following Thursday and Friday, respectively.

The state’s final witness, the former president, will likely begin his direct examination on Monday, Nov. 6, according to Wallace.

“We like to keep families together,” Engoron joked as Wallace set the schedule.

• Tax lawyer Sheri Dillon concludes testimony

State attorney Louis Solomon concluded his direct examination of tax lawyer Sheri Dillon after a series of questions about an appraisal of former President Donald Trump’s Seven Springs estate in New York.

A 2015 appraisal of the estate valued the entire property at $56.5 million, according to documents presented at trial, though Trump’s financial statements valued the property between $261 and $291 million from 2011 to 2021.

Dillon, who Judge Arthur Engoron deemed a hostile witness Thursday, struggled to recall with whom at the Trump Organization she might have discussed the appraisal. She added that she could not recall if she mentioned the appraisal in relation to the value of the estate in Trump’s financial statements.

“I have no idea if I told them the [appraised] value of the property,” Dillon testified. She later added, “It’s not like every Monday we talk about conservation easements.”

• Trump pays $15,000 in gag order fines

Former President Donald Trump's lawyers have paid $15,000 to the New York Lawyers' Fund for Client Protection on behalf of the former president for his two gag order violations.

Judge Arthur Engoron fined Trump twice for violating his limited gag order prohibiting public statements about members of his staff.

Trump was fined $10,000 this week for a statement he made to reporters in court, which Engoron determined was in reference to his clerk. He was fined $5,000 last Friday for inadvertently keeping a Truth Social post -- which prompted the initial gag order -- on his campaign website after deleting it from his Truth Social account.

"Without waiving any rights or remedies, including, without limitation, any rights to appeal said orders, on behalf of our client, we enclose herewith a check from our attorney trust account in the amount of $15,000 in accordance with the court's orders," defense lawyer Alina Hanna wrote in a filing posted today.

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A breakdown of trump’s bad week………

• trump’s mounting legal troubles intensify with rough week in court

Former President Trump endured a series of legal setbacks in recent days, underscoring the mounting risks he faces as his various legal cases intensify.

Trump took the stand in New York this week, sworn in as a witness for unexpected testimony in his financial fraud case to respond to allegations he violated a gag order by making a comment about the judge’s clerk while complaining about the ongoing trial.

In Georgia, Trump’s former attorney Jenna Ellis pleaded guilty in a case revolving around efforts to overturn the election. She’s the fourth of Trump’s co-defendants in the sprawling racketeering and election case to do so.

And in the federal case that Trump sought to overturn the election, reporting this week indicates Trump’s former chief of staff Mark Meadows was granted immunity to testify before grand jurors, a sign of the wealth of evidence prosecutors may have gathered in the case.

Together, the developments showcase the mounting pressure on Trump as he faces five cases probing his business dealings, post-2020 efforts to stay in power and his mishandling of classified records.

“Between the Meadows news and Jenna Ellis striking a plea deal, it definitely was a bad day for Trump but a good day for democracy,” said Sarah Matthews, a former Trump aide who testified at a hearing for the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 riots, in an interview.

In a sign of the legal pileup Trump is facing, he addressed reporters at the Manhattan courthouse where his fraud trial is taking place multiple times during the week to speak about developments in other cases and the reports Meadows agreed to cooperate.

“I’ve spoken to Mark Meadows many, many times over the years. And he strongly believed the election was rigged,” Trump said pushing back on reports Meadows told investigators he told the then-president he had lost the 2020 election.

The news appeared to alarm Trump, who turned to social media to muse that surely Meadows would not have done such a thing — even as he expressed some doubt.

“Some people would make that deal, but they are weaklings and cowards, and so bad for the future [of] our Failing Nation,” Trump wrote. “I don’t think that Mark Meadows is one of them, but who really knows?”

In another bad turn for Trump, a judge in New York ruled Friday that Trump’s daughter, Ivanka, will have to testify about her father’s business dealings. While Ivanka Trump could still appeal the decision, it would be yet another loss for the former president in the case as his attorneys challenged efforts to secure her testimony.

Much more in the article

I can't wait to read team orange's response to the Chukan's briefing about allowing cameras in the courtroom. The orange one is fooked either way, which is always fun to see.

