- Donald Trump's ex-accountant spent three hours recognizing documents on Tuesday.
- Donald Bender's stultifying testimony kicks off Trump's monthslong fraud trial.
The New York attorney general and Donald Trump's lawyers used dynamic visuals and bombastic language to savage one another in court on Monday.
Come Tuesday morning, the state found itself having to spend three hours asking Trump's former accountant Donald Bender to authenticate documents.
"Mr. Bender, do you recognize the document?" an assistant attorney general asked dozens of times. Bender — sometimes after nearly a minute of silently flipping pages — would say yes.
Then, the state's lawyer would ask Bender to go to the last page. He'd ask Bender if he recognized the signature of Trump Organization executive Allen Weisselberg, which was helpfully labeled "Allen Weisselberg," and that of Donald Trump Jr., helpfully labeled "Donald Trump Jr."
Bender, with his eye for detail, always did.
The state's lawyer would then ask Justice Arthur Engoron to take the document into evidence. One of Trump's lawyers would object. Justice Engoron would overrule the objection. Wash, rinse and repeat.
And so began a civil trial estimated by the judge to run for two months — and will hinge primarily on GAAP, or Generally Accepted Accounting Principles.
Attorney General Letitia James has accused Trump of years of fraud, by inflating annual financial statements by as much as $3.6 billion.
Trump has denied inflating his wealth, but Justice Arthur Engoron found before the trial started that the former president did in fact commit fraud. The trial will determine penalties, and whether anyone — like his two sons — intentionally broke the law.
As the questions and witness droned on, Trump's lawyer Alina Habba wiggled her foot in the air beneath the counsel's table. A reporter in the overflow room banged his head on the table.
New York Attorney General Letitia James sat like a statue, alert, with her hands folded on her lap.
The park across from the courthouse was festooned with fences, but relatively quiet, with even fewer protesters present than the measly 30 who gathered Monday.
Trump rotated between leaning forward toward the monitor, sitting back with his arms crossed, and exchanging whispers with lawyers Habba and Chris Kise — appearing, understandably, bored.
Once outside the courtroom, though, Trump once again performed for the cameras. He argued that James is corrupt and the case was a sham. His takeaway from Bender's testimony was that his financial statements were "very strong."
James is hoping the trial brings $250 million in penalties and that Trump and his adult sons are banned from ever running a business in New York state again.
She also seeks to ban Trump and the Trump Organization from borrowing from a New York bank and from purchasing real estate in the state for five years.