A second day has wrapped in former President Trump’s civil fraud case in New York Supreme Court with the GOP 2024 primary front-runner once again in attendance.
Trump’s fury largely dominated the first day of trial in which he lambasted the judge overseeing the case and glared in the face of the attorney general who brought the charges of fraud related to the inflation of his real estate properties against him.
On Tuesday, his anger was largely on display online, in the form of Truth Social posts and campaign emails targeting those overseeing the case. That ended up being taken up by the judge, who reprimanded Trump for singling out his clerk.
Follow below for a recap from the courtroom.
Court wraps up for the day
The fraud trial wrapped at around 4:30 p.m. for the day, with media asked to leave the courtroom before the parties had departed.
The trial will resume Wednesday when additional cross-examination of Donald Bender is expected.
Additional witnesses, including a defendant in the case as well as the Trump Organization’s former CFO, Allen Weisselberg, are on a list to take the stand after Bender.
Trump’s former fixer Michael Cohen is also expected to take the stand, but the timing of that is not yet known.
Defense lawyer grills accountant on taxes for ‘leader of free world’
Jesus Suarez, an attorney for Donald Trump and his entities, grilled Donald Bender over his work on the former president’s taxes, repeatedly iterating that he should have kept closer tabs on the taxes for the “leader of the free world.”
“I am emotional about it because it’s not funny,” Suarez said, drawing an objection from prosecutors and a laugh from the gallery. “The leader of the free world relied on you to get it right and you did not.”
“He’s sitting today, he’s going through hell, tens of thousands of his employees are going through hell, and you missed it,” Suarez said later in the cross-examination.
Bender denied making a mistake or going to Trump “mortified” over it, like Suarez suggested.
— Ella Lee
Judge issues limited gag order after Trump attacks clerk
Judge Arthur Engoron issued a limited gag order from posting or speaking publicly about members of his staff after Trump released personally identifying information about his principal clerk on Truth Social.
The trial judge said “one of the defendants” posted a “disparaging, untrue and personally-identifying post” about his staff, and though the judge ordered it deleted, it had been emailed out to “millions of other recipients.
“Personal attacks on members of my court staff are not appropriate and I will not tolerate it under any circumstance,” Engoron said.
He added that he warned counsel off the record about the former president’s comment yesterday, but the warning went unheeded.
Trump campaign blasts judge in fraud case
The Trump campaign sent out an email Tuesday blasting Judge Arthur Engoron as a “Far-Left Democrat” and questioning his knowledge of business valuations.
The lengthy email cited reports from right-wing outlets like Breitbart and Gateway Pundit that alleged Engoron is biased and corrupt and highlighting past donations to a local Democratic Party.
The campaign sent out a similar email on the first day of the trial tearing into New York Attorney General Letitia James, and Trump has targeted both the judge and prosecutors repeatedly.
— Brett Samuels
Trump targets court clerk on Truth Social while sitting feet away
Former President Trump targeted the principal law clerk working on his New York fraud trial on his Truth Social account Tuesday while he sat in the courtroom where she was just feet away.
The former president derided the clerk as “Schumer’s girlfriend” alongside a picture showing her posing with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.).
“Schumer’s girlfriend… is running this case against me. How disgraceful! This case should be dismissed immediately!!” Trump wrote.
Trump also linked to the clerk’s Instagram account, which is private. The account indicates she is a prospective candidate for Manhattan Civil Court.
The clerk in the courtroom frequently leans over to Judge Arthur Engoron to confer on issues raised by the parties before issuing an order.
Eric Trump, Trump’s second son, has leaned over to the individuals sitting next to him and expressed apparent frustration during multiple such conferences.
The post is another escalation of Trump’s attacks against individuals tied to the cases against him.
— Ella Lee
Updated 3:30 p.m.
Trump defends business practices during short court break
Speaking to news cameras outside of the courtroom during a 10-minute break in the trial, Trump defended his business’ practices including the financial statements under scrutiny in the fraud trial.
“This case is a scam,” Trump said during brief remarks that were more subdued than the day before. “It can’t be fraud when you’ve told institutions to do their own work. This case is a fraud, and it’s a scam.”
Those remarks are similar to those he made Monday during the first day of the trial, though so far Tuesday he has refrained from attacking the judge and prosecutor in the case at the courthouse.