^I would like to see it televised (drama queen trump), but I have concerns for the jury and what if some of trump’s maga minions might do if they found out who they were.

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Some news before tonight’s update.

Highlights.......

5 things to know about Trump’s 14th Amendment disqualification trial in Colorado

Whether former President Trump instigated the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack is at the core of a Colorado lawsuit seeking to disqualify him from the state’s 2024 ballot under the 14th Amendment’s “insurrection clause.”

• Trial at judge’s sole discretion

Colorado Judge Sarah Wallace is overseeing the bench trial, meaning she will be the sole decider of the case’s outcome, not a jury. The trial is expected to address nine topics, Wallace said in court filings, including the meaning of “engaged” and “insurrection” in the 14th Amendment and whether Trump’s conduct leading up to the riot qualifies.

At the start of the trial Monday morning, Wallace denied Trump’s motion to recuse herself from the case, which cited a donation the judge made to the Colorado Turnout Project, a PAC focused on electing Democrats across the state.

• Similar cases await in other states

Trump faces similar lawsuits in Michigan and Minnesota, but the Colorado case is the first to head to trial.

• Congressman takes the stand

Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) made the rare move of taking the witness stand as a sitting lawmaker. He testified to his experience at the Capitol on Jan. 6, recalling the harrowing timeline of the day that ended in lawmakers evacuating the House and Senate chambers.

Trump fraud trial: AG agrees to pause cancelation of Trump's business certificates

• Ivanka Trump's testimony moved to Nov. 8

Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka Trump is now scheduled to testify on Wednesday, Nov. 8, after a scheduling conflict necessitated the change.

Her testimony will come at the conclusion of the New York attorney general's case, before the defense puts on its case.

• Trump allowed no copies of statements, insurance exec says

An insurance company executive testified that the Trump Organization kept its financial documents closely guarded to an unusual extent.

Claudia Mouradian, a senior underwriting officer at Zurich North America, provided the testimony via a deposition video. Mouradian, who lives outside New York and is nine months pregnant, is the only witness who has been excused from in-person testimony.

Mouradian, who began working on the Trump Organization account for Zurich in 2017, said that the Trump Organization placed restrictions on taking financial materials out of their offices.

"It is rare," she said about the restrictions.

When she reviewed Donald Trump's financial statements in 2018, she recalled a one-hour meeting in Trump Tower overseen by then-Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg.

"He took me to the boardroom. He provided me the financial statements. [He said,] 'take as many notes as you would like, no cellphones, no photocopies,'" Mouradian said. "Allen stayed in the room with me."

• Trump CFO misrepresented source of appraisals, underwriter says

Former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg provided misleading information about Donald Trump's assets, according to Claudia Mouradian, an insurance underwriter who met with Weisselberg on multiple occasions.

During meetings with Mouradian in 2018 and 2020, Weisselberg claimed that Trump had strong cash assets and stable properties that had been appraised by third parties -- information that Mouradian said she used to determine that the Trump Organization was in "very good financial shape."

"It was a positive factor when he told me that. He was essentially saying the properties don't fluctuate in value during economic cycles," Mouradian testified about Trump's assets during a video deposition played in court today.

However, Weisselberg acknowledged in his own deposition that the Trump Organization did not use outside appraisers to value properties -- contradicting what he told Mouradian.

"I am understanding you correctly that you did not engage appraisers to perform valuations of properties for purposes of that statement of financial condition?" a state attorney asked Weisselberg in a taped deposition.

"Correct," Weisselberg replied, though he said he did not recall that he told Mouradian the opposite.

"It is not consistent with what he told me at the meeting," Mouradian said when shown Weisselberg's testimony.

Court was subsequently adjourned for the day.

• AG agrees to pause cancelation of Trump's business certificates

Lawyers for the New York attorney general, in a late-day court filing, said they support the court-ordered pause on canceling Trump's business certificates -- but warn that a stay of Trump's civil fraud trial would cause a "cascade of delays."

The filing comes more than three weeks after an appeals court, at Trump's request, paused the enforcement of the cancelation of Trump's business certificates that Judge Arthur Engoron had ordered in his summary judgment.

In today's filing, New York Attorney General Letitia James wrote she was "willing to agree to stay enforcement … pending the end of trial and entry of final judgment."

