Mr Trump, 77, who is facing legal battles on multiple fronts, has denounced the trial as a “sham” aimed at derailing his bid to return to the White House next year.
Former US President Donald Trump at the Manhattan courthouse in New York City on October 2, 2023. Photo: Reuters
“This is about election interference, plain and simple,” Mr. Trump said as he arrived for the opening day of a trial that could last three months. “What we have here is an attempt to hurt me in the election.”
Judge Arthur Engoron in New York ruled that Mr. Trump and his sons Eric and Don Jr. committed fraud by inflating the value of real estate and financial assets of the Trump Organization for many years, thereby illegally profiting about $100 million.
New York Attorney General Letitia James is now seeking a $250 million fine and the removal of Trump and his sons from the family business. “Justice will prevail,” James told reporters. “No matter how powerful or wealthy you are… no one is above the law.”
Mr Trump was not required to attend the opening day of the trial but chose to do so, sitting at the defense table with his lawyers. “It’s a scam. It’s a sham,” he told reporters before entering the Manhattan courtroom. “My financial statements are horrible.”
During a lunch break, an angry Trump denounced what he called a “disgraceful trial by a corrupt attorney general.” There was no jury in the trial, meaning Trump’s fate was entirely in the hands of Engoron — whom he criticized as “rogue” and deserving of “disqualification.”
This will be the first of several upcoming trials for Mr. Trump (the previous ones were for impeachment). The former US President is scheduled to go on trial in Washington on March 4, 2024, on charges of attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
Mr Trump will then return to a New York state court, this time on charges of paying hush money to a porn star, and then to a federal court in Florida, where he is accused of illegally retaining classified documents after leaving office.
He will also eventually have to answer charges from the state of Georgia, where prosecutors say Trump acted illegally to sway the 2020 election results in his favor in that state.
Hoang Anh (according to Reuters)
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