— Rema Rahman
Prosecutors attempt to shift blame off accountants, onto Trump Org
Donald Bender’s testimony about the Trump Organization’s finances is helping prosecutors shift blame over the alleged inflation of those figures off of the accountants who prepared the documents and onto the business itself.
Prosecutors used the onetime Trump accountant, formerly at Mazars USA, as a vehicle to present more than a decade of documents showing the business’ financial standing. The documents included a disclaimer by the accounting firm that said it compiled with the company’s financial statements but would not verify them.
“Our engagement cannot be relied upon to identify or disclose any financial statement misstatements, including those caused by fraud or error or to identify or disclose any wrongdoing or noncompliance with laws and regulations,” the disclaimer read.
As the first witness, it seems that Bender is laying the groundwork for prosecutors to object to Trump and his businesses avoiding blame by pointing to their accounts for any errors.
— Ella Lee
Defense repeatedly objects to government’s evidence
Attorneys for Trump, his business and his adult sons have repeatedly objected to documents linked to the Trump Organization’s financial standing.
The attorneys have argued that the statements of financial condition, which go back to 2011, are too old to be considered as evidence.
Arthur Engoron, the judge, has already dismissed those arguments, but the attorneys have said they must preserve their objections for a future appeal.
The objections became so many that at one point, Trump attorney Chris Kise passed the baton to Clifford Robert, an attorney for Trump’s sons.
“I just got tired of standing up,” Kise joked.
— Ella Lee
Government’s first witness retakes the stand
Donald Bender, Trump’s longtime accountant formerly at Mazars USA, is back on the witness stand, testifying on the government’s behalf after he was granted immunity.
Bender prepared Trump’s personal tax returns for years and testified Monday to the technicalities of that process.
—Ella Lee
Second day of Trump civil fraud trial underway
Justice Arthur Engoron took the bench shortly after 10 a.m., kicking off the second day of Trump’s civil fraud trial in New York.
He dove straight into comments about the day prior, explaining the reasoning behind his ruling on statute of limitations — a choice he made due to the lack of a jury — and urging the parties not to make arguments over rulings already made.
“This trial is not an opportunity to relitigate what I have already decided … that’s why we have appeals,” Engoron said.
The judge then allowed five pool photographers to enter the courtroom and capture images of the proceeding.
“Oh, the wages of fame,” Engoron commented as the images were made, garnering a laugh from the gallery.
— Ella Lee
Trump: Law being used in New York fraud trial may not be constitutional
Former President Trump took to Truth Social just ahead of his appearance for a second day in the New York courtroom to allege that the charges against him are unconstitutional.
Trump said the New York Executive Law, which New York Attorney General Letitia James brought proceedings under, was “very unfair.” The law gives the state’s attorney general powers to investigate and prosecute cases of civil fraud.
On Monday, Trump made similar comments just outside the courtroom while the court was on a break in which he also called for the judge overseeing the trial to be disbarred.
— Lauren Irwin
Trump enters courtroom for second day of civil fraud trial
Former President Trump entered the courtroom where his civil fraud trial is set to resume Tuesday morning slowly, flanked by his lawyers, police and Secret Service.
He glanced at Letitia James, the New York attorney general, but did not engage with her.
The former president’s son, Eric Trump, entered the room at the same time and offered a tight-lipped greeting smile to James. It was unclear whether James returned the gesture.
Yesterday, Trump’s fury over the case that could imperil his business empire was apparent; he tore into the judge overseeing the case in a statement to news media outside the courtroom and glared at James, who brought the case.
James arrives in courtroom
New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) has arrived in the New York courtroom where former President Trump’s civil fraud trial is scheduled to resume Tuesday morning.
James’s office sued Trump last September, alleging the former president and his business engaged in decades of fraud linked to some of his most famed properties.
She chatted with prosecutors trying the case for a few minutes, sometimes laughing, before taking a front-row seat in the right-most column of benches in the gallery.
— Ella Lee
Trump says he’ll return to fraud trial Tuesday after ‘good day’
Former President Trump, in a social media post early Tuesday morning, described the opening day of the trial as a success and said he will show up again for its second day.
“Good day at trial today as the judge will be honoring the Appellate Court’s unanimous decision on the Statute of Limitations!” Trump wrote. “This reduces the case by approximately 80%. See you in Court on Tuesday morning!”
— Sarah Fortinsky