© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at a rally in Durham, New Hampshire, U.S. December 16, 2023. REUTERS/Brian Snyder/File Picture
By Luc Cohen
NEW YORK (Reuters) – An professional witness paid practically $1 million by Donald Trump to testify at his New York civil fraud trial “lost all credibility” by “doggedly” justifying the previous U.S. president’s enterprise information, the choose overseeing the case stated on Monday.
Eli Bartov, a New York College accounting professor, testified on Dec. 7 that he didn’t see any proof of fraud in Trump’s household actual property firm’s monetary statements, which New York state’s legal professional normal alleges overstated property values with a purpose to win favorable mortgage and insurance coverage phrases.
Bartov testified he spent 650 hours on the case at a charge of $1,350 per hour, that means his compensation totaled round $877,500. Bartov stated his invoices had been paid each by the Trump Group and by Save America, a political motion committee supporting Trump’s 2024 election marketing campaign.
“All that his testimony proves is that for a million or so dollars, some experts will say whatever you want them to say,” Justice Arthur Engoron wrote in a scathing denial of a number of requests by Trump for the case to be determined in his favor.
“By doggedly attempting to justify every misstatement, Professor Bartov lost all credibility,” Engoron wrote.
In an e-mail, Bartov stated Engoron was mistaken to say the “overarching point” of his testimony was that Trump’s statements had been “accurate in every respect.” He pointed to his testimony that Trump’s statements contained inadvertent errors.
“No expert rebutted my testimony or testified that they found fraud,” Bartov stated. “As to his speculation that my billing rate had anything to do with my opinion, this is my standard billing rate.”
Trump’s legal professionals didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
The trial has targeted totally on damages, as Engoron dominated earlier than it began in early October that Trump and his grownup sons manipulated monetary statements to dupe banks and insurers.
New York Lawyer Basic Letitia James, a Democrat, is looking for $250 million in penalties and desires Trump banned from the New York state actual property enterprise.
Trump, the main contender for the Republican presidential nomination, has denied wrongdoing and referred to as the case politically motivated.
In his three-page written ruling, Engoron acknowledged the protection’s argument that property valuations are subjective and that incorrect data in monetary statements have to be “material” to interrupt the regulation. However he stated Trump’s statements had been “replete with examples of material misstatements.”
“A lie is still a lie,” Engoron wrote.
Closing arguments within the trial are set for Jan. 11.
Trump individually faces 4 state and federal felony indictments, together with two over expenses he sought to overturn his loss to Democratic President Joe Biden within the 2020 election. He has pleaded not responsible to all expenses.
