Judge Engoron Says Trump Expert ‘Lost all credibility’
One of the final witnesses called by Trump’s Defense team in the New York civil fraud trial was an expert witness named Eli Bartov.
Bartov was reportedly paid about $900,000 to testify and he is currently a New York University accounting professor.
Much of Trump’s case hung on Bartov being able to disprove the narrative put forth by the legal team of New York Attorney General Letitia James, but Judge Engoron torched the testimony after it was over.
Lost All Credibility
Trump claimed that his guy knocked it out of the park, but the reports on his testimony that I read more or less stated that he simply denied anything was illegal without any solid reasoning behind it.
Trump’s legal team wanted the case dismissed after Bartov testified, which Engoron obliterated in his ruling.
Engoron wrote, "All that his testimony proves is that for a million or so dollars, some experts will say whatever you want them to say.
"By doggedly attempting to justify every misstatement, Professor Bartov lost all credibility.”
Bartov pushed back on the ruling, stating, "No expert rebutted my testimony or testified that they found fraud. As to his speculation that my billing rate had anything to do with my opinion, this is my standard billing rate."
Bartov was paid $1,350 per hour, for 650 hours of work he claimed he put in on the case, which comes to $877,500.
Trump’s attorney, Christopher Kise, torched Engoron over the ruling, stating that it "represents a complete failure to address the legal elements of the claims to be decided.
"All that seems to matter is arriving at a predetermined destination.”
Trump has faced an uphill battle from the start of this trial, and if you have been reading my reports, I have predicted a guilty verdict from day one, but have also stated that I believe Trump has a very good chance of having this ruling overturned on appeal.
At the very least, I would expect the fines to be reduced from the $250 million verdict that AG James has requested.
