Former President Donald Trump is making plans to appear in person for his civil fraud trial in New York on Monday, multiple sources familiar with the planning told CNN.
Law enforcement and court employees have been making security preparations for Trump’s potential appearance at the courthouse in Lower Manhattan on Monday and possibly Tuesday.
The former president has not yet confirmed that he will attend the trial. Trump spokesman Steven Cheung told CNN, “No final decision has been made yet.”
Trump’s plans started to become clear after a federal judge in Florida granted his request to postpone a deposition in a separate case because it would conflict with the start of the New York trial.
The former president will fly to New York City on Sunday evening following a campaign event in Ottumwa, Iowa, and will spend the night at Trump Tower in Manhattan, three sources familiar with his schedule said.
The civil fraud case – brought in September 2022 by New York Attorney General Letitia James against Trump, his eldest sons, their companies and several executives – will begin at 10 a.m. Monday.
Last week, the judge overseeing the case dealt Trump a major blow in ruling that the former president is liable for fraud and that he overvalued his properties on his financial statements for a decade.
The ruling came in response to the lawsuit by James, who is seeking $250 million in damages, a ban on the Trumps from serving as officers of a business in New York, and a ban on the company from engaging in business transactions for five years.
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