A few events from yesterday before this evening’s NY fraud update

• Judge unseals criminal complaints against Trump lawyers in Georgia election fraud case

Criminal complaints against Trump lawyers Sindey Powell, Ken Chesebro and Jenna Ellis were ordered unsealed Tuesday after the trio accepted plea bargains in the Georgia election fraud case, court records show.

Fulton County Judge Scott McAfee ruled to make public the criminal dockets for those who have made deals in District Attorney Fani Willis’s RICO case against former President Donald Trump and 18 co-defendants she accuses of corruptly trying to overturn the 2020 election.

“It is hard to conceive of a subject matter more pertinent to the public interest than a criminal case addressing the circumstances of a presidential election,” McAfee wrote.

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• a little from Judge Chutkan

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• Trump signaled to extremist groups on Jan. 6, experts testify in Colorado 14th Amendment case
  

The attorneys attempting to paint former President Trump as an insurrectionist in order to get him banned from the ballot in Colorado in 2024 focused their case Tuesday on signals he sent to extremist groups who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6.

Attorney Eric Olson, representing the plaintiffs, relied on expert testimony from an extremism expert during the second day of a trial that centers on whether Trump should be disqualified from running for president in the state, citing the 14th Amendment of the Constitution.

Chapman University professor Pete Simi, who studies political violence and extremism, argued that Trump cultivated a far-right following for years even before running for president, creating a relationship he took advantage of in his attempts to overturn his 2020 election loss. He said he was “very confident” that Trump led the events of Jan. 6.

“From my years of studying how far-right extremists perceive communication, the relationship that they developed with Donald Trump over multiple years, the various signals … promoting or endorsing violence, things done over social media … that aligned with many of the things that Trump said over the years,” Simi said.

“That relationship that was established and built, I think, really underscores how much influence he has for far-right extremists, and how much they perceive him as essentially one on their side or one of them,” he continued.

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• Former President Donald Trump in Miami Tuesday

Former President Donald Trump was in Miami federal court Tuesday, at the Wilkie D. Ferguson Courthouse.

He was visiting the 'sensitive compartmented information facility' there, where sources say he and his attorney were looking at court filings.

Trump was in Miami federal court back in June for his classified documents case.

The indictment accused Trump of illegally retaining documents after he left the white house in 2021 and then repeatedly obstructing government efforts to get the records back.

He has pleaded not guilty and has denied any wrongdoing.

Trump visits secure facility to view evidence in classified documents case: Sources

• Trump sues Michigan election official to keep his name on 2024 ballot

Former President Trump filed a lawsuit Monday seeking to bar Michigan's top elections official from booting his name off the state's ballot for the 2024 presidential elections.

The big picture: The suit asks the court to affirm that Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson (D) lacks the authority to assess his qualifications, including regarding the 14th Amendment argument at the center of lawsuits playing out in other states this week that question his eligibility.

Trump's attorneys also requested the court grant an injunction preventing Benson from refusing to him on the ballot.

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Trump fraud trial: Expert witness may take the stand Wednesday before Don Jr.

• Judge says fining Trump for illegal profits is 'an available remedy'

Judge Engoron, in an exchange with defense attorneys regarding the state's expert witness, said that levying fines against Trump -- one of the central issues being decided at this trial -- is "clearly an available remedy" despite the defense's contention otherwise.

Engoron already ruled in a partial summary judgment that Trump had submitted "fraudulent valuations" for his assets, leaving the trial to determine additional actions and what penalty, if any, the defendants should receive.

Engoron's observation came during the defense's effort to preclude testimony from the attorney general's expert witness. In denying their effort, the judge also shot down the defense's argument that disgorgement -- fining Trump for illegal profits -- is off the table.

"For reasons this court has explained ad nauseam, that view is simply incorrect," Engoron said. "Disgorgement is a clearly available remedy."

• 'Trick or Treason,' say demonstrators outside courthouse

Attorneys involved in the case were greeted outside the courthouse this morning by nearly a dozen demonstrators wearing Halloween masks and carrying signs that read "Trick or Treason" and "Trump is a Horror Show."

