Testimony wrapped Wednesday in the $250 million civil fraud case against Donald Trump following over two months of trial — and as the former president signaled he had no intention of settling.
The final witness finished testifying Wednesday around 12:30 p.m. at the New York Attorney General Letitia James’ case against the real estate tycoon on allegations he inflated his assets by billions on yearly financial statements to get better loan and insurance terms.
Closing arguments are scheduled for mid-January and the judge has said he hopes to render a verdict in the non-jury trial by the end of that month.
During the holiday break, lawyers on both sides will be working on any motions they want the judge to consider before closings and the verdict.
Trump, 77, dispelled any possibility that his side might settle with the AG’s office in a post from earlier Wednesday on Truth Social.
“We keep asking for dismissal, but the Trump hater (judge) won’t let it go,” he wrote in all caps. “An insult to America! He ruled that I was a fraud before he even saw the case, then tried to get me to settle.”
On Tuesday, James and a group of her lawyers went to speak with Justice Arthur Engoron inside his courtroom chambers for roughly five minutes.
Trump lawyer Alina Habba also briefly met with the judge behind closed doors — raising questions about whether there were settlement talks, according to ABC News.
Trump’s defense team rested their case Tuesday afternoon following the conclusion of testimony from from accounting expert Eli Bartov, who claimed “there is no evidence whatsoever for any accounting fraud,” on Trump’s part.
The AG’s office put on a brief rebuttal case with two witnesses beginning Tuesday afternoon and ending Wednesday to close out the trial testimony.
“See you all next year!” Engoron said, according to a post on X by a Courthouse News reporter.
“In a strange way, I’m gonna miss this trial,” Engoron said earlier.
The trial saw a slew of drama since the Oct. 2 start — which featured 40 witnesses — including Trump getting slapped with a limited gag order barring him from speaking about the judge’s court staff and later getting fined $15,000 when the judge found he violated the order two times.
“Today, after 11 weeks of trial, we rested our case against Donald Trump and the Trump Organization for years of financial fraud,” AG James said in a statement. “While the judge already ruled in our favor and found that Donald Trump engaged in years of significant fraud and unjustly enriched himself and his family, this trial revealed the full extent of that fraud — and the defendants’ inability to disprove it.”
“We look forward to presenting our closing argument on January 11,” she concluded.
In a bombshell ruling from just before the start of the trial, Engoron found Trump liable of one of the main fraud claims by the AG’s office and yanked the Trump Organization’s business licenses in New York. That has been put on hold pending the conclusion of the trial and a decision by an appeals court.
Trump was in court for eight trial days where he took nearly every opportunity in front of media cameras to attack the case, the AG, the judge and even the judge’s clerk — which prompted the gag.
The 45th president, his two eldest sons Don Jr. and Eric, and daughter Ivanka all testified at trial and denied involvement in the AG’s claims.
Trump has repeatedly said he’s the victim of a political witch hunt.
With Post wires