Court staffer arrested after approaching Trump during his NYC fraud trial
NEW YORK — Donald Trump’s New York fraud trial saw a bit of courtroom drama Wednesday, with a court employee arrested after trying to approach the former president and his lawyers on the attack against a real estate appraiser in the witness box.
The woman, who has not been named, came into the courtroom where Trump, his sons and top executives are on trial after a mid-morning break. Once inside, she stood up, walked in the direction of the defense table and attempted to communicate something to Trump. The state Office of Court Administration said she indicated she wanted to “assist” him.
“This individual was stopped by court officers before she got near Mr. Trump or any of the attorneys or other litigants. None of the parties were ever in any danger,” OCA spokesman Lucian Chalfen said.
The court staffer, a young woman wearing a black blazer and a short black skirt, was charged with second-degree contempt of court and placed on immediate administrative leave. Chalfen said she would be prohibited from entering court facilities pending the outcome of an investigation.
Trump, sitting at the defense tables between his lawyers, did not have a notable reaction to the fleeting incident. Earlier in the morning, he was overheard sighing and seen throwing up his hands in dismay while real estate appraiser Doug Larson testified. Lawyers for state Attorney General Tish James, who has been watching the trial from the courtroom’s front bench, asked Judge Arthur Engoron to order the defense to stop talking during witness testimony.
In a damaging day of testimony for Trump's team on Tuesday, Larson, former executive director of international real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield, testified it was “inaccurate and inappropriate” for the Trump Org to credit him for valuations submitted in business deals.
AG lawyers presented evidence showing ex-Trump controller Jeff McConney cited advice Larson gave him over the phone when he explained the methodology behind several questionable evaluations for Trump assets — like the old Nike store at Trump Tower.
But Larson denied that phone call ever happened and said it was wrong of the company to represent him as an outside expert who participated in valuations “in conjunction” with Trump execs. He appraised several Trump-owned and involved assets for the company’s lenders but not on behalf of the Trump Org.
During a series of heated back and forths in court Wednesday, Trump lawyers insinuated Larson was lying on cross-examination, presenting two pieces of correspondence between him and McConney in which the controller sought his insight. Larson said he didn’t remember them.
The Republican front-runner for president, 77, said the correspondence was an example of prosecutors withholding evidence that proved him “totally innocent.”
“See what’s happened? The government lied — they just lie. They didn’t reveal all of the information that they had,” the former president charged. “They didn’t reveal all the evidence that made me totally innocent of anything that they say.”
The AG has already won her top claim against Trump and his top associates, including sons Eric and Don Jr., with Engoron finding in a pretrial ruling they engaged in persistent fraud by submitting bogus valuations exaggerating his net worth in business deals.
The case on trial covers the AG’s remaining six claims related to insurance fraud, falsifying records and the conspiracy underlying the fraud. It’s expected to last through December.
Trump and his associates deny all wrongdoing and are appealing Engoron’s pretrial judgment, which also stripped them of their New York business licenses.
The former president returned to his Manhattan Supreme Court trial on Monday after skipping the second week and is expected to be in the courtroom again on Thursday.
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