"We came out because it's Halloween, and our theme is 'Trick or Treason,'" said organizer Jamie Baur of the group Rise and Resist. "We come out on different days, both to challenge [Trump's] lawyers and make sure they know that we hold them accountable for trying to defend the indefensible."

• Banker says Trump declined to share financials in Bills' bid

After claiming a net worth of $8 billion, Donald Trump declined to share his financial statements with bankers related to his $1 billion bid to purchase the Buffalo Bills football team in 2014, according to documents presented at trial and testimony from Morgan Stanley executive K. Don Cornwell.

Of the 86 parties contacted to potentially bid on the Bills, Trump was one of six parties to make a final bid, according to a Morgan Stanley document shown at trial.

However, when Morgan Stanley attempted a close review of Trump's bid, Trump declined to provide his financial statements.

"We feel it is premature to sign the consent release forms until such time as we know that Mr. Trump is the final bidder," then-Trump attorney Michael Cohen said in a 2014 email shown at trial.

During a management presentation with Bills' leadership, Trump instead handed out a Forbes magazine list to support his bid, according to Cornwell.

"He gave us handouts of the Forbes list of the top-paid entertainers," Cornwell said.

• Expert witness may take the stand Wednesday before Don Jr.

Day 20 of the trial wrapped up with testimony from former Trump Organization vice president David Orowitz, who testified about what he said was Ivanka Trump's significant involvement in loan negotiations related to Trump's Doral Golf Club in Miami and the Trump International Hotel in Chicago over a decade ago.

Ivanka Trump, who at the time was a vice president in the Trump Organization, was dismissed from the AG's lawsuit in June because she was no longer with the firm by 2016 -- though she is still scheduled to testify next week as the final witness for the state's case.

State attorneys had initially planned to complete the testimony of Orowitz, as well as that of expert witness Michiel McCarty, by the end of today -- but Orovitz's lengthy testimony kept that from happening.

As a result, their remaining testimony will either delay tomorrow's much-anticipated testimony from Donald Trump Jr. -- or it will be pushed to a different day.

Trump is not going to be able to afford bronzer after all of his court cases are done!

^He might not need it while rotting away in jail.
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Some news before this afternoon’s NY fraud trial update

• Hearing to determine if Trump can be barred from office reaches far back in history for answers

The effort to ban former President Donald Trump from the ballot under the Constitution's “insurrection clause” turned to distant history on Wednesday, when a law professor testified about how the post-Civil War provision was indeed intended to apply to presidential candidates.

Gerard Magliocca, of Indiana University, said there was scant scholarship on Section Three of the 14th Amendment when he began researching it in late 2020. He testified that he uncovered evidence in 150-year-old court rulings, congressional testimony and presidential executive orders that it applied to presidents and to those who simply encouraged an insurrection rather than physically participated in one.

Magliocca didn't mention Trump by name, but the plaintiffs in the case have argued that Colorado must ban him from the ballot because his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol, which was intended to halt Congress' certification of Joe Biden's win and keep Trump in power, falls under the provision. The section originally was designed to prevent former Confederates from returning to their old federal and state jobs and taking over the government.

“It was not intended as punishment,” Magliocca said of the ban. “A number of senators discussed the fact that this was simply adding another qualification to office.”

14th Amendment applies to presidents, expert argues at Trump’s Colorado disqualification trial

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• Judges Canon and Chutkan Put Out CIPA Orders, One Follows The Law While The Other Muddles It

Today, Judge Chutkan (in Washington, D.C.) and Judge Cannon (in South Florida) issued similar CIPA related rulings concerning the use and access to classified information by Donald Trump. As expected, the two orders differ from one another, with Judge Chutkan following settled law and Judge Cannon straying from important precedent, possibly setting up an appeal.

For background CIPA, also known as the Classified Information Procedures Act, governs the procedures by which classified information is shared and viewed during federal criminal trials. CIPA governs both of Trump's federal trials as there is classified information in both, albeit the Florida one having a lot more since the indictment is wholly predicated on the improper retention of classified material.

Within CIPA, sections 3 and 4 govern which classified material a criminal defendant may review prior to or during the criminal trial. Specifically, section 4 allows the government to ask the court to restrict the defendant and his or her attorneys from viewing certain classified documents. The reason for this is because certain documents contain classified material that would release active classified material, and once this information is released, you cannot figuratively unring the bell.

