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Donald Trump’s latest legal trouble picks up again on Monday, with a trial set to start in New York Attorney General Letitia James’ multimillion-dollar fraud case. It’s just one of the several matters Trump has on his docket as he runs for president again.
But this one stands out for the unique danger it poses to Trump, his family and the business empire that bears their name. And thanks to a devastating pretrial ruling by the state judge overseeing the case, Arthur Engoron, Trump and his co-defendants are heading into the trial already losing — bigly.
But wait, Trump has so many cases, what’s this one about again?
It stems from a yearslong investigation into shady Trump-related business practices. James alleged in her resulting civil suit that the former president and his civil co-defendants — including his adult sons, Eric and Donald Jr. — committed repeated and persistent fraud, by preparing, certifying and submitting to lenders and insurers false and misleading financial statements, in violation of New York state law.
The powerful law at issue gives the state AG broad authority to pursue this case, which includes claims of Trump and his co-defendants submitting false financial statements, falsifying business records, and committing insurance fraud. (Note, this case is separate from Trump’s New York state criminal prosecution — one of his four criminal cases — in which he’s charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records in connection with the Stormy Daniels hush money scheme.)
So, how does Engoron's devastating pretrial ruling factor into the civil fraud case?
The judge on Tuesday found the defendants liable on a key aspect of James’ claim, without it even having to be decided at trial, which is happening before the judge himself rather than a jury. My MSNBC colleague Lisa Rubin does a great job breaking down the ruling, in which the judge lambasted the “fantasy world” Trump and his co-defendants lived in when it came to their bogus claims.
As Lisa noted, the judge’s ruling eliminated the need to determine at trial whether they engaged in that persistent fraud, and it also had the damning effect of canceling their business certificates. That’s why Trump has suffered a major blow before the trial has even gotten underway.
In addition to the case itself being tilted heavily against Trump heading into trial, his lawyers are already on the judge’s bad side, too. That was evident in Engoron’s exasperated opinion that ended with the judge imposing monetary sanctions against the lawyers for continuing to raise ridiculous arguments that had already been roundly rejected.
So, what’s left to decide then?
Perhaps money, most of all. Engoron noted in his opinion that he wasn’t ruling on some other aspects of liability, nor was he ruling on the amount of money the defendants owe. Those present matters that are still in dispute to resolve at trial, which the attorney general will have to prove. Trump has denied wrongdoing.
And who could testify in court?
Among the notable witnesses who could take the stand in Manhattan are Trump himself (which of course would be a disaster for him if he testifies), his adult children (they might not fare much better) and Allen Weisselberg, the former Trump Organization CFO who pleaded guilty to a long-running tax fraud scheme at the company and testified against it last year. That trial ended in the company’s conviction and $1.6 million fine.
We also learned on Friday that Trump claimed he would attend at least the first week of the trial (as he apparently tries to put off being deposed, in yet another case of his, by his former fixer Michael Cohen).
Remember, Trump didn’t show up to the trial in author E. Jean Carroll’s civil sexual abuse and defamation case against him, in which he was found liable. Surely the former president is hoping for a different result this time around. But given the crushing pretrial ruling on liability against him already, and barring any successful appeal, that ship has largely sailed.