Judge tells off Trump and his attorney in court: ‘Control him’

Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Get our free Inside Washington email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. “I think this is a political witch hunt and she should be ashamed of herself,” Trump said, referring to New York state Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat whose office brought the case. Outside court, she said, “At the end of the day the only thing that matters are the facts and the numbers, and numbers, my friends, don’t lie.” The civil trial is one of numerous legal proceedings Trump is confronting, including federal and state charges accusing him of crimes including illegally hoarding classified documents and scheming to overturn the 2020 presidential election. “First of all it’s so long ago, it’s well beyond the statute of limitations,” Trump said before turning on the judge, saying he allowed state lawyers to pursue claims involving such years-old documents “because he always rules against me.” Engoron said: “You can attack me in whichever way you want but please answer the questions.” When the ex-president discussed why his financial statements listed his Trump Tower penthouse as three times its actual size, he said it was possible “we made a mistake,” hypothesizing that someone working for him multiplied the square-footage of each Trump Tower floor — about 10,000 square feet — by three, without subtracting the size of elevator shafts and other non-apartment space. Trump said the inflated size also may have resulted from adding in Trump Tower’s roof, testifying: “I have the roof, you know, we have access to the roof, which is very big.” Regardless, he said: “We have a disclaimer clause which is, you don’t have to get sued by the attorney general of the state of New York.” ___ Tucker reported from Washington.