Reviewing the two orders, it is evident that Judge Chutkan followed the law concerning section 4, while Judge Cannon did not. In both cases, the Special Counsel's office asked to limit some of the classified materials that it intends to present to Trump and his team.

In D.C., Judge Chutkan agreed that some limitation is necessary and said that the Special Counsel's proposed summary of the classified material was enough to satisfy CIPA's requirements in lieu of handing over the documents themselves.

In Florida, however, Judge Cannon ruled that she would not restrict Trump's access to certain active classified documents in whole, but that she may at a later date. It is notable that in Judge Chutkan's order she refers to Jack Smith's team as the "government" while Judge Cannon refers to the team as the "Office of Special Counsel" or "OSC."

Judge Cannon's order sets up a possible appeal for Special Counsel Jack Smith. meidastouch.com

Fla: https://storage.courtlistener.com/re...53.202.0_1.pdf

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• Judge in Trump'''s classified docs case acknowledges it could collide with Jan. 6 trial

The judge overseeing the probe into former President Donald Trump's handling of classified documents suggested Wednesday that she would move some of the deadlines in the case, acknowledging that the trial could collide with the trial date set in Trump's federal election interference case in Washington, D.C.

U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon did not explicitly say whether she would move the trial from its current date of May 20, but said she would make "adjustments" to the schedule -- something that attorneys for special counsel Jack Smith acknowledged needs to be done, after Cannon recently paused any litigation involving the handling of the classified materials at the center of the probe.

Cannon said she was having "a hard time seeing how, realistically, this work can be accomplished in a compressed period of time" given that Trump's court schedule in the election interference trial -- which is scheduled to begin March 4 – could consume March, April and possibly May.

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

He will be convicted well before the election.

The Don nor his lawyer even think about jail.

^They should be and no doubt are. 91 felony counts. trump is going to jail

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Trump fraud trial: 'I wasn't involved' preparing financial statements, Trump Jr. says

• Ivanka Trump appeals ruling requiring her to testify

One week ahead of her planned testimony, Ivanka Trump has appealed Judge Engoron's decision to require her to testify in person at the Trump Organization's fraud trial.

• 'I leave it to my CPAs,' Trump Jr. says of accounting standards

"Sounds very exciting, but no," Donald Trump Jr. answered to a state attorney's question about whether he knows about accounting certifications, professional organizations, or accounting standards other than GAAP, which stands for "Generally Accepted Accounting Principles."

"I know nothing about GAAP," Trump Jr. said, adding, "I leave it to my CPAs."

"I'm a real estate broker," Trump Jr. said as he introduced himself on the witness stand. He testified that he began working in the family real estate business "right after 9/11," working on Trump Park Avenue and the former Sun Times building in Chicago.

• Trump Jr. pressed about departure of ex-CFO

Donald Trump Jr. struggled to answer questions when pressed about why former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg departed the family's firm.

"Because some legal issues he got himself into," Trump Jr. said, declining to offer specifics about Weisselberg's guilty plea on tax evasion charges last year.

Previously giving lengthy answers to questions about his background and even smiling with the judge, Trump Jr. appeared tense on the witness stand as he answered questions about Weisselberg.

"The specific event was he was indicted," Trump Jr. said.

He added that when began working for the Trump Organization as an executive vice president in the 2010s, Weisselberg outranked him. Trump Jr. would seek Weisselberg's approval for certain business decisions such as refinancing loans.

"Who is above you in your role as an executive vice president in the Trump Organization?" state attorney Colleen Faherty asked.

"Obviously I would have reported to my father in that period of time … people like Allen Weisselberg would have still been senior to me," Trump Jr. said of that time period.

Trump Jr. said he gained more responsibility in 2016 when his father became president and he was named a trustee of his father's revocable trust. He said that he, Weisselberg and his brother Eric Trump became a kind of triumvirate running the Trump Organization.

"We stopped reporting to my father on decisions involving the business," Trump Jr. said.

That relationship broke down once Weisselberg got himself into "legal issues," Trump Jr. said. He testified that he could not recall the circumstances of Weisselberg's exit, including the multimillion-dollar severance deal that Weisselberg received, which Weisselberg faced questions about during his own testimony earlier this month.

