Donald Trump returns to court, lauds his defense expert who sees no evidence of accounting fraud
Associated PressNEW YORK — Former President Donald Trump returned to his civil fraud trial Thursday to spotlight his defense, renewing his complaints that the case is baseless and heaping praise on an accounting professor’s testimony that backed him up. “My main finding is that there is no evidence whatsoever of any accounting fraud,” said Bartov, whom Trump’s lawyers hired to give expert perspective. Trump’s financial statements, he said, “were not materially misstated.” He suggested that anything problematic — like a huge year-to-year leap in the estimated value of the Trump Tower triplex — was simply an error. “This is a case that should have never been brought,” Trump declared as he left for the day, calling the trial “a witch hunt,” “election interference” and “a disgrace to America.” James’ lawsuit accuses Trump, his company and top executives including his sons Eric and Donald Trump Jr. of misleading banks and insurers by giving them financial statements that padded his net worth by billions of dollars. He called Trump’s financial statements transparent and uncommonly detailed, with caveats that Bartov claimed “even my 9-year-old granddaughter” would understand.