Ex-President’s Lawyers Start Calling Witnesses Today — Here’s What To Expect

Topline

Attorneys for former President Donald Trump and other defendants are expected to start their defense Monday in the ongoing civil fraud trial over whether the ex-president and his company fraudulently misstated valuations on financial documents for personal gain, with Donald Trump Jr. being the defense’s first witness — and more high-profile names are likely to follow.

Former President Donald Trump (C) sits in the courtroom with attorneys Christopher Kise (left) and … [+] Alina Habba during his civil fraud trial at New York State Supreme Court on November 6 in New York City.

Getty Images

Key Facts

Trump’s attorneys will start calling witnesses to the stand Monday after the New York Attorney General’s office wrapped up presenting its case at the trial, which accuses the former president, his business associates — including his sons — and the Trump Organization of fraudulently misstating valuations on statements of financial condition in order to obtain more favorable business deals and reflect a higher net worth for Trump.

The defendants have argued the valuations were subjective figures based on Trump’s real estate expertise — and that since loans obtained using those financial statements were paid back on time, no one was harmed by them anyway — and have sought to distance the former president and his sons from the alleged fraud scheme, even as they signed statements that attested to the documents’ accuracy.

In a witness list submitted to the court ahead of the trial, attorneys for the defendants said they could call up to 127 witnesses to the stand as part of their defense, though it’s still unclear which of those witnesses will ultimately testify.

Donald Trump Jr. will be the first witness to testify for the defense after first taking the stand two weeks prior, while former President Trump, Eric Trump and ex-Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg could also head back to the courtroom after being previously questioned by the state (all are defendants in the case).

Ex-Trump Organization controller Jeffrey McConney, a defendant in the case who was also responsible for preparing the statements of financial condition at issue, could also return to the stand, along with such individuals as Patrick Birney, who previously testified that Weisselberg told him the ex-president wanted his net worth to “go up” on financial statements, and David McArdle, who worked on appraising a Trump property and disputed comments Eric Trump made under oath when McArdle last took the stand.

Other witnesses could include Trump Organization executive Jason Greenblatt — who emails showed raising concerns about loan requirements regarding the former president’s net worth — Donald Trump’s longtime assistant Rhona Graff, outside counsel Sheri Dillon, who helped with appraisals of Trump properties, and Rosemary Vlablic, the head of Deutsche Bank’s Private Wealth Management division that gave Trump good rates on loans based on the statements of financial condition.

Crucial Quote

“There was no intent to defraud, there was no illegality, there was no default, there was no breach, there was no reliance from the banks, there were no unjust profits, and there were no victims,” Trump lawyer Christopher Kise argued in his opening statement when the trial started, as quoted by Reuters, adding Trump has made “many billions of dollars being right about real estate investments.”

What We Don’t Know

The trial is expected to move forward Monday after Trump’s attorneys tried to have the case thrown out after the state rested its case, asking Engoron to issue a directed verdict in their favor that would have brought the trial to an end. Engoron had not yet issued his ruling on that as of Monday morning, meaning there is a possibility—though unlikely—he could rule in the Trump defendants’ favor, or dismiss specific defendants from the case.

What To Watch For

The trial is expected to continue through mid-December, with defense counsel telling Judge Arthur Engoron they planned to wrap up their case by December 15. While the state has wrapped up its case, it’s also still reserved the right to call back Weisselberg to testify, after the attorney general’s office previously abruptly stopped the ex-CFO’s testimony following a Forbes report that he lied under oath. Engoron has already found the defendants liable for fraud by misstating the value of their assets, so the trial is focused on other allegations, particularly whether the defendants knowingly committed fraud and lied about their assets. If Engoron rules against Trump and his co-defendants, he could impose such consequences as a $250 million fine, barring Trump and his sons from running New York businesses and prohibiting the ex-president from making any commercial real estate acquisitions for at least five years. The judge has also ruled the company’s business certificates should be canceled in his pretrial decision, but an appeals court has put that on hold.

Surprising Fact

The Trump defendants also could call up to 12 expert witnesses, according to their witness list, who will testify on subjects relevant to the case like various accounting and real estate principles. The attorney general’s office disputed four of those witnesses, asking Engoron to preclude their testimony because it wasn’t relevant anymore after the judge’s pretrial ruling. Engoron refused to do so, however, allowing the witnesses to testify but warning Trump’s attorneys he would cut them off if they were questioned about anything he’d already ruled on. The judge previously undercut the testimony of another potential expert witness, Floridian real estate broker Lawrence Moens, who backed up Trump’s overstated valuation of Mar-A-Lago and said he “could dream up anyone from Elon Musk to Bill Gates and everyone in between” who would be interested in buying the property at a high rate. “Obviously, this Court cannot consider an ‘expert affidavit’ that is based on unexplained and unsubstantiated ‘dream[s],’” Engoron wrote.

Forbes Valuation

$2.6 billion. That’s Trump’s estimated net worth as of October, ranking him 1205th on Forbes’ real-time tracker of the world’s richest people. Between 2011 and 2021, the years covered by James’ initial lawsuit, Forbes independently valued Trump’s net worth as ranging between $2.5 billion (in 2020 and 2021) and $4.5 billion (in 2015). The attorney general’s office alleges Trump used fraudulent valuations to boost his net worth by between $1.9 million and $3.6 billion per year on financial statements.

Key Background

New York Attorney General Letitia James sued Trump and his co-defendants in November 2022, accusing them of misstating valuations on financial documents more than 200 times between 2011 and 2021. The allegations involve some of Trump’s most high-profile properties, including Mar-A-Lago and the square footage of his Trump Tower penthouse. Trump has strongly opposed the allegations in the case, claiming it is a “witch hunt” against him and that James and Engoron are politically biased against him, and has sought to downplay the financial statements at issue by falsely claiming a disclaimer in them negates any mistakes they might have.