Judge Arthur Engoron sided with Donald Trump’s lawyers, overruling an objection by the New York attorney general’s office to admit a PowerPoint presentation showing the history of the Trump Organization.
Donald Trump Jr. walked through the company’s history, going all the way back to his great-grandfather, who he says created hotels for miners during the gold rush in Canada’s Yukon Territory.
The presentation, titled “The Trump story,” also featured images of Donald Trump with his father, Fred Trump, as well as elegant images of various Trump buildings.
The PowerPoint included Trump’s purchase of Mar-a-Lago in 1985, which Trump Jr. described as “one of the few kinds of American castles.”
“Since we’ve gone back to the early 20th century, is there a waiver of the statute of limitations?” Andrew Amer, a lawyer with the attorney general, laughed.
Assistant Attorney General Kevin Wallace objected to the presentation, arguing that the text descriptions coached the witness.
But Engoron allowed the presentation.
“After giving you six weeks, you will get me in trouble with Mr (Chris) Kise – he will say that I always rule against him,” Engoron said. “No, let this come in.”
“I find it interesting too,” said Engoron. “Objection overruled. Let him go ahead and talk about how great the Trump Organization is.”
More context: The judge agreed with the defense after weeks of rejecting objections from Trump’s lawyers during the attorney general’s presentation. But in the past few days, Engoron has sided with Trump, including saying last week that he would let their experts testify because he does not want a retrial and does not want to be reversed.
The judge has also sided with Trump’s lawyers during the trial, but it signals that the judge will give both sides a lot of leeway in their presentation.