Donald Trump says he will not testify in New York fraud trial

WASHINGTON — Former US President Donald Trump said Sunday that he would not testify in a New York courtroom this week, where he had been expected to appear for a second time to make the case that his company did not misrepresent the value of its properties to win favorable financing.

The civil fraud trial, which began in October, is one of several legal challenges the former president faces as he mounts a comeback bid for the White House.

Trump said on social media on Sunday that "I will not be testifying on Monday." The former president and Republican frontrunner said that he had already testified and had "nothing more to say other than that this is a complete and total election interference."

In his first appearance in November, Trump often avoided direct answers and spent much of his time complaining of unfair treatment.

The judge overseeing the trial, Arthur Engoron, has already ruled that Trump and his adult sons manipulated financial statements to dupe banks and insurers into providing better loan and insurance terms.

New York Attorney General Letitia James is seeking $250 million in damages and a permanent ban on Trump and his sons Donald Jr. and Eric from running businesses in New York.

Trump faces four unrelated federal and state criminal indictments, including two stemming from his attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. He has pleaded not guilty in all of those cases.

Still, none of these cases have dented his commanding lead for the Republican nomination to challenge Democratic President Joe Biden in next November's election. —Diane Bartz and Luc Cohen/Reuters