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。
在激烈的裁决中，法官否认了特朗普的定向裁决动议
法官亚瑟·恩戈伦否认了唐纳德·特朗普的指控最近的动作要求直接判决来结束他的民事欺诈案。
在激烈的裁决中，法官不仅驳回了动议，还选择解释他在审判中看到的特朗普许多论点的缺陷。
针对国防会计专家埃利·巴托夫的证词，特朗普自豪地反复宣布发现“没有会计欺诈恩戈伦断然否定了巴托夫的发现，说他因为“顽固地试图证明每一个错误的陈述”而失去了可信度。"
“巴托夫是一名终身教授，但他的证词只能证明，只要100万美元左右，一些专家就会说你想让他们说的任何话，”恩戈伦写道。
法官还驳回了特朗普律师的说法，即任何财务虚假陈述都超出了案件的诉讼时效。
“结算并不是未来错误陈述的免罪卡。63(12)所要求的只是在商业中使用的虚假陈述;恩戈伦写道:“主题财务报表完全符合这个定义。
恩戈伦还表示，他不接受特朗普的观点，即在此案中，因非法所得对前总统罚款是不值得的，因为他的贷款人很高兴与交易有关。
“即时放贷者赚了数百万美元，并对交易感到满意，这并不意味着他们不会因为以低于正常水平的利率放贷而受损，”他写道。
恩戈伦称特朗普的说法“往好里说是错报，往坏里说是欺诈”，他写道，“正如这场审判中令人作呕的阐述，估值可以基于以不同方式分析的不同标准。但谎言终归是谎言。”
法官在结束裁决时提醒双方，本案的结案陈词日期目前定在1月11日。
美国东部时间12月18日下午4:56
纽约AG律师说，特朗普的案子不像美酒一样陈年
纽约总检察长的律师阿瑟·恩戈伦法官在一封信中说，唐纳德·特朗普最近要求对此案进行直接裁决，只不过是“一种政治噱头，旨在为特朗普先生、他的共同被告及其律师提供新闻发布会、真相社交帖子和有线电视新闻露面的原声报道。”
特朗普的律师周五提出了他们的第五项动议因为缺乏证据，他要求直接判决来结束这个案子，恩戈伦早些时候说他肯定会否认这一点。法官已经驳回了特朗普之前提出的所有四项直接裁决动议。
州检察官安德鲁·阿梅尔在周一给法官的信中写道:“与上好的波尔多葡萄酒不同，被告的定向裁决案件不会随着时间的推移而改善。”
Amer还认为，鉴于审判时提供的证据，特朗普的要求是不合理的，他说，“最低效的专家团队的任何证词都不能改变分析。"
“被告再一次依靠法院已经驳回的论据‘呼啸而过’，”Amer说，部分指的是Engoron的预审部分简易判决裁决，他发现特朗普使用欺诈性声明开展业务。
美国东部时间12月15日下午6:27
特朗普提交第五项直接裁决动议
唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)的律师在周五晚间提交的一份文件中提出了第五项动议，要求对这位前总统的欺诈案进行定向裁决，这份文件似乎注定会被驳回。
当特朗普的律师克里斯·基斯(Chris Kise)拒绝结束审判的请求时，法官阿瑟·恩戈伦(Arthur Engoron)几乎保证他会拒绝宣布他的计划在本周早些时候提交动议。
“我绝不会同意，”恩戈伦周二表示。“你这是在浪费时间。”
尽管如此，特朗普的律师还是在周五晚些时候提交了申请。
“总而言之，没有欺诈，没有受害者，根本没有伤害或可起诉的不当行为，法院必须也应该遵循关于争议索赔范围的案件法律，”特朗普的律师写道。
在提交的文件中，特朗普的律师针对纽约司法部长莱蒂夏·詹姆斯(Letitia James)要求对特朗普处以近4亿美元的非法所得罚款，理由是该州未能证明特朗普和他的儿子们打算欺诈他的贷款人，或者他们参与了欺诈阴谋。
“没有一个辩方证人支持任何所谓的阴谋的说法，事实上，这样的证词完全驳斥了同样的说法，”律师们写道，称特朗普的前律师迈克尔·科恩是一个“明显的、永久的、连续的骗子”。特朗普的前律师曾就所谓的阴谋作证
他们还认为，詹姆斯未能证明特朗普涉嫌的任何虚假陈述都会实质性地改变他从贷款人那里获得的贷款，并写道，涉嫌的虚假陈述对特朗普的贷款人“没有实际意义”。
特朗普之前因缺乏证据而提出的四项直接判决终结此案的动议都被Engoron法官驳回。
美国东部时间12月15日下午5:32
特朗普文件通知他打算上诉封口令决定
根据周五下午的一份新文件，唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)希望纽约最高法院在他的民事欺诈审判中参与有限禁言令。
纽约的上诉庭击落了特朗普早前的挑战周四，确定特朗普使用了不正确的法律途径来挑战有限的禁言令，该令禁止他评论亚瑟·恩戈伦法官的工作人员。
在周五提交的上诉通知中，特朗普的律师表示，他们计划将该决定上诉到奥尔巴尼上诉法院-纽约的最高法院。
目前还不清楚上诉法院是否会考虑这一请求，因为特朗普也失去了对禁言令提出上诉的动议。
Trump fraud trial: Saying 'a lie is still a lie,' judge rejects Trump's request for directed verdict
Former President Donald Trump is on trial in New York in a $250 million civil lawsuit that could alter the personal fortune and real estate empire that helped propel Trump to the White House.
