Donald Trump's Lawyers Rebuked by Judge

New York Judge Arthur Engoron has rebuked prosecutors in Donald Trump's ongoing civil fraud case on Friday, saying that the questioning of one of the former president's ex-lawyers had become a "game of gotcha."

Trump and the Trump Organization are accused of fraudulently inflating the value of a number of properties, including Mar-a-Lago in Florida and Trump Tower in Manhattan, to secure more favorable bank loans and tax bills. The former president has strongly denied any wrongdoing, condemning the lawsuit as "another witch hunt." Newsweek has contacted Donald Trump for comment via the press inquiry form on his official website.

In September, Engoron ruled that Trump, his adult sons and the Trump Organization were civilly liable for fraud in the $250 million lawsuit brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James. The judge ordered the cancelation of the Trump Organization's New York business licence, in what several legal experts termed a "corporate death penalty" in the state, though Trump branded the ruling "both ridiculous and unfair."

On Friday, Sheri Dillon, a tax lawyer who worked with Trump between 2005 and 2020, was interrogated by state attorney Louis Solomon, sparking anger from Engoron over the questions asked.

Solomon said that Trump had agreed to development restrictions on two of his properties that seemed to go against proposed conservation easements. Dillon replied: "Yes, it's complicated. For the most part, it didn't matter."

After Solomon continued this line of questioning, Engoron briefly lost patience, commenting: "I feel we are two or three elements away from anything that is relevant. It seems to me this is becoming a game of gotcha."

During her testimony, Dillon was quizzed about the value of Trump's Seven Springs estate in New York, which a 2015 appraisal found was worth $56.5 million. Despite this, financial statements issued by Trump valued the property at between $261 and $291 million from 2011 to 2021.

Dillon told the court that she didn't know whether she had discussed the 2015 appraisal with Trump's team, commenting: "I have no idea if I told them the [appraised] value of the property.

"It's not like every Monday we talk about conservation easements," Dillon later added.

On Wednesday, Trump stormed out of the courtroom after Engoron refused to dismiss the case against him.

Describing the case, Danya Perry, Michael Cohen's attorney, said: "[Engoron] swiftly denied the motion. Trump pounded the table and he just stormed out and his team and all the secret service were required to scramble and chase after him. He was red in the face, he was furious.

"He said something I couldn't quite capture like 'This is ridiculous' or 'this is a lie' or something and went out and gave a little impromptu press conference about how he had just won the case and then left."

Also on Wednesday, Engoron fined Trump for a second time, after concluding he had violated a partial gag order prohibiting him from attacking court staff overseeing the case. It came after the former president hit out at a "very partisan" individual "sitting alongside" the judge, in an apparent reference to law clerk Allison Greenfield.

Trump was fined $10,000 and warned not to repeat the attack "or it will be worse." He was previously fined $5,000 after falsely suggesting Greenfield was in a relationship with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer in a now-deleted post on his Truth Social website.