A spectator at Donald Trump’s civil fraud trial was arrested Wednesday after standing up in the middle of testimony and walking toward the front of the courtroom where the former president sat.
The woman expressed a desire to aid Trump, and the court system said that neither he nor anyone else at the trial was ever in danger. The ex-president and 2024 GOP front-runner showed no reaction in court and later told reporters he wasn’t aware of the episode that had unfolded behind him.
“Who got arrested?” Trump asked. “We didn’t know anything about it.”
The woman, later identified as a court system employee, retreated after a court officer told her to return to her seat. A short time later, officers escorted her out and arrested her on a contempt charge for disrupting a court proceeding, court spokesperson Lucian Chalfen said.
Chalfen said the woman had been yelling out to Trump that she wanted to help him, though reporters in the courtroom did not hear her raise her voice. She was later heard screaming in the courthouse lobby as officers removed her from the building.
Outside the courtroom, the woman was seen on an NBC camera telling court officers: “You’re scaring me, and I have a right to be here. I’m an American citizen, and I’m also a court employee. I’m also just here to support Donald Trump.”
She went on to say that she had been “peacefully watching this proceeding” and had complied when a court officer told her not to cause “any more problems.”
Chalfen said the woman, whose name wasn’t released, has been placed on administrative leave and barred from entering state courts while authorities investigate.
The case, brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James, accuses Trump and his company of duping banks and insurers by giving them heavily inflated statements of Trump’s net worth and asset values. Engoron has already ruled that Trump and his company committed fraud, but the trial involves remaining claims of conspiracy, insurance fraud and falsifying business records.
James maintains that Trump’s financial statements were key to securing deals and loans, and witnesses and evidence presented at trial have indicated that the documents were a factor.
For example, a 2015 offer to refinance a Trump-owned Wall Street building came with terms that included “delivery of financial statements (including tax returns)” from Trump, according to a document shown in court Wednesday.
While the deal was in the works, the Trump Organization sent prospective lender Ladder Capital paper copies of Trump’s financial statements and personal tax returns, Ladder executive Jack Weisselberg testified, adding that a Trump executive messaged him about when to expect the documents.
“I think they were concerned about confidentiality, and they wanted to make sure it was going directly into my hands,” said Weisselberg, who’s the son of former longtime Trump Organization finance chief Allen Weisselberg.
Trump denies all James’ allegations. He says his assets were actually worth far more than claimed on his statements, which came with disclaimers that he portrays as telling people to vet the numbers themselves.
Engoron will decide the case, not a jury, because state law doesn’t allow one in this type of lawsuit.
WHY ARE WE MESSING WITH ALL THIS CRAP ? TRUMP FOR HOUSE SPEAKER NOW!!!!!!!!! THATS WHY HES IN COURT TO MAKE SURE HES NOT AVAILABLE TO BECOME SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE!!!
WE NEED TRUMP AND NOW!!!
PISS ON ILLEGITIMATE
JO AND HIS OHOMO WHORE ! !
Engoron needs to be disbarred. He has no right to be judge, jury and executioner. Which is trying to do in this case. They arrest this woman, but the insurrectionists led by Tliab at the Capitol, are let go. #FJB
This is an absolute circus! Why should anyone respect a courtroom now when you have keystone cops running everything? It’s corrupt through and through all over this country, especially in blue states, we see it everywhere with crime! The ones commiting flcrimes are in office or in politics including the Fing senile pervert president!
Keep the list running Trump. When you get in office take out the deep states, corrupt elitists and especially SOROS who keeps paying to get these garbage DAs and Jusges into office. They should NEVER be allowed in positions of power and should absolutely be disbarred and sentanced, the real criminals in this country!
We love you Trump! Destroy the corrupt left and continue to drain that swamp and make our enemies shutter and that includes the enemies in our country like Pro Palestinian sympathisers, BLM, ANTIFA, and give this country an enema of all illegals!!!!
They know you’re the only one who can do it! If they want to play hard ball then play hard ball. Do things Sicilian way and make them all an offer they can’t refuse! At this point I respect the old gangster mobs of the 30s more than I respect our legal system, democrats, and RINOs!
Let me get this straight, It’s wrong to overestimate your assets on a loan that you pay off in a timely manor. But it’s ok for the man currently living in the Whitehouse to have dozens of shell corporations to launder his pay for play with all Hunters bogus foreign contacts. To use the IRS, fBI and the justice dept. to try and silence political opponents. He even denied his biggest dem. opponent, secret service protection. I guess from their view, If an opponent gets assassinated, “problem solved” Welcome to a second rate banana republic. If something doesn’t change soon, all opponents of the currant admin. will be killed or imprisoned.
People please start filing complaints against Letitia James, Jack Smith, Fani Willis and the DC judges. US congress must impeach the DC judges!
Letitia James and Judge Ergon are liars, unethical, breaking rules and violating laws and constitution to persecute an innocent family!
I filed a complaint with the Judicial review, 3rd of Albany NY – you have to print out their form and mail it to them, the form and address is on their website.
Letitia James encited publicly (like Maxine Waters did) for others to hate President Trump. She said he was illegitimate (FALSE) she is a liar!
I don’t believe the people voted for her to persecute President Trump and his family.
Letitia is not qualified, is wasting taxpayers’ money to do her personal abuse of the position to hurt, defame, slander innocent people! She is very racist, lacking ethics, morals, etc.