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.

Judge Arthur Engoron warned that he plans to "rigorously" enforce the limited gag order he handed down last month, which prohibits Trump and his attorneys from commenting on the judge's staff, after an appeals court reinstated it this morning.

"I want to make sure all counsel are aware, and they probably already are aware, that this morning the Appellate Division First Department issued a decision vacating the stay on the two gag orders that I imposed earlier on this case," Engoron said in court. "So I intend to enforce the gag orders rigorously and vigorously, and I want to make sure that counsel informs their clients of the fact that the stay was vacated."

"We're aware. It's a tragic day for the rule of law, but we are aware," Kise responded.

"It is what it is," Engoron quipped.

A New York appellate court has upheld the limited gag order imposed by Judge Engoron in the ongoing trial.

The decision reinstates the limited gag order Engoron imposed on Trump and his attorneys prohibiting them from disparaging court staff, particularly his principle law clerk, who has come under attack by Trump on social media.

The limited gag order was temporarily lifted two weeks ago by appellate judge after Trump's lawyers sued Judge Engoron.

Engoron's lawyer wrote in support of the gag order, saying that Engoron and his clerk have been inundated with threats since Trump began his attacks.

"It is ordered that the motion is denied; the interim relief granted by order of a Justice of this Court, dated November 16, 2023, is hereby vacated," the appellate court said in its ruling issued this morning.

Closing statements in the trial aren't likely to occur until January, according to an updated schedule proposed by Judge Engoron.

The trial was initially expected to wrap up in December.

Rather than have the closing arguments immediately follow the conclusion of the defense's case and a brief rebuttal case by the state, Engoron signaled that he would prefer to receive simultaneous paper briefings from both parties, followed by oral arguments in January.

He did not set a date for the closing statements or oral arguments.

State attorney Kevin Wallace initially requested that Engoron set closing statements for Dec. 13. Donald Trump is set to testify on Dec. 11, and Wallace said the state may to present a brief rebuttal case, including testimony from two witnesses, on Dec. 12.

However defense attorneys suggested that both parties submit paper filings simultaneously, then receive questions from the judge and present oral arguments in 60 days.

"There is just an awful lot of argument to cover," said Trump attorney Chris Kise.

Wallace objected to defense's proposed plan "stretching this out to February," and instead suggested a two-week period after the close of evidence.

"I like the idea of the briefs, then the argument," Engoron said, adding that he would set a "just right" date between the two proposed options.

Earlier in his testimony, before breaking down on the witness stand, longtime Trump Organization controller Jeff McConney drew a blank when asked why Trump's Mar-a-Lago property was valued in Trump's statements of financial condition as a private residence rather than a social club -- a central allegation levied by the New York attorney general.

The property was valued in excess of $500 million on the basis that it could be sold as a private residence -- despite Trump signing a deed in 2002 with the National Trust for Historic Preservation that exclusively limited the property to being used as a club. The Palm Beach County Assessor subsequently appraised the market value of the club at less than $28 million, significantly lowering Trump's tax burden.

"I don't remember off the top of my head," how the property ended up being valued on Trump's financial statements as a residence, McConney said, confirming that was the case.

He testified that he could not remember having a specific conversation with outside accounting firm Mazars USA about the approach to valuing Mar-a-Lago.

While McConney could not recall why the decision to value the property as a private residence was made, he said that he used a reasonable approach to determining a price-per-acre based on nearby property sales. He said that their comparable property approach resulted in a $50 million decrease in value between 2014 and 2015.

"Our intention was always to reflect as best we could the value of these properties," McConney said.