Mike Segar/Reuters
In an attempt to fend off the New York Attorney General’s efforts to destroy his family company, former President Donald Trump and his army of lawyers saved the best for last at his bank fraud trial—and it failed miserably.
The three-month civil trial neared its conclusion on Tuesday, when Trump’s team ended the presentation of its defense with testimony from a highly paid New York University accounting professor. Except the testimony backfired, showing the gaping holes in the billionaire’s excuses for lying to banks for years about his net worth.
It cost Trump’s business and his 2024 presidential campaign treasure chest some $877,500 to hear from finance academic Eli Bartov at trial. In return, the Trump family go to watch their expensive expert get torn apart by an AG attorney who pointed out contradictions in his testimony, get repeatedly interrupted by the judge, and finally be discredited as a failed voice of authority.