美国前总统唐纳德·特朗普在纽约受审2.5亿美元的民事诉讼这可能会改变帮助特朗普入主白宫的个人财富和房地产帝国。

特朗普，他的儿子们埃里克·特朗普和小唐纳德·特朗普。，以及特朗普公司的其他高管被纽约司法部长莱蒂夏·詹姆斯(Letitia James)指控参与了一项长达十年的计划，在该计划中，他们使用“大量欺诈和虚假陈述行为”来夸大特朗普的净资产，以获得更优惠的贷款条款。该案件的法官做出裁决后，审判就开始了部分简易判决特朗普提交了对其资产的“欺诈性估值”，让审判来决定其他行动以及被告应该受到的惩罚(如果有的话)。

这位前总统否认了所有不当行为，他的律师辩称，特朗普所谓的虚高估值是他商业技巧的产物。

专家称特朗普注册会计师的证词“不专业”

专家证人杰森·弗雷蒙斯(Jason Flemmons)对特朗普集团前外部会计师唐纳德·本德(Donald Bender)的证词表示怀疑，他说他会希望审查特朗普集团进行的任何评估。

“这不是职业标准所要求的，”弗莱明斯为辩护作证时说。"他的证词在专业上不可信。"

这引起了州检察官凯文·华莱士的强烈反对。

"他是想说证人在撒谎吗?"华莱士说。

“恕我直言，”恩戈伦法官打趣道。

当被要求证实他所说的“专业合理”是什么意思时，Flemmons说，Bender要求在财务状况声明中提到的范围之外进行评估是“非常不寻常的”。

弗莱明斯说:“业内会计师不会去寻找不在财务状况表四角的记录。”

法庭随后休庭一天，弗莱明斯计划明天继续作证。

专家说，特朗普的免责声明告诉银行家要“小心”

国防专家杰森·弗雷蒙斯(Jason Flemmons)将唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)财务报表中的免责声明描述为“最高级别的免责声明”，本可以提供给审查该文件的银行家。

Flemmons表示，该免责声明包括“高度谨慎的语言”，将允许用户做出明显偏离公认会计原则(业内称为GAAP)的声明。

“在马萨尔斯为唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)发布的汇编声明中，这种语言是否以实质上类似的形式出现?”辩护律师耶稣·苏亚雷斯问道。

“是的，”Flemmons说，并补充说，该免责声明“实际上是在说‘用户当心’。”"

在他的证词和对媒体的声明中，特朗普声称，免责声明使他免于在此案中承担责任。

苏亚雷斯还利用Flemmons的证词暗示，特朗普的外部会计师有责任理解财务报表中使用的方法，并确定它们的适当性。

这似乎与特朗普前会计师的证词相冲突唐纳德·本德他将自己的角色描述为类似于将特朗普组织提供的数字插入模板。

专家称房产估价可能“大相径庭”

会计师杰森·弗雷蒙斯(Jason Flemmons)作为辩方的专家证人出庭作证，为唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)对其Mar-a-Lago房产的估值提供了支持，这一直是七周庭审期间的辩论主题。

在他的简易判决决定法官Engoron发现，特朗普将房产高估了至少2300%，因为在特朗普签署了一份限制其用于社交俱乐部的契约后，棕榈滩县估价员将该房产的市场价值评估为1800万美元至2760万美元，这可能会限制其作为住宅的转售价值，但确保减税。相比之下，特朗普在其财务报表中列出的价值在4.26亿美元至6.12亿美元之间，他在法庭和网络上露面时多次攻击Engoron的发现。

Flemmons认为，特朗普对其资产进行估值的方法给了他考虑其财产未来收入流的自由。根据Flemmons的说法，这种方法可能导致个人财务报表上列出的数字和纳税评估值之间的“巨大差异”。

“税收评估值通常处于范围的低端，”Flemmons说，而Engoron则专注地看着。

虽然他从未提到Mar-a-Lago的名字，但辩护律师Jesus Suarez询问了Flemmons关于一个假设的财产的问题，该财产的估价为1800万美元，但使用可比销售方法估价接近5亿美元，这种方法也用于估价Mar-a-Lago。

“使用预计的现金收入，价值数亿美元并不罕见，”Flemmons说。

然后，恩戈伦把他的椅子转向Flemmons，开始问自己的问题。

“我试图达到我们在这里讨论的数量级，”恩戈伦说。"你所见过的这种财产的最高合法价值是多少?"