"I have no knowledge of the specifics of how it happened. He is no longer working at the Trump Organization," Trump Jr. said of the former CFO.

• 'I wasn't involved' preparing financial statements, Trump Jr. says

Before stepping down from the witness stand at the end of the afternoon, Donald Trump Jr. was asked repeatedly about his involvement in the Trump Organization's statements of financial condition -- the allegedly fraudulent documents that underpin the attorney general's case.

Trump Jr., who signed and certified the accuracy of the statements while his father was president between 2016 and 2021, said that he was not involved in preparing the filings.

"I wasn't involved in the compilation of this statement of financial condition," Trump Jr. said, placing the responsibility on his accountants.

"Did you work on the statement of financial condition for June 30, 2017?" state attorney Colleen Faherty asked.

"I did not. The accountants worked on it. That's what we paid them to do," Trump Jr. said.

Throughout the afternoon, the tone of the proceedings alternated rapidly between lighthearted and heated, varying from playful interactions between Trump Jr. and Judge Engoron, to bitter spats between some of the lawyers.

"I know you don't like it when good evidence comes in," Faherty told the defense lawyers during one particularly heated exchange.

"There's no reason to raise your voice," Donald Trump Jr.'s lawyer, Clifford Robert, responded.

• Trump Jr. to resume testimony tomorrow

Donald Trump Jr. has stepped down from the witness stand.

He is due to return to the courtroom tomorrow morning to resume his direct examination.

Court is now adjourned for the day.

Another early update before this afternoon’s trump’s NY fraud trial update

• Judge Chutkan: Full Steam Ahead with Speedy Trump Trial

U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan is chugging along with jury selection in Donald Trump’s federal election subversion case, despite attempts to delay the proceedings by the former president’s legal team.

On Thursday, Chutkan endorsed a set of jury procedures that note prospective jurors will fill out a preliminary questionnaire on February 9, just over three months away. (As a reminder, Trump’s trial is scheduled to begin on March 4, 2024, one day before Super Tuesday.)

Certain language in the court order also hints that Chutkan is getting wise to Trump’s antics.

After slapping Trump with a gag order in the D.C. trial for leveraging his platform on social media and at speaking arrangements to lambaste prosecutors and office clerks associated with the case, Chutkan’s legal outline reads more like a warning to his defense to keep the former president from trash talking his own jury.

“The parties must ensure that anyone permitted access to sensitive juror information understands that he cannot publicly disclose the information, and no party may provide jurors’ identifying information to any other entity (e.g., the defendant’s campaign) that is not part of the defense team or Government team assisting with jury selection,” Chutkan wrote.

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• Ivanka Trump appeals ruling requiring her to testify in father's fraud trial

Former President Trump's daughter, Ivanka Trump, filed an appeal Wednesday in an attempt to get out of testifying in her father's ongoing civil fraud trial.

The big picture: The move comes after Ivanka Trump's testimony was postponed this week to Nov. 8 to allow enough time for her to be questioned and to give her a chance to appeal the judge's ordered testimony.

Driving the news: Her attorney asked an appellate court to determine whether Judge Arthur Engoron has the jurisdiction to order her to testify, per ABC News.

• Additionally, the appeal questions whether subpoenas in the trial were properly issued by New York Attorney General Letitia James.
• Ivanka Trump's attorney did not immediately respond to Axios' request for comment.

Catch up quick: Engoron last week denied a request to void the subpoena for Ivanka Trump to testify.

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• Ken Buck testifies in Trump 14th Amendment hearing in Colorado

Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.) took the stand Thursday in a case attempting to disqualify former President Trump from appearing on the 2024 ballot in Colorado, with the GOP congressman appearing as a witness on behalf of Trump campaign attorneys attempting to discredit the House Select Committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, attack.

The case centers on whether Trump’s actions and speeches during and before the Jan. 6 riots could fall under a clause of the 14th Amendment that bans those who participate or assist in insurrection from federal office.

The plaintiffs have argued that Trump’s actions supported the rioters who eventually stormed the Capitol amid Congress’s official Electoral College count of the 2020 election, which Trump lost.

Buck described a chaotic scene on Jan. 6, as Capitol Police attempted to barricade the House chamber from approaching rioters.

