Donald Trump will give the final word in his defense against claims his business engaged in a decade of fraud as the New York trial threatening his business empire nears its end. 

The former president is expected to take the witness stand for a third time Monday, this time under questioning from his own legal team.  

In testimony last month during the state’s case, Trump defended his business practices by downplaying key financial documents and declaring the trial corrupt. His fiery testimony often grew political, more akin to a stump speech than a direct examination as he railed against the judge and New York attorney general whom he decried as “frauds” and “political hacks.” 

“It’s a disgrace that a case like this is going on; all you have to do is read the legal scholars — the papers — and you’ll know,” Trump testified in November, raising his voice. “This is a political witch hunt.” 

But with Trump’s counsel steering the questioning this time, the former president will have significantly more latitude to set the narrative and espouse his side of the story. 

Throughout the defense case, which began in mid-November, several witnesses reprised previous testimony while offering up their own spin. 

The first time Donald Trump Jr. testified in the New York attorney general’s case, he distanced himself from documents at the heart of the case – his father’s statements of financial condition, which detail the value of the Trump Organization’s various assets and were sent to banks and insurers to secure loans and deals. New York Attorney General Letitia James’s (D) lawsuit claims the Trump Organization falsely adjusted the value of its assets to receive tax and insurance benefits. 

 

 

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No, he won't. 

 

For obvious reasons.