Donald Trump, his adult children, and his former “fixer” Michael Cohen are among the witnesses the New York attorney general plans to call at an upcoming trial over her $250 million lawsuit against the former president.
Trump, 77, is listed as “witness No. 27” in Attorney General Letitia James’ list of people her office anticipates possibly calling to the stand during the Manhattan Supreme Court trial, which could start as soon as Monday and last up to three months.
James’ office, which is seeking at least $250 million and an order barring the ex-commander-in-chief from doing business in New York, also plans to ask Trump’s children Donald Jr., Eric, and Ivanka to testify as well.
Cohen – Trump’s former personal attorney who recently settled a lawsuit filed against the Trump Organization for allegedly unpaid legal fees – is also on the AG’s office’s list of witnesses, as is Allen Weisselberg, the former chief financial officer of Trump’s business empire.
Though Trump is on James’ witness list, it wasn’t clear Thursday if he would take the stand.
At another civil trial from earlier this year brought by advice columnist E. Jean Carroll, not only did Trump refrain from testifying, but he also didn’t show up for a single day of trial.
A Manhattan federal court jury found him liable for sexually abusing and defaming Carroll and ordered him to pay $5 million in damages in that case.
In the AG’s case, Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron has already ruled that the former president, Donald Jr., Eric, Weisselberg, and the Trump Org are liable for fraud, finding that they exaggerated the worth of their assets to get an edge with banks.
He ruled they “indisputably” lied on financial filings, including by claiming that the Trump Tower penthouse in Midtown was 30,000 square feet when it was in fact closer to 11,000 feet.
Engoron also took the rare step of canceling Trump’s New York “business certificates,” which experts say could make it exceedingly hard for Trump to operate in the Empire State unless an appeal court intervenes.
Trump has vowed to appeal the ruling and called Engoron, a Democrat, “deranged” and James, also a Democrat, a “completely biased and corrupt ‘prosecutor.’”
Reps for the former president did not immediately respond Thursday to requests for comment.
— Additional reporting by Priscilla DeGregory.