Judge Arthur Engoron sided with Donald Trump’s attorneys, overruling an objection from the New York attorney general’s office to admit a PowerPoint presentation showcasing the history of the Trump Organization.
Donald Trump Jr. walked through the history of the company, going all the way back to his great grandfather, who he says created hotels for miners during the gold rush in the Yukon territory in Canada.
The presentation, titled “The Trump story,” also included photos of Donald Trump with his father, Fred Trump, as well as sleek photos 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 sort of American castles.”
“Since we’ve gone back to the early 1900s, is there a waiver of the statute of limitations?” Andrew Amer, a lawyer with the attorney general, said to laughs.
Assistant Attorney General Kevin Wallace objected to the presentation, claiming the text descriptions were coaching the witness.
But Engoron allowed the presentation.
“Having given you six weeks, you’re going to get me in trouble with Mr. (Chris) Kise — he’s going to say I always rule against him,“ Engoron said. “No let this stuff come in.”
“I also find it interesting,” Engoron said. “Objection is 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 last few days, Engoron has sided with Trump’s team, including saying last week he’d let their experts testify because he doesn’t want a retrial and doesn’t want to be reversed.
The judge has also sided with Trump’s lawyers during the trial, but this signals the judge is going to give a lot of leeway to both sides in their presentation.
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