7 months ago
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A New York judge indicated Tuesday that he's not embracing former President Donald Trump’s view that most claims in his civil business fraud trial are too old for court, as the defense had hoped the judge would after the trial's first day.
With Trump voluntarily in court for a second day, Judge Arthur Engoron set the record straight about a comment that the ex-president had claimed as an important victory.
The issue: Engoron had suggested on Monday that testimony about Trump’s 2011 financial statement might be beyond the legal time limit applicable to New York Attorney General Letitia James' lawsuit, which alleges that Trump and his business chronically lied about his wealth on financial statements given to banks, insurers and others. The relevant statute of limitations bars claims related to activities before a date in 2014, and Trump's legal team has argued that the time limit cuts off most of the case.
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 considerably 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," Engoron said. He ruled last week that all the claims were allowable under the statute of limitations.
