Donald Trump is scheduled to make his closing argument in a civil fraud trial in a Manhattan courtroom on Thursday, according to reports.
The former president's lawyers will conclude the case, as is customary, but President Trump has indicated that he would like to add his own statement to the conclusion of the lawsuit brought against him by New York Attorney General Letitia James. Two people familiar with the plan told The Associated Press.
Judge Arthur Engoron approved the unusual request from Trump's lawyers earlier this week, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press.
Despite the agreement, President Trump could change his mind and leave all negotiations to his lawyers to end the months-long trial.
Trump was scheduled to testify for the second time as a witness in December, but canceled the day before, saying he had “nothing more to say.”
The newspaper has reached out to Trump's legal team for comment.
ABC News The first thing I did was Report on President Trump's closing argument plan.
The former president has been accused by James of inflating his net worth by billions of dollars in financial statements to save on business loans and insurance costs.
According to court documents, James had originally sought $250 million from Trump, but state attorneys last Friday asked for an increased penalty of more than $370 million.
The 45th president has consistently denied all wrongdoing, instead blaming James and the judge multiple times.
He caused an uproar when he testified in court in November. The riot spiraled out of control, and Mr. Engolan threatened to remove Mr. Trump from the witness stand.
Trump also complained outside court and on his social media platform, Truth Social.
He called the incident a “hoax” and the legal proceedings a “pathetic excuse to preserve evidence.”
The AG's office has accused President Trump, his companies and some of his top executives of overvaluing assets such as Trump Tower in New York City and Mar-a-Lago, Fla., where he currently lives, and is now targeting banks and insurance companies. accused of defrauding.
The AG's office argues that the larger numbers allowed Trump to obtain more favorable interest rates while insurance companies and lenders did not have the information they needed to properly calculate the numbers. ing.
Mr. Trump's team maintains that he has upheld the agreements he made and repaid the loans he received. He also provided financial statements that were clearly unaudited estimates and should have been reviewed by recipients themselves, his lawyers argue.
His lawyers said the net worth figure he provided was neither too low nor too high, arguing that the exaggeration was a minor error.
Judge Engoron said he expected a verdict would be handed down by the end of this month.
with post wire
