Former US President Donald Trump has claimed that the civil fraud trial in New York, which began on Monday, is a political attack against him and has taken him “off the campaign trail”, as per the report. He expressed his frustration about not being able to campaign in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and other places due to his courtroom presence.
“This was for politics. It has been very successful for them — they took me off the campaign trail,” Trump said as he exited the courtroom after the court was wrapped for the day, according to the report. Meanwhile, the trial wrapped up for the day, with the first witness for the New York attorney general, Trump’s former long-time accountant Donald Bender, testifying about financial documents from 2011.
Bender explained that the accounting firm Mazars USA would not have issued these financial statements if the Trump Organization had not represented that the numbers were accurate. He also stated that Mazars would not have issued these statements if they had learned the numbers were inaccurate, Bender testified.
Allen Weisselberg, Trump’s former longtime CFO, signed on behalf of Trump that the documents from 2011 were accurate, he added, as per a report. Additionally, Mazars would not have issued these statements if they learned the numbers were not true, Bender said.
The New York attorney general’s office asked Donald Bender, Trump’s former accountant at Mazars, about the price of a penthouse apartment for Donald Trump’s daughter, Ivanka Trump. The lawsuit, brought by the New York attorney general, alleges that Trump, his adult sons, their businesses, and Trump Organization executives were involved in fraudulent activities.
Bender testified that his job was not to audit Trump’s financial statement, but “from time to time,” he would point out errors to Trump Organization officials on financial documents. One of the examples he recalled flagging an error was when Ivanka Trump had an option to buy a penthouse apartment at Trump Park Avenue.
He is expected to continue testifying on Tuesday. The former president, for most of the afternoon session, continued to look at the documents on the monitor in front of him, looking across the courtroom at the witness and talking quietly with his lawyers.
This lawsuit, brought by the New York attorney general, alleges that Trump, his adult sons, their businesses, and Trump Organisation executives were involved in fraudulent activities. There have been various attempts to exclude Trump from the ballot in the upcoming year based on his alleged role in the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol.