A New York judge on Tuesday said evidence that predates 2014 can be used to support more recent claims of fraud against Donald Trump in his civil trial, rejecting the former president’s claim that much of the case had been thrown out.

It was one of the highlights of the second day of testimony in the Manhattan courthouse, which Mr. Trump is using as a platform for his presidential campaign and grievances about New York Attorney General Letitia James, the courts and the Biden administration.

Mr. Trump said Monday the statute of limitations shields him from much of the case Ms. James is leading against him.

But Judge Aaron Engoron said Tuesday that “statutes of limitations bar claims, not evidence” and that at the trial’s early stage, he’s inclined to give both sides considerable leeway to connect older evidence to claims in the lawsuit.

“I want to emphasize: This trial is not an opportunity to relitigate what I have already decided,” Judge Engoron said.

He ruled last week that all the claims were allowable under the statute of limitations.

Mr. Trump adopted a combative mood as he attended court, voluntarily, for a second day.

“This case should be dismissed. This is not a case,” Mr. Trump said at the courthouse. “They ought to get onto violent crime and solving the problems of New York City and New York state.”

Ms. James says Mr. Trump and his company repeatedly inflated the value of properties to get better financial terms on loans and insurance policies.

Judge Engoron previously ruled that Mr. Trump had committed fraud in some instances, though the trial will explore additional claims and possible damages. It is a bench trial before the judge, not a jury.

Mr. Trump’s attorney, Alina Habba, says her client maintained top-dollar properties and Ms. James is attempting to punish him for common real estate practices. The defense says there was no intent to defraud anyone and no victim in the case.

Mr. Trump said Ms. James is the one who committed fraud.

“Judge Engoron has been given false and grossly misleading information about my Net Worth by a lying and incompetent Attorney General, such as Mar-a-Lago being worth $18,000,000 when in fact the number would be much closer to 1.5 Billion Dollars, like other properties, including two that were recently sold for numbers many times those that were listed in the Financial Statements,” Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social.

He also found a new target — the judge’s law clerk. He posted a picture of her on Truth Social posing with Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer, dubbing her the New York Democrat’s “girlfriend” and saying she is “running this case against me.”

• This article is based in part on wire service reports.

• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.