Donald Trump on Friday lambasted New York Attorney General Letitia James in a raging online tirade, using all capital letters, after she urged a judge to promptly adjudicate her allegations of fraud.
Earlier in April, the former president provided extensive testimony in connection with the $250 million fraud lawsuit initiated by James against the Trump Organization. He expressed profound indignation at the attorney general’s skepticism regarding his financial standing, which served as a fundamental element of her civil case against him.
James, who had spent over two years branding Trump as an entrenched fraudster, asked State Supreme Court Judge Arthur Engoron to swiftly render a verdict affirming the lawsuit’s contentions that Trump and his family business engaged in deception, misrepresenting their financial status and asset values to secure loans and evade tax obligations.
Trump responded on Truth Social with the following message in capitalized letters: “In the NYS A.G. Letitia James case, I was targeted, given no jury, no extensions, no commercial division, no constitutional rights, no anything! The Democrat judge hates Trump with a passion.”
He further argued: “The thing I have is a great case based on phenomenal numbers that show a net worth billions of dollars more than she viciously & falsely claimed, very little debt, big cash, a powerful disclaimer clause, paid off loans, no defaults, ‘happy’ banks, great assets. I was defamed by NYS — election interference!”
![Donald Trump post](https://dailyboulder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Trump-defamed.jpg)
In the initial deposition of the case, led by James, the former president repeatedly invoked his Fifth Amendment rights. However, in a subsequent deposition held in April, the AG’s team found it nearly impossible to restrain Trump from speaking at length, even delving into discussions about the opulent marble bathrooms in his extravagant properties.
The deposition transcript was released by the attorney general’s office, which contends that the former president, along with his two eldest sons and two former top executives, habitually exaggerated his net worth in financial filings submitted on behalf of the Trump Organization, his international real estate and golf resort conglomerate.
The alleged “fraudulent” accounting maneuvers were purportedly aimed at duping banks into granting him lower-cost loans, thus saving Trump hundreds of millions of dollars in interest expenses, according to James.
During the April deposition, tempers flared on both sides, leading to confrontations between the opposing legal teams.
Early in the proceedings, Trump’s attorney, Chris Kise, registered his exasperation, warning one of James’ lead attorneys, Kevin Wallace, about the potential duration of the deposition. “We’re going to be here until midnight if you keep asking questions that are all over the map,” Kise lamented.
Wallace responded, “Chris, we’re going to be here until midnight if your client answers every question with an eight-minute speech.”
The dispute erupted just as Trump embarked on a lengthy discourse about the significance of his “brand.”
“If I wanted to build a big statement just for the sake of a statement, I would go out and I would value the brand and — which is much more than the $3 billion,” Trump said. “And as I said once before today, I became President of the United States because of my brand.”
Wallace attempted to redirect Trump’s testimony, asking, “I just want to revisit a couple of points you made. First, you mentioned, ‘I didn’t need banks for the most part.'”
“So why did you use banks?” he inquired.
“Because you do it. It’s better tax-wise,” Trump replied. “You do it.”