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As the $250 million civil fraud trial against Donald Trump continued Tuesday in New York, the former president lashed out at New York Attorney General Letitia James while speaking to reporters, claiming his children were being targeted.
The trial stems from a lawsuit James filed in 2022 alleging that Trump and top executives at his family company, the Trump Organization, conspired to increase his net worth by billions of dollars on financial statements provided to banks and insurers in order to make deals and secure loans. Trial began on October 2, and Trump, who is campaigning for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, attended the first three days and continues to deny any wrongdoing.
Shortly before Tuesday's proceedings, Trump arrived at the courthouse in Manhattan and spoke to reporters before entering the courtroom. He decried the trial as rigged and accused James of conducting a witch hunt while claiming his children should not be involved in the case.
"We worked hard, my family. My children are involved in this and they shouldn't. They don't deserve to be involved in this. This is a witch hunt by a radical lunatic attorney general...," Trump said.
Although it is not clear what the former president is specifically referring to when speaking about his children being involved, Trump's daughter, Ivanka, who worked as executive vice president at the Trump Organization, was initially named as a defendant.
An appeals court dropped her from the case in June after finding that claims against her were outside the statute of limitations.
According to the Associated Press James previously said Ivanka Trump participated in the effort to exaggerate her father's wealth and obtain favorable loan terms from banks and real-estate licensing deals.
Attorneys for Ivanka Trump argued that the lawsuit does not contain any evidence that she "directly or indirectly created, prepared, reviewed, or certified any of her father's financial statements."
In addition to speaking about the involvement of his children, Trump continues to allege that the case is politically motivated as he is in the midst of campaigning for the 2024 election.
"I should be in Iowa, I should be in New Hampshire now, I should be in South Carolina now or someplace else campaigning....This is a case that should have never been brought," Trump said.
James continues to defend herself and the case as she previously gave a warning to the former president that she will not be bullied after Trump was issued a gag order for attacking a court clerk on Truth Social.
"This case was brought simply because it was a case where individuals were engaged in patent practice of fraud and I will not sit idly by and allow anyone to subvert the law and lastly I will not be bullied, and so Mr. Trump is no longer here," James said while speaking to the press outside of the courtroom this month. "The Donald Trump show is over. This was nothing more than a political stunt."
As proceedings continue, Trump and others in the courtroom will hear continued testimony from Trump Organization accountant Donna Kidder, who detailed the company's bookkeeping practices on Monday.
Doug Larson, a former executive at the commercial real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield, is expected to testify and is expected to be asked about the company's appraisals of a building Trump owns at 40 Wall Street in Manhattan.
Newsweek reached out to Trump and James via email for comment
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