Former President Donald Trump heaped more attacks on New York AG Letitia James Tuesday, calling her ‘racist’ and a ‘Monster’ and once again blasting property valuations for his Florida club – now claiming its value could approach $2 billion.
‘See you in Court on Tuesday morning!’ Trump vowed in one of his posts, after delivering blistering statements Monday inside the Manhattan courthouse where his company faces up to $250 million in fines.
Trump said it had been ‘agreed in Court’ that his Florida private club is worth ’50 to 100 times’ what James included in her lawsuit. A judge found Trump’s company had overstated property valuations by a total of $2 billion.
Judge Arthur Engoron in his own summary judgement ruling finding fraud cited Palm Beach County assessors who found the club was worth between $18 million and $28 million from 2011 to 2021.
Former president Donald Trump was headed back to court Tuesday morning in New York. He once against lambasted state AG Letitia James, and claimed Mar-a-Lago was worth ’50 to 100′ times what James said in a filing that was based on statements by Palm Beach assessors that Trump’s team calls dubious
A broker representing Mar-a-Lago agreed in 2020 agreed with the $27 million determination.
But Trump’s team has cited local property sales indicating it would be worth far more. The late talk host Rush Limbaugh’s nearby estate recently sold for $155 million
Trump on Tuesday focused his attacks on James, after making blistering comments Monday about Engoron, calling him a ‘rogue’ judge – only to turn around and praise a comment the judge made in court Monday afternoon, calling it ‘very fair.’
That came after a comment that Trump said he interpreted as throwing out ’80 percent’ of the case due to a statute of limitations issue that is the subject of a legal dispute.
‘Now that it has been agreed in Court that Mar-a-Lago is WORTH 50 to 100 times the Value the Racist & Incompetent Attorney General of New York State, Letitia “Peekaboo” James, ascribed to it (18 Million Dollars), & likewise other assets that were valued crazily low by this “Monster” that has allowed Violent Crime in New York to reach EPIDEMIC levels, and dangerous illegal migrants to roam free all over our State, we hope the Judge will TERMINATE his first ruling of fraud in that he was given false and ridiculous information by the Trump Deranged Lunatic, A.G. James,’ Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Trump continued in his angry Tuesday posting: ‘In actuality, I am WORTH FAR MORE than the numbers put down on the Financial Statements, not less. In addition, there is a far reaching and professionally drawn Disclaimer Clause boldly stated on the FIRST PAGE OF THE DOCUMENT. This entire case should be thrown out and dismissed. The A.G. should be reprimanded and sanctioned for bringing this case with its FAKE LOW VALUES, in order to make me look bad. Election Interference!’
Trump was referencing what he calls a ‘worthless’ clause in property evaluations, which essentially tell lenders to rely on their own determinations. Engoron, in his ruling of fraud last week, said Trump’s reliance on the boilerplate language was itself ‘worthless.’
Trump also shared a strange court sketch-style image on social media that showed him at his Manhattan fraud case with a person who looked like Jesus Christ sitting next him.
Amid his angry attacks, the image on Truth Social showed a more angelic side.
Dom Lucre, a pro-Trump political commentator with over 700,000 followers on Twitter, captioned the image: ‘This is the most accurate court sketch of all time. Because nobody could have made it this far alone.’
Trump shared the image to his Truth Social platform without any further caption, which Lucre later re-shared on Twitter with a fire emoji.
Former President Donald Trump shared a strange court sketch on social media that showed him at his Manhattan fraud case with a likeness of Jesus Christ sitting next to Trump
Trump called New York Attorney General Letitia James, seen in court Monday, a ‘Monster,’ and blasted her valuations of Mar-a-Lago
Trump’s public claims were echoed in court, where his team claimed that he is actually worth more than the billions of dollars prosecutors allege he inflated the values of his properties by.
Trump’s lawyers said his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida was actually worth at least $1 billion, rather than the $18 million prosecutors suggest.
In a fiery defense opening statement Alina Habba, representing Trump, said: ‘There is a person out there who will buy that (Mar-A-Lago) for over $1 billion. That’s not fraud, that’s real estate.’
Trump, 77, scowled and shook his head as prosecutors accused him of ‘lying year after year’ to exaggerate the value of his property empire by $2.2 billion to obtain favorable bank loans.
