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Donald Trump took aim at New York Attorney General Letitia James and Judge Arthur Engoron on Monday in an all-caps response to the final ruling in his civil fraud trial in New York.
In a lawsuit filed in September 2022, James accused Trump, his two adult sons Donald Jr. and Eric, The Trump Organization and two firm executives, Allen Weisselberg and Jeff McConney, of fraudulently overvaluing assets to secure more favorable bank loans and taxation deals.
On Friday, Engoron ruled that Trump will be fined roughly $355 million and barred from doing business in New York for three years after a monthslong civil trial from late last year into early January. The trial was to decide the damages Trump would face after Engoron found that he committed fraud by inflating the value of his assets. The other defendants in the case have also faced financial penalties and been barred from doing business in New York for periods of time.
Trump, the current GOP frontrunner in the 2024 presidential election, has maintained his innocence in the case and claimed it was politically motivated.
And in a post on Truth Social on Monday, he criticized the ruling as he called James a "slob" and Engoron "corrupt," while also claiming that his financial statements were "understated not overstated."
"THIS ALL FIT THE FAKE NARRATIVE OF THE CORRUPT AND MANY TIMES OVERTURNED 'JUDGE,' AND THE RADICAL LEFT, SOROS BACKED, SLOB OF AN ATTORNEY GENERAL, WHOSE PRIMARY GOAL IS, IN CLOSE COORDINATION WITH THE WHITE HOUSE, AND LIKE ALL OF THE OTHER LITIGATION AGAINST ME, AN ATTACK ON CROOKED JOE BIDEN'S POLITICAL OPPONENT, ME! SAME STORY IN GEORGIA, NEW YORK (D.A.), & WASHINGTON D.C," Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Newsweek has reached out to Trump's spokesperson and the offices of both James and Engoron via email for comment.
"MY FINANCIAL STATEMENTS WERE UNDERSTATED, NOT OVERSTATED! THAT IS WHY THE CROOKED, HAND PICKED JUDGE, SAID THAT MAR-a-LAGO, IN PALM BEACH, FLORIDA, WAS ONLY WORTH $18,000,000, WHEN IT IS WORTH 50 TO 100 TIMES THAT AMOUNT. OTHER PROPERTIES ALSO! THEY DIDN'T EVEN INCLUDE 'BRAND VALUE,' KNOWN AND ACCEPTED TO BE WORTH MANY BILLIONS OF DOLLARS," Trump added.
Trump's comments come after his lawyer, Christopher Kise, said that the former president will appeal the judge's ruling, telling Newsweek on Friday that Trump "remains confident the Appellate Division will ultimately correct the innumerable and catastrophic errors made by a trial court untethered to the law or to reality."
However, James called the ruling "a massive victory" on X, formerly Twitter, adding that "No matter how big, how rich, or how powerful you are, no one is above the law. Not even Donald Trump."
This is not the first time the former president has taken aim at James regarding the case.
Earlier this month ahead of the final ruling Trump shared a video of James that featured statements she made about Trump and the case such as, "I will never be afraid to challenge this illegitimate president." The former president then slammed her in his post for bringing the case against him, calling her a "lunatic" and accusing her of working with President Joe Biden and the Department of Justice (DOJ).
"This is the Lunatic A.G. that's prosecuting me. Lawyers say there is No Way this should be allowed to happen. She is working closely with Crooked Joe Biden's DOJ, in order to harm his Political Opponent. Election Interference!" Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Despite Trump's comments, Biden and the DOJ have no role in James' case since it is a civil case.
About the writer
Natalie Venegas is a Weekend Reporter at Newsweek based in New York. Her focus is reporting on education, social justice ... Read more