NEW YORK — With accountants on the witness stand and Former President Donald Trump at the defense table for a third day, his attorneys tried to pin blame on accounting firms for any problems with the statements. But lawyers for New York Attorney General Letitia James sought to show that the accountants relied entirely on information supplied by Trump and his company.
Judge Arthur Engoron lost patience with Trump’s defense when hearing testimony from a single witness, Trump’s longtime accountant Donald Bender of Mazars USA.
As defense attorney Jesus Suarez repeatedly asked Bender to recall how he arrived at specific values for specific assets in specific years, Engoron interrupted to ask how much longer the cross-examination would last.
Suarez said he would do his best to finish by the end of court today.
That prompted Kevin Wallace with the state attorney general’s office to shout, incredulously, “Today?” Wallace accused Suarez of being overly performative with Trump seated at the defense table.
Former President Donald Trump sits in the courtroom with his legal team, including attorney Alina Habba, right, before the start of his civil business fraud trial, Wednesday.
AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, POOL
When Engoron reminded the defense, “Mr. Bender is not on trial here,” Trump attorney Chris Kise interjected, “I would very much disagree with that.”
The judge implored the defense to truncate the line of questioning.
“You’re not allowed to waste time,” Engoron said.
“This is insane,” responded Trump attorney Alina Habba “He has not answered one question.”
Engoron pounded the bench, asking reporters in the room to take note. “This is ridiculous,” he barked.
FILE – Accountant Donald Bender leaving Manhattan Supreme Court after testifying at the Trump Organization trial on Tuesday Nov. 22, 2022, in New York.
(Molly Crane-Newman/New York Daily News/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
Cameron Harris, an accountant from the firm Whitley Penn, took the stand as the trial’s second witness following hours of testimony from former Trump accountant Donald Bender of Mazars USA, whose cross-examination will continue later.
Whitley Penn succeeded Mazars as Trump’s accounting firm.
Harris testified that Trump’s son Eric Trump “set the tone at the top” of the Trump Organization.
Like Bender, Harris testified that the Trumps had the ultimate responsibility for their financial statements.
“Who’s responsible for the statement of financial condition?” asked state attorney Kevin Wallace as Eric Trump sat in the courtroom.
“The client’s responsible for that,” Harris replied.
The proceedings appear to have taken a more workmanlike tone since Trump left the courtroom to return to Florida. The defense has not logged a single objection after earlier objecting so often that it drew the judge’s ire.
Attorneys for the defense team declined to cross-examine Harris after the former Trump accountant completed his testimony. However they reserved the right to call him back to the stand later.
Instead, they spent the last hour of court Wednesday continuing their cross-examination of former Mazars USA accountant Donald Bender, who handled Trump’s account prior to Harris.
After the defense highlighted Bender’s inconsistent statements about Mazars’ use of specialists to evaluate assets, Bender seemed to struggle to articulate how Mazars provided accounting expertise.
Defense attorney Jesus Suarez told Judge Engoron that he plans to continue his cross-examination of Bender through Thursday afternoon, though the defense promised to “streamline” their questions after the judge complained about the timing.
Court was then adjourned for the day.
Outside the courtroom, meanwhile, Trump’s lawyers appealed a key pretrial ruling: that he engaged in fraud by puffing up the values of prized assets. The trial concerns six claims that remain in the lawsuit after that ruling.
On Tuesday, Trump was slapped with a partial gag order by Judge Arthur Engoron, who issued a stern warning to the former president after he posted on Truth Social slamming the judge’s principal law clerk.
He had posted a photo of her with Senator Chuck Schumer, suggesting she was his girlfriend and that it was inappropriate for her to be in the courtroom.
The judge ordered the former president to delete the post, adding that personal attacks on members of the court staff are unacceptable.
As for the trial itself, Trump is accused by New York Attorney General Letitia James of committing repeated fraud by inflating the value of his assets and net worth on financial statements.
Judge Engoron last week ruled Trump did indeed commit one of the seven claims of fraud.
The former president denies all the charges.
The civil fraud case, brought by James, accuses Trump and his company of deceiving banks, insurers and others by chronically overstating his wealth by as much as $3.6 billion.
James is seeking $250 million in fines and a lifetime ban on the Trumps from doing business in New York.
Trump was under no obligation to appear and did not address the court. But he nonetheless seized the opportunity to create a media spectacle that ensured he was back in the spotlight. And he once again portrayed himself as a victim of a politicized justice system – a posture that has helped him emerge as the undisputed leader of the 2024 GOP primary.
The former president seems determined to use the trial as a campaign appearance and a fundraising tool by attacking the attorney general and the judge.
“He’s been given false information, misleading information and corrupt information by a very corrupt and incompetent attorney general, Letitia James,” Trump said. “This woman is grossly incompetent.”
The trial could last into December, Engoron said.
ABC News and The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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