“A police officer came to the microphone and said that tear gas had been dispersed. And we were advised that there were gas masks under our seats, and we should deploy those gas masks,” Buck said. “There was clear indication that there was a danger at that point.”

He said that he didn’t have phone reception and wasn’t aware of the riots, so he readied himself to assist police in fending off what he believed would be a small number of protesters.

“I came back to my office rather than the secure committee room, and I saw on TV what was going on and I thought, ‘Oh my goodness, there are a lot of people out there,’” he said.

Buck was the second lawmaker to take the stand in the case. Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) testified Monday to recount his own experience that day.

Attorneys for Trump’s campaign also used Buck’s testimony in an attempt to criticize the House Select Committee on Jan. 6, whose report is a key piece of evidence used by plaintiffs in the Colorado case.

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• Minnesota justices appear skeptical that states should decide Trump'''s eligibility for the ballot

Minnesota Supreme Court justices appeared skeptical Thursday that states have the authority to block former President Donald Trump from the ballot, with some suggesting that Congress is best positioned to decide whether his role in the 2021 U.S. Capitol attack should prevent him from running.

Justices sharply questioned an attorney representing Minnesota voters who had sued to keep Trump, the early front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, off the state ballot under the rarely used “insurrection” clause of the U.S. Constitution. Citing Congress’ role in certifying presidential electors and its ability to impeach, several justices said it seemed that questions of eligibility should be settled there.

“And those all seem to suggest there is a fundamental role for Congress to play and not the states because of that,” Chief Justice Natalie E. Hudson said. “It’s that interrelation that I think is troubling, that suggests that this is a national matter for Congress to decide.”

Trump fraud trial: Trump slams judge as Eric Trump denies working on financial statement

• Eric Trump clarifies testimony about email

Eric Trump clarified his earlier answer regarding his involvement in his father's statement of financial condition, in which he was asked if he recalled a 2013 email from then-Trump Organization controller Jeff McConney asking him for notes for the statement.

"I clearly understood I sent notes to Jeffrey McConney," Eric Trump testified.

"I don't think that it ever registered [that] it was for a personal statement of financial condition," he said.

• Eric Trump appears to contradict deposition

After acknowledging in his testimony that he provided Trump Organization controller Jeffrey McConney with information for his father's statement of financial condition, Eric Trump was shown video from his own deposition where he appeared to contradict his testimony in court.

"I have no recollection of ever providing Jeff material to be used in a statement that I've ever seen," Eric Trump said in the deposition he gave state attorneys during their probe.

"I don't think it would have ever registered" what the material was for, Eric Trump said in court today, responding to his own statement during his deposition.

• Attorney continues to press Eric Trump on financial statement

Eric Trump grew visibly irritated as he appeared to struggle with his testimony regarding his father's statement of financial condition.

Resisting state attorney Andrew Amer's efforts to show he was familiar with the document at the center of the case, he at times raised his voice and punctuated his short answers with phrases like "obviously," "clearly," and "as I previously testified." Other times he responded with lengthy equivocations, prompting Amer to exhort him to keep his answers to "yes or no."

"You don't have to give a speech about that," Judge Engoron implored Eric Trump at one point.

Amer repeatedly asked variations of the same question: Was Eric Trump aware of his father's statement of financial condition?

"This is not something I ever recall seeing or working on," Eric Trump said in one clip from his deposition that was played in court. "This is accounting, and that is not what I do on a daily basis."

• Eric Trump denies ignoring appraisal of luxury NY property

Eric Trump denied that he ignored a professional appraisal that would have significantly lowered the value of his family's Seven Springs estate in New York's Westchester County.

State attorney Andrew Amer attempted to show Eric Trump multiple emails and calendar invites from 2014 and 2015 to demonstrate that he was personally involved in an appraisal by Cushman & Wakefield executive David McArdle that placed the total value of the property's undeveloped lots between $30 and $50 million.

Trump's 2014 financial statement, in contrast, valued the property at $291 million, including $161 for just seven of the undeveloped lots.

"Can we agree that Mr. McArdle's valuation in relation to the easement donation he was doing was disregarded?" Amer asked.

"No, the exercises are apples and oranges. Nothing to do with each other," Eric Trump responded.