Flemmons不能提供一个具体的例子来回答Engoron的问题，但重申，一个巨大的差异可能是适当的。

在科恩作证后，众议院共和党人要求对他进行调查

众议院情报委员会主席众议员Michael Turner和众议院共和党会议主席众议员Elise Stefanik要求司法部调查迈克尔·科恩在上个月的审判中作证后作伪证的情况。

在他的庭审证词中，科恩说他撒谎了他在2019年向众议院情报常设特别委员会表示，唐纳德·特朗普和艾伦·韦塞尔伯格没有要求他夸大特朗普的个人陈述。

“所以，你在2019年2月宣誓撒谎?这是你的证词吗?”辩护律师阿丽娜·哈巴巴在法庭上问道。

“是的，”科恩回答道。

科恩随后在法庭上展示了他2019年的证词，并表示他2019年的证词是真实的，他解释了这一矛盾，澄清特朗普说话像一个“暴徒老板”，他间接要求他的声明被夸大。

在今天发给司法部长梅里克·加兰的一封信中，斯特凡尼克和特纳要求司法部对科恩可能犯下的伪证罪展开调查。

他们写道，“科恩先生愿意在审判中公开和厚颜无耻地声明，他在这个具体问题上对国会撒了谎，这令人吃惊。”。"他愿意单独发表这样的声明，这就需要进行调查。"

上周，斯特凡尼克发了一份单独的司法投诉与监督特朗普审判的法官的行为有关的纽约州司法行为委员会。在给ABC新闻的一份声明中，一名法院代表回应说，法官的行为“不言自明”。

Trump fraud trial live blog: Trump's disclaimer told bankers to 'beware,' expert testifies

 

Former President Donald Trump is on trial in New York in a$250 million civil lawsuitthat could alter the personal fortune and real estate empire that helped propel Trump to the White House.

Trump, his sonsEric Trump and and Donald Trump Jr., and other top Trump Organization executives are accused by New York Attorney General Letitia James of engaging in a decade-long scheme in which they used "numerous acts of fraud and misrepresentation" to inflate Trump's net worth in order get more favorable loan terms. The trial comes after the judge in the case ruled in apartial summary judgmentthat Trump had submitted "fraudulent valuations" for his assets, leaving the trial to determine additional actions and what penalty, if any, the defendants should receive.

The former president has denied all wrongdoing and his attorneys have argued that Trump's alleged inflated valuations were a product of his business skill.

Expert calls Trump CPA's testimony 'not professionally plausible'

Expert witness Jason Flemmons cast doubt on the testimony of the Trump Organization's former external accountant Donald Bender, who said he would have wanted to review any appraisals that the Trump Organization conducted.

"That's not something that is required by professional standards," said Flemmons, testifying for the defense. "His testimony was not professionally plausible."

That prompted a strong objection from state attorney Kevin Wallace.

"Is he trying to say the witness is lying?" Wallace said.

"Not to put too fine a point on it," Judge Engoron quipped.

Asked to confirm what he meant by "professional plausible," Flemmons said it would be "highly unusual" for Bender to request appraisals outside what was mentioned in the statement of financial condition.

"Accountants in the industry do not go seeking records for things that are not in the four corners of the statement of financial condition," Flemmons said.

Court was subsequently adjourned for the day, with Flemmons scheduled to continue his testimony tomorrow.

