Former President Trump lashed out at New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) on Tuesday for “smirking all day long” from across the courtroom as his legal team mounts its defense in the civil fraud case targeting his business empire.
“Racist A.G. Letitia James is smirking all day long from her seat in Court,” Trump wrote on his social media platform, Truth Social.
“You have a (Trump Hating!) Attorney General who’s seeking hundreds of millions of dollars in damages when not a single penny was lost by these banks, and that’s part of this (Unconstitutional!) Law,” he said, adding, “You can see from the reaction of A.G. James, every morning from that seat, that she is enjoying this, enjoying it a bit too much.”
During the trial, Trump has reportedly appeared visibly irked at James, who rested her case Wednesday. Trump has long attacked James for what he has described as unfairly targeting him for politically motivated purposes.
An uphill battle faces Trump’s lawyers as they take their turn making a case; Judge Arthur Engoron found the Trump Organization and its executives liable for fraud before the trial even began. A New York appeals court paused the decision to strip Trump’s business licenses until after Trump’s case is heard.
The civil trial is separate from Trump’s four other criminal indictments he faces, two of which are related to his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election. Another centers on his alleged mishandling of classified documents after leaving the White House, and another relates to his alleged efforts to conceal hush money payments ahead of the 2016 presidential election.