• 'I stick by that 100%' Eric Trump says of appraisal testimony

Eric Trump confidently stood by his past testimony regarding his limited involvement in an appraisal during a heated exchange with state attorney Andrew Amer.

Amer had spent the better part of the afternoon highlighting emails between Eric Trump and a Cushman & Wakefield appraiser, suggesting that Eric Trump was deeply involved in the appraisal of an estate and golf course in New York's Westchester County. Attempting to paint the testimony as inconsistent, Amer played another portion the deposition Eric Trump had given to investigators.

"I pour concrete. I operate properties. I don't focus on appraisals between a law firm and Cushman. It's just not what I do in my day-to-day responsibilities," Eric Trump said in the deposition.

"Will you concede that your testimony ... that you really haven't been involved in appraisal work on this property was incorrect?" Amer then asked Eric Trump on the stand.

"No. I really hadn't been involved with appraisal work on that property," Eric Trump responded. "I was clearly involved to a very small point. I see your emails. One hundred percent. I made phone calls."

• Judge suggests Trump attorney is misogynist, threatens gag order

Court concluded for the day with a threat from Judge Engoron to expand the trial's limited gag order to include attorneys, after a clash between the judge and defense counsel.

The judge had previously issued the partial gag order prohibiting defendants from making public comments about his staff, after former President Trump posted online about Engoron's law clerk.

After defense attorney Chris Kise suggested potential bias from the bench, Engoron told him, "Do not refer to my law clerk again."

"Sometimes I think there might be a bit of misogyny," Engoron told Kise.

• Trump attorney decries trial as 'waste of NY taxpayer dollars'

Outside court after court was adjourned for the day, Trump attorney Alina Habba defended the actions of Donald Trump's adult children on the heels of their testimony.

"These children are being brought in, away from their families, for doing nothing wrong," Habba said.

Echoing Trump, Habba attacked New York Attorney General Letitia James and called the trial "the biggest waste of New York taxpayer dollars I have ever seen."

"She piggybacked on Trump to get into office. She didn't do it well enough to become governor," Habba said, referencing James' failed attempt to run for New York governor in 2021.

"This is a waste of time," Habba said.

• Appeals courts rules that Ivanka Trump must testify

A New York appeals court has denied an emergency request from Ivanka Trump to stop her testimony at her father's civil fraud trial.

Trump's daughter, who is not a defendant in the case, was subpoenaed by the attorney general to testify.

She is currently scheduled to testify next week on Wednesday.

some news from yesterday

• Judge, citing Trump's 'repeated public statements,' orders anonymous jury in defamation suit trial

A New York federal judge cited former President Donald Trump’s “repeated public statements” Friday among reasons why a jury will be anonymous when it considers damages stemming from a defamation lawsuit by a writer who says Trump sexually abused her in the 1990s.

Judge Lewis A. Kaplan issued an order establishing that the jury to be chosen for the January trial in Manhattan will be transported by the U.S. Marshals Service.

“In view of Mr. Trump’s repeated public statements with respect to the plaintiff and court in this case as well as in other cases against him, and the extensive media coverage that this case already has received and that is likely to increase once the trial is imminent or underway, the Court finds that there is strong reason to believe the jury requires the protections” anonymity provides, Kaplan wrote in an order.

https://storage.courtlistener.com/re...3790.222.0.pdf

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• Feds fight cameras for Trump’s D.C. criminal trial

Special counsel Jack Smith urged a federal judge Friday to reject media outlets’ efforts to televise Donald Trump’s historic criminal trial in Washington, D.C. — but the former president appears to be ducking the fight over cameras in the courtroom.

The prosecutors say their opposition is rooted in a longstanding judicial rule that prohibits broadcasting federal criminal cases, a policy that applies to courthouses across the country. U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan has no discretion to override the policy, they say.

Trump has not formally filed a response to the media request, although Chutkan had given them another week to do so. However, prosecutors indicated in their Friday night submission that Trump’s team asked them to convey that he “takes no position” on the matter.

That appeared to be a reversal for at least one key member of Trump’s legal team, John Lauro, who said in at least two interviews over the summer that he strongly favored putting cameras in the courtroom for the Washington, D.C., case.

https://storage.courtlistener.com/re...60552.16.0.pdf