Internet shreds Trump as he lashes out at judge in closing arguments and accuses him of having agenda

MANHATTAN, NEW YORK: Donald Trump accused the judge presiding over his New York civil fraud trial, Justice Arthur Engoron, of having a personal agenda against him on Thursday, January 11, 2024.

Trump's remarks were made in the courtroom and defied the judge's attempts to curb his rhetoric on the final day of the 11-week trial.

During the trial, Trump was accused of fraudulently inflating the value of his real estate properties and net worth, with the lawsuit brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James.

Trump’s counsel argued that he was an "industry expert," while James' lawyers accused him of committing widespread fraud to finance his 2016 presidential campaign.

Engoron previously ruled that Trump is liable for fraud, and James is seeking $370 million in penalties.

Trump's unsanctioned closing argument was the most talked about event coming out of the courtroom on Thursday.

He spoke for about five minutes while seated at the defense table, with Engoron watching him intently from the bench, according to a report by Politico.

Trump's lawyer Chris Kise had previously requested permission for Trump to participate in the closing arguments, which was an unusual request for a defendant represented by counsel.

Engoron agreed to allow Trump to speak, but only if he agreed to abide by a long list of conditions, including limiting his remarks to the issues in the case and refraining from giving a campaign speech.

Kise failed to accept the conditions, and Engoron assumed that Trump wouldn't speak during the presentation.

What did Donald Trump say in the closing arguments of the civil fraud trial?

On Thursday, January 11, after Kise and other Trump attorneys finished presenting their closing arguments, Kise informed Judge Engoron that the former president wanted to participate as well.

Judge Engoron subsequently questioned Trump whether he’d agree to his pre-ordained conditions, by asking, “Do you promise to just comment on the law and the facts … and not go outside of it?”

Trump retorted, "Well, I think this case goes outside of the law and the facts," and then launched into some of his standard attacks pertaining to the civil fraud trial, calling it a "political witch hunt".

Trump explained, "When you say, 'Don't go outside of these things', you have a situation where I'm an innocent man."

Referring to New York Attorney General Letitia James, who ran for governor briefly in 2021, the 77-year-old former POTUS said, "I've been persecuted by someone running for office."

“This is a fraud on me,” Trump repeatedly told Judge Engoron, adding, “What’s happened here, sir, is a fraud on me.”

After Engoron reminded Trump that a planned break in the proceedings was approaching, Trump turned his focus to the judge himself, whom the former president has often insulted publicly, including during the testimony he gave in the trial.

Trump alleged, “You have your own agenda, I certainly understand that. You can’t listen for more than one minute,” adding, “They should pay me for what I’ve gone through.”

Engoron asked Chris Kise to “please control your client” before telling him at the time of the scheduled break, “Mr Kise, this could have been done differently.”

According to a report from The Washington Post on Thursday, during closing remarks from Kise, the attorney accused AG James of “weaponizing a consumer protection statute” against his client, and alleged that she was imposing “the corporate death penalty” on the former president Donald Trump.

Aside from the animated exchange with Trump, Engoron spoke little during the closing arguments, but the few remarks he did make hinted at his thoughts on defendants Donald Trump Jr and Eric Trump, the former president's adult sons who have overseen his company since 2017.

Judge Engoron asked another one of AG James’ lawyers, Andrew Amer, “What evidence do you have, maybe I just haven’t seen it, that they knew that there was fraud? I don’t see the evidence.”

Though Amer claimed that Eric Trump was aware of fraud, he was more cautious about Donald Trump Jr, saying, "He certainly had knowledge that would have allowed him to determine whether these methodologies were proper or not."

Judge Engoron is expected to issue a ruling by the end of the month on AG James' request for penalties.

Internet slams Donald Trump for lashing out at Justice Engoron 

People on X were enraged at the fact that the former president left no stone unturned to create an impression, even if it was inside a courtroom, by accusing a judge of having an agenda set against him to bolster his support and rally his followers ahead of the two crucial Republican caucuses this month in Iowa and New Hampshire, respectively.

One X user remarked, “You lost. Get over it."

Another user said, "Lashing out at the Judge before the disgorgement amount is set? Bold move Cotton"

Another user quipped, "What a smart move to denigrate the person deciding your punitive damages."

One user stated, "Bold strategy, hope it doesn’t pay off."

Another X user remarked, "Why’s Everyone Always Pickin’ On Me? Wah."

One user tweeted, "If you ever needed an example of privileged wealthy white power, here it is. 99.999% of the population would have been slammed with contempt of court charges and likely jailed. Rich men’s law is different in America."

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.