of opening statements, lawyers in Donald Trump’s business fraud trial in New York will move on Tuesday to the more plodding task of going through years of his financial documents in what’s expected to be a weekslong fight over whether they constitute proof of fraud.
The trial is the culmination of a lawsuit in which New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat, has accused the Republican former president of deceiving banks, insurers and others for years by giving them papers that misstated the value of his assets. by exaggerating the size of his penthouse at Trump Tower, claiming his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida was worth as much as $739 million and putting similar oversized valuations on office towers, golf courses and other assets.
Trump’s lawyers said the statements were legitimate representations of the worth of unique luxury properties, made even more valuable because of their association with Trump.After staying away from a previous trial, in which his company and one of his top executives was convicted of , Trump spent hours sitting in court watching Monday’s opening statements, emerging several times to tell reporters that the trial was “a sham” intended to hurt his 2024 election prospects.