Trump’s Lawyer and Judge Throw Down Over His Either ‘Brilliant’ or ‘Unresponsive’ Rambling Answers On The Witness Stand
Michael M Santiago/Pool Photo via AP
Former President Donald Trump’s legal team and Judge Arthur Engoron repeatedly sparred over Trump’s rambling answers on the witness stand in New York on Monday morning.
In Trump’s first appearance on Monday prior to a mid-morning recess, he repeatedly launched into long monologues that frustrated Engoron.
“You can attack me, you can do whatever you want. But answer the question,” declared Engoron at one point before warning the former president’s lawyers to “control him” because “if you can’t, I will.”
In another tense exchange, one member of Trump’s legal team, Alina Habba, stood up and told Engoron that he was there to hear what Trump had to say. The judge told Habba to sit down before remarking, “I’m not here to hear what he has to say. He’s here to answer questions.”
The debate over Trump’s answers continued after the recess.
While being questioned about the value of Trump’s golf club in Abderdeen, Scotland, the ex-commander-in-chief found himself waxing poetic about it. “Aberdeen is a very rich place, it’s an incredible piece of land, and it may be the greatest golf course ever built,” he argued in an aside that only tangentially touched on the case itself.
Trump:
“Aberdeen is a very rich place. It’s an incredible piece of land, and it may be the greatest golf course ever built.”
— Adam Klasfeld (@KlasfeldReports) November 6, 2023
Eventually, Engoron weighed in on the infomercial, telling prosecutors that he would follow their lead and allow Trump to “ramble” on and give unresponsive answers so long as the prosecution was comfortable with them.
To this characterization another member of Trump’s legal team, Chris Kise, objected, characterizing Trump’s rejoinder as “brilliant.”
According to CNN’s Kara Scannell, Kise has repeatedly attributed the descriptor to Trump’s answers when responding to Engoron’s rebukes.
At times during his testimony, Trump’s attorney Chris Kise has called his answers “brilliant,” per @KaraScannell.
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) November 6, 2023
The combative relationship between the judge and defendant on display in the courtroom on Monday follows months of attacks from Trump on Engoron and his staff, as well as Engoron’s September ruling that Trump is liable for exaggerating the worth of his company’s assets.
