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

The evidentiary portion of former President Trump's civil fraud trial concluded with a combative cross-examination of the state's rebuttal expert.

"The People rest," state attorney Kevin Wallace said after testimony had wrapped up.

During the cross-examination of Cornell accounting professor Eric Lewis, defense attorney Jesus Suarez questioning whether he had "any other real world experience" in accounting other than in the classroom or reviewing documents for court cases. Lewis conceded he did not.

Court will adjourn until Jan. 11, when both sides will present closing arguments after submitting written summations.

Defense attorney Christopher Kise also promised to submit a written argument for a directed verdict that will ask Judge Engoron, for a fifth time, to end the case for lack of evidence. Engoron has not promised to even read such a filing, but said that he "probably" would.

After 11 weeks of heated exchanges, Trump attorney Chris Kise ended on a conciliatory note, thanking the court, the court reporters, and others for their work.

Wallace said it may be their first point of agreement.

Judge Engoron wished everyone happy holidays as he ended the day's proceedings.

State attorney Kevin Wallace concluded his direct examination of the New York attorney general's second and final rebuttal witness amid frequent objections by defense lawyers.

Lewis attempted to explain how Donald Trump's statements of financial condition failed to disclose that he did not conduct a discounted cash flow analysis, contributing to the over-valuation of some of his assets.

"There is no mention of discounting or future value in the disclosure," Lewis said, disagreeing with testimony from defense expert Jason Flemmons -- as well as former Mazars USA accountant Donald Bender, who testified as a state witness.

“Are you impeaching your own witness?” Engoron asked state attorneys regarding whether Bender’s testimony should no longer be considered credible.

"We didn't feel the need to," Wallace responded.

Lewis also suggested that Trump's external accountants at Mazars had less of an obligation to highlight issues that Flemmons suggested, since they were only conducting a compilation report rather than a more intensive audit. While Mazars had an obligation to flag obvious issues, they were not responsible for ensuring Trump's statements were compliant with generally accepted accounting principles, he testified.

"If while doing the compilation ... something comes to the attention of the accounts that could be a GAAP departure, they have a responsibility to bring that issue to the client," Lewis said regarding generally accepted accounting principles.

During the hour-long direct examination, defense lawyers objected at least 14 times, successfully interrupting the line of questions.

"I am lost," Engoron asked at one point. "Can you put this together?"

The parade of objections visibly irritating Wallace, who voiced his displeasure.

"Petulant outbursts don't really play well in the courtroom," quipped Trump lawyer Chris Kise in response.

In a post on social media, Donald Trump dismissed the idea that his civil fraud trial might result in a settlement.

"HE RULED THAT I WAS A FRAUD BEFORE HE EVEN SAW THE CASE, THEN TRIED TO GET ME TO SETTLE. A TOTAL HIT JOB," Trump wrote about Judge Arthur Engoron.

Engoron has not addressed the possibility in court, but sounded sentimental this morning as he began what is likely to be the final day of the trial.

"In a strange way, I am going to miss this trial," Engoron said. "It has been an experience."

A day after Donald Trump's lawyers rested their defense case that featured numerous expert witnesses, New York Attorney General Letitia James is set to call her own accounting expert as part of the state's rebuttal case.

Cornell professor Eric Lewis was qualified as an accounting expert over the objections of Trump's attorneys yesterday, and his direct examination is scheduled to begin this morning.

Lewis will likely address some of the findings reached by the defense's accounting experts, Jason Flemmons and Eli Bartov, whose testimony that Trump had adequate disclaimers on his financial statements is at the center of the defense's case.

Trump's lawyer Chris Kise aggressively criticized Lewis' qualifications during a lengthy voir dire session yesterday, but Judge Arthur Engoron remained convinced about Lewis' ability to testify as an accounting expert.