Trump civil fraud case: Judge fines Trump $354M, says frauds 'shock the conscience'

Following the adjournment of court for the day, Trump attorney Chris Kise criticized the attorney general's case on the basis of testimony from the Deutsche Bank executives who said they were eager to do business with Trump regardless of the contents of his financial statements.

Echoing past comments, Kise described the case as a "fraud with no victims" in comments to ABC News.

Kise also slammed today's appellate court ruling reinstating Judge Engoron's limited gag orders as a "total breakdown of the rule of law."

"Now you have the front-running presidential candidate who can't even comment about why he thinks he's not getting a fair trial," Kise said about the impact of the ruling.

"I'm not sure how much more absurd it can get for President Trump," he said.

Robert Unell, an expert in commercial real estate, disputed the analysis conducted by the state's expert, Michiel McCarty, who testified that Trump's alleged deceptions cost his lenders $168 million in lost interest.

"It is really, in my opinion, a very narrow-minded support," Unell, testifying for the defense, said about the assumptions McCarty made regarding the interest rate of the loans.

Unell said that Trump's lenders made money, faced less risk in their investments over time, and sought additional business from the former president and his family. He also criticized the allegation that Trump risked defaulting on any of his loans by offering himself as a personal guarantor of the loans.

"It means the bank got what they wanted ... they had a warm body who was going to stand behind the loan and provide credit support," Unell said about Trump's personal support of the loans.

Judge Engoron interjected at multiple points to question Unell about his findings, at one point noting that the loans would have been pricier for Trump if lenders faced more risk stemming from Trump inflating his assets.

"The more value in collateral, the less risk, the lower the interest rate," Engoron said.

Over the last week, Donald Trump has made multiple posts on social media about a social media account he alleges belongs to Judge Arthur Engoron's wife, accusing her of sharing multiple posts critical of the former president, including doctored images depicting Trump in prison.

"Judge Engoron's Trump Hating wife," Trump called her Wednesday on Truth Social.

A court official on Thursday denied that any of the posts referenced by Trump were made by Engoron's wife.

"Justice Engoron's wife has sent no social media posts regarding the former president. They are not hers," court spokesperson Al Baker wrote in a statement.

Judge Engoron has set a date of Jan. 11 for closing arguments in the trial.

Both parties face a noon deadline on Jan. 5 to file their briefs, and closing arguments are scheduled to take place in person on Jan. 11, the judge decided after considering scheduling proposals from both the state and the defense.

Engoron said he plans to issue his decision in the case "a few weeks after" closing arguments.

"I would hope this [January] but no guarantees," Engoron said.

State attorneys had requested closing statements take place Dec. 13, while attorneys for Donald Trump suggested closing arguments be presented 60 days after both parties submitted paper filings.