President Donald Trump reportedly unloaded on radical Judge Arthur Engoron during the final day in court for Democrat New York Attorney General Letitia James’s politically motivated civil “fraud” trial against the 45th POTUS.
Trump ripped into the judge presiding over his civil business “fraud” trial during closing arguments on Thursday.
He blasted Engoron in the courtroom even after the judge refused to allow Trump to give his own summation.
As Slay News reported, Trump requested that he make his own closing argument during the trial.
However, Engoron barred Trump from speaking.
On Wednesday, Engoron told one of Trump’s attorneys that since he did not hear from Trump’s team “by the third extended deadline (noon today), I assume that Mr. Trump will not agree to the reasonable, lawful limits that I have imposed as a precondition to giving a closing statement above and beyond those given by his attorneys, and that, therefore, he will not be speaking in court tomorrow.”
But during closing arguments, Trump spoke up anyway.
He reportedly launched into a six-minute-long speech where he slammed both Engoron and NY AGJames, according to the Associated Press.
Trump reportedly blasted the judge after his lawyer, Christopher Kise, asked him once more if his client could speak.
When Engoron asked Trump if we would abide by the specific guidelines proposed to him earlier, Trump began his speech.
“This is a fraud on me,” Trump said.
“What’s happened here, sir, is a fraud on me.
He later accused the judge of not listening to him before Engoron told Trump’s lawyers to “control your client.”
He then gave the 45th president a minute to speak before adjourning for lunch.
“We have a situation where I am an innocent man,” Trump added.
“I’m being persecuted by someone running for office and I think you have to go outside the bounds.”
Before going into the courtroom on Thursday, Trump stood alongside his lawyers outside and called the trial “election interference at the highest level.”
Trump alleges that election interference is “in coordination with the White House and Joe Biden.”
“It is indeed a terrible witchhunt,” Trump said.
“As you know, I want to speak, I want to give a summation.
“At this moment, the judge is not letting me make the summation because I’ll bring up things that he doesn’t want to hear.
“It’s a very unfair trial. Nobody has ever seen anything like this.”
WATCH:
"A DISGRACE AND ELECTION INTERFERENCE AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL," Trump says outside the courtroom in New York before closing arguments. WATCH pic.twitter.com/qTej8aaybr
— Simon Ateba (@simonateba) January 11, 2024
Trump’s civil business fraud trial began after career Democrat James filed a lawsuit against the 45th president and three of his children in September 2022.
The suit alleges that Trump, along with Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump, and Ivanka Trump, misled the value of his company’s assets in financial statements “over 200 times in 10 years.”
Initially, James sought $250 million in fines for Trump.
However, James is now asking the judge to fine Trump more than $370 million in “damages,” according to a brief filed last week.
There are no victims cited in the case and the bank asserts that it was more than happy with its dealings with Trump.
READ MORE: Trump’s NY ‘Fraud’ Trial Judge Engoron Receives Bomb Threat at Home
