The Manhattan judge deciding Donald Trump’s $250 million civil fraud trial lost his cool on Wednesday — slamming his hand on the bench and snapping, “This is ridiculous” — as the former president’s lawyers grilled his ex-accountant over inconsistent testimony.
The judge’s annoyed reaction came after Trump’s side claimed that Donald Bender, a partner at accounting firm Mazars USA, was evading their questions.
The attorneys had also repeatedly insisted they needed to meticulously go through Trump’s financial records with Bender “year by year.”
“Don’t waste time,” Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron said sternly.
Trump attorney Jesus Suarez had spent part of Tuesday afternoon and all of Wednesday morning cross-examining Bender — and said he would continue with the questioning through the end of the day.
“This is ridiculous!” Engoron said, hitting his hand on the bench. “Mr. Bender isn’t on trial here.”
Another Trump attorney, Christopher Kise, said the only things Bender “seems to recall are what the government wants him to recall.”
“We need to be allowed to parse the evidence — we didn’t bring this case,” Kise argued.
Alina Habba, also a Trump lawyer, chimed in, “We haven’t got one answer from him … he has no memory as we sit here.”
Kise conceded that they would try “to streamline” the cross-examination before the judge reiterated: “Let’s not waste time.”
Over the course of testimony Wednesday — the third day of trial in New York Attorney General Letitia James’ lawsuit — Engoron checked Trump’s legal team twice more, at one point suggesting they were pandering to the press and carrying out their defense as if a jury were present.
“There is no jury here,” he said — reportedly prompting an exasperated response from Trump, 77, who threw his arms in the air while sitting with his attorneys at the defense table.
“Who are you talking to — me, the press or the audience?” Engoron asked Kise at another point.
Similarly, a lawyer for the AG’s Office was shocked to hear that Bender would be questioned by Trump’s side for the rest of the day.
“There’s no jury. I don’t know who we’re performing for,” the attorney was heard saying.
The 2024 Republican presidential front-runner — who has chosen to attend the trial since it kicked off in Lower Manhattan on Monday — left for Florida after Wednesday’s lunch break, CNN reported.
Trump was slated to go straight to the airport to head back to Mar-a-Lago, a source told the outlet.
It was not immediately clear if or when Trump would return to court, though he has said he would testify should he be called to the witness stand.
Engoron seemed in a lighter mood after the lunch break and cracked a joke about AG attorney Kevin Wallace’s birthday, saying: “Today is a very important day.”
When James — who has attended the whole trial so far — returned after lunch, she said that “the Trump show is over.”
James said Trump’s appearance at the civil trial — which he’s not required to attend, unlike in criminal cases — was a “political stunt” and a “fundraising stop.”
“I will not be bullied,” the AG said of the former president’s repeated personal attacks on her. “Justice will be served.”
In the afternoon, the AG’s Office interrupted Bender’s testimony to take a witness out of turn.
Camron Harris, an auditor at accounting firm Whitley Penn who handled Trump’s books in 2020, testified in the afternoon that “the client’s responsible” for the statement of financial condition – documents which James claims Trump lied on from 2011 through 2021.