A judge in New York has ruled that President Trump and his adult sons defrauded banks and other institutions during his decades expanding their family real estate company. Mr. Trump, who was sued by New York’s attorney general, Letitia James, has railed against the case since it was first brought in 2022. 

A New York Supreme Court judge, Arthur Engoron, granted Ms. James’ request to find Mr. Trump liable on all seven of the civil counts she has filed against him. She argues that the former president and his company, the Trump Organization, illegally inflated and deflated the value of its assets in order to pay lower taxes, receive more favorable insurance rates, and better financing terms.

The decision comes just four days after lawyers for Ms. James and Mr. Trump argued before Judge Engoron about the scope of the forthcoming trial. Mr. Trump’s attorney, Christopher Kise, argued that Ms. James had “no valid authority” and that she has “failed to demonstrate any even theoretical harm to anyone, public or private.”

Judge Engoron also revoked some of the Trump organization’s business licenses in the state, making it difficult for Mr. Trump to continue doing business there. The judge also will appoint an independent overseer to keep watch of the Trump organization’s activities. 

Judge Engoron will preside over a non-jury trial in the case slated to begin on Monday to determine how much Mr. Trump will have to pay to the state in damages and what other penalties the Trump organization will face. The judge has said that the trial could last all the way until the end of the year. 

Ms. James is seeking $250 million from Mr. Trump as well as a ban on the former president from ever conducting business in the Empire State again. Ms. James is also hoping to bar three of Mr. Trump’s five children — Donald, Eric, and Ivanka — from serving as directors of any corporation in the state. 

In April, Mr. Trump sat for a seven-hour deposition with Ms. James. For hours, he railed against the case and told the attorney general to her face that “you don’t have a case.” He also told Ms. James that she and her lawyers were ungrateful given that he had done “so many things” for New York and was “saving millions of lives” when he was president.

“I think you would have [had a] nuclear holocaust, if I didn’t deal with North Korea,” he told Ms. James. “I think you would have a nuclear war, if I weren’t elected. And I think you might have a nuclear war now, if you want to know the truth.”