The trial is scheduled to last until the end of Dec but is expected to end sooner.
Trump arrived in the courtroom & strode past AG #LetitiaJames, seated in the first row, w/o making eye contact & immediately took a seat at the defense table.
While pool photographers took his picture at the defense table, looking solemn, in camera-ready way, Judge #Engoron looked amused.
#Habba’s presentation is pure #politics. She attacked the #press corps, & called #Trump the “sitting president.” She didn’t diverge at all from the substance of #Kise’s arguments, but spoke far louder & as if she were addressing a jury, or a television camera.
“These #lenders made money. They made money,” she said. “They were not #defrauded.”
#Trump was very engaged as #Habba made her presentation. She said his golf course in Doral, FL, & Mar-a-Lago estate would both sell for more than $1 billion, repeating the #FalseValuations Trump listed on the docs he submitted to the banks.
Trump seemed pleased w/her presentation. He watched her intently, occasionally nodding in agreement.
“There was no intent to defraud, period, the end,” Habba says. She said that the AG is setting a dangerous precedent for #business owners in NY.
#Habba was done, but Judge #Engoron kept her at the lectern, saying he wanted to go over some of the things that she said. He corrected her, saying that she referred to Wallace’s opening statement as “testimony,” which is incorrect. He scolded her for bringing up James’s motivations, saying the issue has been dealt w/by an appeals court.
AG #LetitiaJames was still in the courtroom & appeared to be listening intently to Habba’s attacks on her & her case.
#Engoron corrected #Habba again — she referred incorrectly to his #SummaryJudgment order as a “motion.” And he reminded her that the financial statements were meant to reflect the #estimated current value of the properties AT THE TIME they were assembled. Habba said she won’t reveal her arguments to her “adversaries” right now, but that she is confident in them.
Habba promised to “bore everyone at this room at length for three months.”