Trump defiant at NY trial, judge threatens to cut off testimony

NEW YORK, November 6

Donald Trump complained of unfair treatment in a defiant and rambling performance on the witness stand on Monday, prompting the judge overseeing his New York civil business-fraud trial to threaten to cut his testimony short.

Under questioning about his company’s accounting practices, Trump repeatedly clashed with Judge Arthur Engoron, who is weighing whether to impose hundreds of millions of dollars in fines and other penalties that could hobble the real estate empire that vaulted Trump to prominence.

Engoron warned former US president Trump, the frontrunner for the Republican nomination in the 2024 election, that he might remove him from the witness stand if he did not answer questions directly.

Trump acknowledged that his company did not provide accurate estimates of the value of apartment towers, golf courses and other assets. New York state lawyers said those values were pumped up to win better financing terms, and Engoron has already ruled that they were fraudulent. — Reuters