Trump's disclaimer told bankers to 'beware,' expert says

Defense expert Jason Flemmons described the disclaimer included in Donald Trump's financial statement as the "highest level disclaimer" that could have been provided to bankers reviewing the document.

Flemmons said that the disclaimer, which he said includes "highly cautionary language," would allow a user to make claims that significantly departed from generally accepted accounting principles, known in the industry as GAAP.

"Was that language present in a substantially similar form in the compilation statements issued by Mazars for Donald Trump?" defense attorney Jesus Suarez asked.

"Yes," Flemmons said, adding that the disclaimer was "effectively saying 'user beware.'"

During his testimony and in statements to the media, Trump has claimed that the disclaimer shields him from liability in the case.

Suarez also used Flemmons' testimony to suggest that Trump's external accountants were responsible for understanding the methods used in the financial statement and determining their appropriateness.

That appeared to conflict with testimony of former Trump accountantDonald Benderof Mazars USA, who described his role as akin to plugging numbers provided by the Trump Organization into a template.

Expert says property valuations can be 'wildly different'

Taking the witness stand as an expert witness for the defense, accountant Jason Flemmons offered testimony in support of Donald Trump's approach to valuing his Mar-a-Lago property, which has been the subject of debate throughout the seven weeks of the trial.

In hissummary judgment decision, Judge Engoron found that Trump overvalued the estate by at least 2,300% because the Palm Beach County Assessor appraised the property's market value between $18 and $27.6 million after Trump signed a deed that restricted its use to a social club, potentially limiting its resale value as a residence but ensuring a tax cut. Trump, in contrast, listed its value in his financial statement between $426 million and $612 million, and during his appearances in court and online he has repeatedly attacked Engoron's finding.

Flemmons argued that Trump's approach to valuing his assets gave him latitude to consider his property's future revenue streams. That approach, according to Flemmons, could result in "wildly different values" between the numbers listed on a personal financial statement and a tax assessed value.

"Tax assessed values are typically on the lower end of the spectrum," Flemmons said, while Engoron looked on attentively.

While he never mentioned Mar-a-Lago by name, Flemmons was asked by defense attorney Jesus Suarez about a hypothetical property assessed at $18 million but valued closer to $500 million using a comparable sales approach -- the same approach used to value Mar-a-Lago.

"It would not be unusual to have a value in the hundreds of million using projected cash receipts," Flemmons said.

Engoron then turned his chair toward Flemmons and began asking his own questions.

"I am trying to get to the order of magnitude we are talking about here," Engoron said. "What is the highest value you have ever seen legitimately placed on such a property?"

Flemmons could not provide a specific example to answer Engoron's question but reiterated that a massive discrepancy could be appropriate.

House Republicans call for probe of Cohen after his testimony

House Intelligence Committee Chair Rep. Michael Turner and House GOP Conference Chair Rep. Elise Stefanik have requested that the Department of Justice investigate Michael Cohen for perjury following his testimony in the trial last month.

During his trial testimony, Cohensaid that he liedto the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence in 2019 when he said that Donald Trump and Allen Weisselberg did not ask him to inflate Trump's personal statement.

"So, you lied under oath in February of 2019? Is that your testimony?" defense attorney Alina Habba asked in court.

"Yes," Cohen responded.

Shown his 2019 testimony in court, Cohen subsequently reversed himself and said that his 2019 testimony was truthful, explaining the contradiction by clarifying that Trump speaks like a "mob boss" and that he indirectly asked for his statement to be inflated.

In a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland sent today, Stefanik and Turner requested that the Department of Justice open an investigation into Cohen potentially committing perjury.

"That Mr. Cohen was willing to openly and brazenly state at trial that he lied to Congress on this specific issue is startling," they wrote. "His willingness to make such a statement alone should necessitate an investigation."

Last week, Stefanik sent a separatejudicial complaintto the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct related to the conduct of the judge overseeing Trump's trial. In a statement to ABC News, a court representative said in response that the judge's actions "speak for themselves."