For the fifth time, Donald Trump tried to have the fraud case against him in New York dismissed.
And, for the fifth time, he has failed, with Judge Engoron openly mocking Trump in his ruling.
On Monday, the Trump fraud trial was officially wrapped up until closing arguments are heard on January 11.
After Donald Trump's expert witness, Eli Bartov, testified, Trump's attorneys again filed for a dismissal of the case, which Judge Engoron ruled on.
Engoron blasted the testimony by Bartov, who claimed repeatedly that "no accounting fraud of any kind" took place in Trump's records. Engoron, regarding the testimony of Bartov, wrote:
"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 also dismissed the idea that there was no fraud because the loans were ultimately paid off, stating that the repayment of the loans "does not mean that they were not damaged by lending at lower interest rates than they otherwise would have."
The judge also blasted the valuations listed by Trump on his financial forms, which have been at the center of the debate as to whether Trump committed fraud. He stated:
"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 outlook of this case is not good for Trump at all, as it would appear that Engoron made up his mind about this case long before this trial had started, with his partial judgment summary being proof of that.
Engoron has shot down virtually every motion made by Trump's legal team, but there is some sunlight for Trump on this.
The motion to have Trump's business license revoked and his properties liquidated was put on hold by the appellate court, and we would expect that hold to be put back in place the moment Trump appeals this case, and that will surely be filed immediately after Engoron issues his final ruling.
As I stated in prior reports, I doubt Trump will get off scot-free here, but I just do not see an appellate court upholding the expected ruling when the valuations from Trump's properties, especially Mar-a-Lago, were obviously lowballed.
