Donald Trump's Very Different Legal Tactic To His Children

Donald Trump's testimony during his civil fraud trial in New York differed entirely from how his sons defended themselves and the former president in court.

Donald Trump answered questions under oath on Monday as part of New York Attorney General Letitia James' $250 million fraud lawsuit accusing the former president, two of his sons Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., and executives and The Trump Organization of filing fraudulent financial statements that inflated the value of a number of properties and assets for years.

Trump has denied all wrongdoing in connection to James' lawsuit, but Judge Arthur Engoron, who is overseeing the civil trial, has already found the former president liable for fraud with regard to the financial statements and the proceedings are mainly to determine the size of the penalty.

While on the stand, Donald Trump and Engoron engaged in several heated exchanges, with the judge increasingly growing weary of the former president not directly answering questions and giving "speeches." At one point, Engoron even asked Donald Trump's attorney Chris Kise "can you control your client? This is not a political rally," as the former president gave another long-winded response to a question.

Donald Trump's Defense

While defending himself on the stand, Donald Trump denied that he had over-inflated the value of his assets and that they could have even been higher based on his "brand."

"The brand value is a very big part of the asset value of the company," Donald Trump said when responding to allegations he inflated his net worth in financial statements by billions of dollars over the years.

"I could have added brand value and increased the value, and my financial statement would be very substantial. I'm worth billions of dollars more than the financial statements," Donald Trump said before suggesting the disputed valuations he submitted for the properties, which include his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, were "very conservative."

Donald Trump also suggested that his value estimates are more worthy than those of appraisers due to his history as a real estate mogul, telling the New York courtroom: "I can look at buildings and tell you what they're worth."

Difference in Courtroom Tactics

Neama Rahmani, a former federal prosecutor and president of West Coast Trial Lawyers, said that Trump's testimony was different from the tactic of his two sons who testified last week in the civil trial. While answering questions under oath, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. both said they had no direct involvement in working on the financial statements cited in New York AG James' fraud lawsuit, and that that was the job of accountants who worked at The Trump Organization.

"Trump addressed the valuations, unlike his sons who pointed the finger at the accountants and who tried to distance themselves from the case," Rahmani told Newsweek.

"Trump argued the value of his brand and that lenders should have relied on the financials because of the disclaimer."

Courtroom Tensions

Donald Trump's often combative testimony was also different from his sons. Barring one outburst from Eric Trump after being confronted with emails that contradicted his insistence that he was not involved with the alleged fraudulent financial statements, the former president's sons were more composed in their testimony, with Donald Trump Jr. even managing to engage in lighthearted remarks with Engron while answering questions.

Rahmani suggested that Donald Trump's heated testimony and criticism of Engoron while on the stand was part of a tactic to get a rise out of the judge to back up his claim that the case is politically motivated and that Engoron is biased against the former president.

"The biggest takeaway from today's testimony was that Donald Trump came out swinging. It's not surprising that Donald Trump was so aggressive. This has been his modus operandi his entire career," Rahmani said. "He also realizes he's already lost with Judge Engoron, so he's trying to antagonize the judge and create a record on appeal.

"All in all, the testimony went as expected, except for the extent of the verbal sparring with the judge, and the fact that Engoron did very little about it except to make empty threats."

Engoron has already ruled that Donald Trump had committed fraud by misrepresenting the value of his properties for years, including the Mar-a-Lago resort. The civil trial is now considering six remaining allegations in James' lawsuit. The former president faces being banned from doing business in New York state, having his properties removed from his control, or being forced to pay a fine totaling hundreds of millions of dollars.

The New York court will not be sitting on Tuesday as there are numerous general elections held across the state on November 7. The civil trial proceedings will resume on Wednesday with the testimony of the former president's eldest daughter, Ivanka Trump.