Trump, his sons Eric 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 a partial summary judgment that 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.
In blistering ruling, judge denies Trump's motion for directed verdict
Judge Arthur Engoron has denied Donald Trump's most recent motion for a directed verdict to end his civil fraud trial.
In a blistering ruling, the judge not only denied the motion but also opted to explain the flaws he sees in many of Trump's arguments at trial.
Addressing the testimony of defense accounting expert Eli Bartov, who Trump proudly and repeatedly declared found "no accounting fraud of any kind," Engoron flatly dismissed Bartov's findings by saying he lost credibility by "doggedly attempting to justify every misstatement."
"Bartov is a tenured professor, but all that his testimony proves is that for a million or so dollars, some experts will say whatever you want them to say," Engoron wrote.
The judge also rejected assertions from Trump's lawyers that any financial misstatements are beyond the case's statute of limitations.
"Closing is not a get-out-of-jail-free card for future misstatements. All that §63(12) requires is a false statement used in business; the subject financial statements fit that definition 'to a T,'" Engoron wrote.
Engoron also suggested he didn't buy Trump's argument that fining the former president for ill-gotten gains was not merited in the case because his lenders were happy with the transactions.
"That the instant lenders made millions of dollars and were happy with the transactions does not mean that they were not damaged by lending at lower interest rates than they otherwise would have," he wrote.
Calling Trump's claims "misstatements at best and fraud at worst," Engoron wrote that "Valuations, as elucidated ad nauseum in this trial, can be based on different criteria analyzed in different ways. But a lie is still a lie."
The judge ended his ruling by reminding the parties about the date for closing arguments in the case, currently set for Jan. 11.
Dec 18, 4:56 PM EST
Trump's case does not age like fine wine, NY AG lawyer says
In a letter the Judge Arthur Engoron, a lawyer for the New York attorney general said Donald Trump's most recent request for a directed verdict in the case is nothing more than a "political stunt designed to provide Mr. Trump, his co-defendants, and their counsel with sound bites for press conferences, Truth Social posts, and cable news appearances."
Trump's lawyers on Friday made their fifth motion for a directed verdict to end the case for lack of evidence, which Engoron earlier said he was all but certain to deny. The judge has rejected all four of Trump's previous motions for a directed verdict.
"Unlike a fine Bordeaux, Defendants' case for a directed verdict does not improve with age," state attorney Andrew Amer wrote in Monday's letter to the judge.
Amer also argued that Trump's request was not merited given the evidence presented at trial, saying that "Nor does any of the testimony from the most ineffective team of experts that Defendants' money can buy change the analysis."
"Defendants are once again 'whistling past the graveyard' by relying on arguments the Court has already rejected," Amer said, referring in part to Engoron's pretrial partial summary judgment ruling, in which he found that Trump used fraudulent statements to conduct business.
Dec 15, 6:27 PM EST
Trump files 5th motion for directed verdict
Donald Trump's lawyers made their fifth motion for a directed verdict in the former president's fraud trial in a filing late Friday that appears destined to be rejected.
Judge Arthur Engoron all but guaranteed he would deny the request to end the trial when Trump's lawyer Chris Kise announced his plans to file the motion earlier this week.
"There is no way I am going to grant that," Engoron said on Tuesday. "You'd be wasting your time."
Trump's lawyers nevertheless filed their motion late Friday.
"In sum, there was no fraud, there were no victims, there has simply been no harm or actionable misconduct, and the Court must and should follow the law of the case regarding the scope of the claims at issue," Trump's lawyers wrote.
In the filing, Trump's attorneys targeted New York Attorney General Letitia James' request to fine Trump nearly $400 million for ill-gotten gains by arguing that the state failed to demonstrate that Trump and his sons intended to defraud his lenders or that they engaged in a conspiracy to commit fraud.
"Not a single defense witness supported the notion of any alleged conspiracy, and in fact such testimony refuted fully the existence of the same," the lawyers wrote, calling Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen, who testified about the alleged conspiracy, a "demonstrable, perpetual, and serial liar."
They also argued that James failed to prove that any of Trump's alleged misrepresentations would have materially changed the loans he received from his lenders, writing that the alleged misstatements had "no actual significance" to Trump's lenders.
All four of Trump's previous motions for a directed verdict to end the case for lack of evidence have been rejected by Judge Engoron.
Dec 15, 5:32 PM EST
Trump files notice he intends to appeal gag order decision
Donald Trump wants New York's highest court to weigh in on the limited gag order in his civil fraud trial, according to a new filing Friday afternoon.
New York's Appellate Division shot down Trump's earlier challenge Thursday, determining that Trump used the incorrect legal avenue to challenge the limited gag order, which bars him from commenting on Judge Arthur Engoron's staff.
In a notice of appeal filed Friday, Trump's lawyers said they plan to appeal the decision to the Albany-based Court of Appeals -- New York's highest court.
It's unclear if the Court of Appeals will consider the request because Trump also lost a motion for leave to appeal the gag order.
