Former US President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at Drake Enterprises, an automotive parts manufacturer, on September 27, 2023 in Clinton Township, Michigan.
Scott Olson | Getty Images
Donald Trump plans to attend his civil ceremony in New York fraud trial next week, and on Friday blasted the case as he asked supporters to donate to his 2024 presidential campaign before a key deadline.
Two people briefed on Trump’s plans told NBC News that he will travel to New York on Sunday night, and that he intends to be in Manhattan Supreme Court on Monday and Tuesday for the first two days of a bench trial of a lawsuit by New York Attorney General Letitia James.
“After four bogus arrests, indictments, and even a mugshot failed to break me, a Democrat judge is now trying to destroy my Family Business,” the former Republican president said in a email for his joint fundraising committee on Friday.
“Democrats seek to bring down the world famous ‘Trump Tower’ and impose on me what some call ‘the corporate death penalty’,” the email said.
In other recent fundraising pitches, Trump’s campaign said it wanted to show strength in the face of his escalating legal wrangles by raising millions of dollars before the Federal Election Commission’s third-quarter deadline on Saturday.
The campaign raised $35 million in the previous quarter.
Trump’s latest donor appeal comes days after Manhattan Judge Arthur Engoron ruled that Trump, two of his sons, and the Trump Organization are liable for fraud for overstating the values of many real estates. estate properties, including his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida.
Engoron in the same order canceled the New York state business licenses of several Trump corporate entities and said he would appoint a receiver to manage their dissolution. Trump plans to appeal the decision.
The trial, which begins Monday, will deal with the remaining six claims of James’ lawsuit.
James in the lawsuit is seeking $250 million in damages and an injunction against Trump, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump on running business in the state.
Trump faces criminal charges in New York and Georgia state courts, and in federal courts in Washington, DC, and Florida. He pleaded not guilty to those charges.
In two of those cases — in Georgia and Washington — Trump was charged with felonies related to his attempt to reverse his 2020 re-election loss to President Joe Biden.
