The judge presiding over Donald Trump’s civil fraud trial tore into the former president’s star witness in a new court filing as he dismissed his latest attempt for a directed verdict in his favour.
In a scathing order issued on Monday, New York County Supreme Court Judge Arthur Engoron blasted testimony from New York University accounting professor Eli Bartov, who “lost all credibility” when he “doggedly” defended apparent misstatements in Mr Trump’s financial documents that are at the heart of the case.
The judge added that his testimony indicates that some people will say anything for “a million or so dollars”.
“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,” Judge Engoron wrote.
Mr Bartov was a final expert witness for the defence, whose testimony aimed to bolster arguments from Mr Trump’s team that the statements of financial condition did not evidence of fraud.
During his two days of testimony last week, the professor told the court that he had found no evidence of any fraud in the Trump Organization’s accounting practices and described the $250m lawsuit from New York Attorney General Letitia James as “absurd”.
“My main finding is that there is no evidence whatsoever of any accounting fraud,” he testified.
Mr Bartov also revealed that he had been paid around $877,500 by Mr Trump’s team for his services.
Judge Engoron’s decision on Monday denied Mr Trump’s fifth attempt for a directed verdict in his favour after the witness testimony came to a close in the 11th week of the trial in lower Manhattan.
He wrote that the “the most glaring flaw” in the former president’s arguments “is to assume that the testimony of defendants' experts ... is true and accurate.”
Judge Engoron pointed to Mr Bartov’s fee, suggesting that it impacted the testimony he gave on the stand.
Trump appears at civil fraud trial in New York— (2023 Getty Images)
Mr Bartov said he was “shocked” by the judge’s comments, calling his description of his testimony a “complete mischaracterisation”.
“I’m shocked that the judge mischaracterized my testimony in this way,” he told CNBC on Monday.
Mr Trump also lashed out at Judge Engoron in his latest in a series of attacks on Truth Social.
“As usual, completely biased Democrat Judge Arthur Engoron, without the benefit of a Jury, denied our Motion to have this political SHAM of a case dismissed,” he ranted.
The former president repeated his baseless claims that the lawsuit is “rigged” and the players in it “corrupt” as he continued: “Judge Engoron challenges the highly respected Expert Witness for receiving fees, which is standard and accepted practice for Expert Witnesses. The ignorant Judge did not even try to listen to the Expert Witness. This is a great insult to a man of impeccable character and qualifications. The Judge ignores the Law!”
Ms James filed a civil lawsuit in September 2022 accusing Mr Trump, his adult sons Don Jr and Eric, the Trump Organization and several executives of grossly inflating his net worth and assets in an effort to obtain favourable financing terms on his star properties.
Mr Trump has already been found liable for fraud in a bombshell pretrial ruling from the judge in September.
Judge Engoron ruled that Mr Trump, his adult sons, businesses and some of their executives “grossly and materially inflated” the value of the Trump Organization’s assets for more than a decade.
By deceiving banks, insurers and others by exaggerating the value of assets, the company was able to secure more favourable business deals and loans, the judge found.
The trial is coming to a close after nearly two months of courtroom testimony from the likes of Mr Trump, his adult sons and daughter Ivanka.
The judge is set to hear oral arguments in January before determining what penalties Mr Trump should face.
Ms James’s lawsuit seeks to recover $250m in allegedly ill-gotten gains and to effectively strip the Trumps of doing business in the state, dealing a potentially crushing financial blow to the former president and the companies under his Trump Organization umbrella.
