Donald Trump is set to testify in a Manhattan courtroom Monday in a $250 million fraud case that threatens to unravel the sprawling real estate empire and business bonafides the former president relied on in his improbable rise to the White House.
Perhaps more fundamentally, the case threatens to expose the leading Republican presidential candidate and deliver a record-setting — possibly embarrassing — run on the image and identity he cultivated for himself over several decades.
The judge in the case has already found Trump and his adult sons guilty of fraud and revoked the Trump Organization’s business certificates, siding with New York Attorney General Letitia James, who accused the former president and his business associates of inflating the value of his net worth. and real estate in the financial statements used to secure loans. James is seeking $250 million in damages along with barring the Trumps from serving as officers of a New York company and the company from engaging in business transactions for five years.
While Trump faces 91 criminal charges stemming from four different counts — two of which accuse him of subverting democracy by trying to overturn his 2020 presidential election loss — it’s James’ civil suit that seems to have angered Trump the most .
“For those of us abroad and those who care about our constitutional system and our democratic democracy, these federal cases accusing him of striking at the heart of our constitutional structure and engaging us in a rebellion against our government and constitutional structure. and our electoral system, those are the most important to us as the body politic,” says Barbara Perry, professor of presidential studies at the University of Virginia Miller Center and co-director of the Presidential Oral History Program.
Political cartoons
Not the same for Trump, he says, adding that the lawsuit “goes to the heart of the personal impact on him.”
“What would hurt him the most,” says Perry, “would be to lose his business license in New York, as his children will lose their business license in New York. But we also know there will be some fines associated with their liability, so their assets will be sold.”
“Not only will they lose their formal, legal ability to do business in New York, which was the center of their business universe, but if they start losing their assets – no matter what they’re worth – that’s a huge blow. “
Beyond the extraordinary nature of having a former president testify under oath on the stand, the moment is equally expected for the unusual position it puts Trump in — one in which his personality and default bombastic communication style and tendency to lean . misunderstandings will be reduced.
“While he’s been able to get away with all the other kinds of charges against him in the political world, once you get into the legal world, there are technical legal issues that can come back to haunt him,” he said. says.
Indeed, the trial has already tried him.
Since the trial began in late September, Trump has twice been fined by Judge Arthur Engoron for violating a gag order barring him from making public comments about the judge’s staff, walked out of the courtroom and had to watch the his two sons. Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump testified this week. Ivanka Trump’s daughter is set to testify on Tuesday.
The proceedings also prompted him to post cartoons on the social media site TruthSocial, where he maintains the legitimacy of his business dealings and claims he is the victim of political persecution.
“We know Donald Trump’s ability to sway people with his demagoguery, but the only person he can persuade now is this sitting judge, who gives every indication that he’s not giving in to this personality — this demagogic, inflammatory personality. And he certainly won’t take any disrespect,” says Perry.
“Judges and magistrates will not tolerate his behavior and that leaves him, as they say sometimes, when the tide goes out, you find out who’s swimming naked,” he says. “It’s not a very good image to have. I’m just saying she’ll be in an atmosphere where the tides are going out and she might not be wearing a bathing suit. He’s not going to be able to escape his usual face.”
As is the case with the trial, Trump’s two grown sons gave similar testimony — namely that they were not involved in the details of the Trump Organization’s accounting and merely signed off on financial documents prepared for them by others at the firm who possessed that expertise, including the former CFO Allen Weisselberg and accountant Donald Bender.
Both sons held the title of executive vice president after their father’s election to the presidency. Eric Trump, who maintained more direct involvement in the company, provided more detailed testimony and was at times shrill in his responses to prosecutors who tried to tease out his specific role. During his testimony on Friday, he acknowledged that he was aware of the Trump Organization’s financial statements as early as 2013, after repeatedly denying knowledge of them.
The trial continues Monday, with Trump testifying.