NEW YORK: The judge in Donald Trump’s New York scam trial has withdrawn approval for the former president to give a closing speech as the case concludes, local media reported on Thursday.
Donald Trump stands accused of falsely inflating the value of his assets and New York Attorney General Letitia James is seeking $370 million from the former president as well as to have him stopped from conducting business in the state. As per media reports, both legal teams will start to give closing arguments Thursday.
Lawyers for Donald Trump, who has repeatedly assaulted the judge and attorney general for alleged prejudice, had hinted he would extraordinarily present a closing speech on his own behalf.
Trump will Not Give Closing Argument In New York Scam Trial
But in an exchange of emails between Trump’s legal team and Judge Arthur Engoron, the judge said that if Trump wished to speak “he will agree to the limitations I have executed” — sticking to the facts of the scam case.
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The legal team of the former President called this “very unfair” in a response, saying that Donald Trump be permitted to “speak regarding the things that must be spoken about.”
In reply, Engoron told the legal team of Trump to “take it or leave it”, following up that as the former president had apparently not agreed to the terms of the judge, “he will not be arguing in the court on Thursday.”
Former President Donald Trump and his two sons are accused of falsely inflating the value of real estate properties to receive more favorable bank credits and insurance terms. However, Donald Trump repeatedly took to social media during the scam case, claiming it was “decided against me before it even initiated.”
In one post on social media, Trump said that he did nothing wrong. Trump’s legal team rejected any notion of scam, saying that real estate assessments are subjective and the banks’ lending to his group had not lost any cash.
