Trump’s civil fraud trial enters homestretch as legal filings preview next week’s closing arguments

By JENNIFER PELTZ
Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — Lawyers for Donald Trump and New York state are launching a final effort to make their case in the former president’s civil business fraud trial. Both sides filed court papers Friday outlining their takeaways from the more than 10 weeks of testimony this fall. The filings preview closing arguments, set for Thursday. Judge Arthur Engoron has said he hopes to decide the verdict by the end of this month. New York Attorney General Letitia James filed the lawsuit. It accuses the former president and current Republican front-runner of deceiving banks and insurers by vastly inflating his net worth. Trump denies any wrongdoing and says the case is a political attack by Democrats. The case could bar him from doing business in the state where he built his real estate empire.