Donald Trump raged against the ‘rogue judge’ before the start of his civil fraud trial in New York Monday, calling the prosecution an ‘attempt to hurt me in an election’. He is seen sitting behind the defense table in the first hearing
Trump sits in court with his legal team as proceedings get underway
Delivery for Trump? Bags full of McDonald’s arrive at court
In extraordinary scenes at the lunch break Trump called for Judge Arthur Engoron to be disbarred.
Trump said: ‘The judge in this case is wrong. Let’s go to trial because this is a judge that should be disbarred. This is a judge that should be out of office.
‘This is a judge that some people say should be charged criminally for what he’s doing. He’s interfering with an election, and it’s a disgrace.’
He called the judge a ‘Democrat’ and an ‘operative’ who had already made up his mind and ‘was getting away with murder.’
Soon after, men in dark suits were seen entering the courthouse with a large delivery from McDonald’s, which was believed to be for Trump and his legal team.
Prosecutors claim Trump fraudulently exaggerated his wealth to banks but Habba told the court those amounts were ‘frankly less than what they (the Trump family) are worth’.
She said the true value of Trump’s net worth should include his personal brand from shows like The Apprentice.
‘There’s a lot of people in this room that probably don’t like that but it’s a fact,’ she said.
Habba also claimed Trump’s Florida golf course Doral was also worth over $1 billion, sparking laughter in the public gallery.
She said it was ‘one of the best golf courses in the country’, and praised the Trump Organization as a ‘beautiful company’. She added: ‘Real estate is malleable but there was absolutely no intent to defraud, no conspiracy’.
The case set a ‘very dangerous precedent for all business owners in the state of New York,’ she said.
Just before entering the courtroom a combative Trump delivered an explosive tirade in which he railed against the ‘rogue’ judge and ‘racist horror show’ attorney general Letitia James, who brought the case.
After lunch, the first witness took the stand – Donald Bender, retired accountant who used to work at accounting company Mazars and did the Trump accounts for years.
Trump enthusiastically put his thumbs in the air when the judge said that the afternoon of questioning could have been a ‘waste of time’.
Judge Engoron asked whether the questioning of former accountant Bender was within the statute of limitations.
The judge asked if the two hours spent with Bender had been a ‘waste of time’, at which point Trump put both his thumbs in the air.
Judge Engoron said that they would talk about the matter in the morning.
Trump could face up to $250 million in fines and the potential loss of his licenses for buildings including Trump Tower in New York.
‘This is a continuation of the single greatest witch hunt of all time,’ Trump said before going into court. ‘It’s a scam. It’s a sham. There was no crime. The crime is against me.’
Trump is accused of inflating the value of his assets by billions of dollars to secure loans from banks.
He claims the case is part of an Democrat attempt to use the justice system to torpedo his campaign for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.
Trump has been warned by the federal judge overseeing one of his criminal trials about attacks on prosecutors and court personnel
Trump heads into the courtroom for his civil fraud case
Say cheese! Judge Arthur Engoron removed his glasses during a brief photo-op inside the courtroom
Trump’s son Eric, who prosecutors may call in the case, arrived before his father
Trump lawyer Alina Habba sat by his side in the courtroom
Trump repeatedly attacked state AG Letitia James Monday morning
Trump defended his financial statements, after the judge during summary judgement ruled he inflated assets by $2 billion in total
Trump called the case against him a ‘scam,’ and railed against the judge and prosecutors. He also defended his financial statements
‘No matter how powerful you are, and no matter how much money you think you have, no one is above the law,’ said NY AG Letitia James
Donald Trump arrived in a New York court surrounded by cops and protesters to face a judge in his $250 million civil fraud trial, after making the short trip from Trump Tower
Eric Trump, one of those accused of inflating property values, walks through the corridors of the New York court room head of the hearing
The trial, which is expected to last three months, will focus on six remaining narrow issues including how much the penalty should be.
Sitting in court Trump will have to listen as prosecutors essentially call into question his entire image, that of a self made billionaire who rose to become Leader of the Free World.
Instead they will portray him as the head of a ‘staggering’ fraud which Judge Engoron concluded was full of ‘pie in the sky’ valuation of properties.
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