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By Kate Plummer
Senior US News Reporter
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New York Attorney General Letitia James has been handed a "smoking gun" in the civil fraud case against Donald Trump, according to an attorney.
Jeffrey McConney, the Trump Organization's former corporate controller, testified on Tuesday that it was his understanding that Trump reviewed financial statements before they were finalized, contradicting previous testimony.
"This was probably the worst day for Donald in the New York City fraud case," attorney Joe Gallina said during an interview with Mary Trump, the former president's estranged niece. "This was very simply the smoking gun Attorney General Letitia James was looking for."
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James filed a lawsuit against the former president alleging that Trump and executives at his company, including his adult sons, fraudulently inflated his net worth on his financial statements to secure favorable loans and insurance.
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Judge Arthur Engoron, who is presiding over the case, ruled in September that Trump and other defendants engaged in fraud. The trial is to decide remaining claims of conspiracy, insurance fraud and falsifying business records, as well as how much damages the organization should pay. Trump has consistently denied any wrongdoing.
Lawyers for James' office on Tuesday presented McConney with a draft of Trump's net worth statement for 2014 that had a note in blue ink on the first page that said: "DJT TO GET FINAL REVIEW" and exaggerated his net worth by $3.5 billion, according to James.
Trump previously said he had little involvement in preparing the annual net-worth statements. In a pretrial deposition, he denied knowing who had written "DJT to get final review" on the 2014 draft.
"I can't think of a bigger smoking gun than having a fraudulent document, allegedly, that is what the state is saying, this document is the one that exaggerated Donald's worth by over $3.5 billion," Gallina said. "Letitia James must have looked at this and danced because there's not much better evidence you could get."
Newsweek reached out to representatives for Trump by email for comment.
The draft documents with handwritten notes were handed over to the attorney general's office by the accountancy firm Trump said signed off on his financial documents, Mazars, not by the Trump Organization. Gallina said this could further harm Trump if Engoron rules the former president purposely failed to include the documents as required by state subpoenas.
"That opens a whole can of worms about why the document wasn't included and whether that was done on purpose, whether it was destroyed, or whether it was a part of their normal business operations to get rid of documents," Gallina said.
He added that James could file for a spoilage motion, meaning the state believes the Trump Organization tainted evidence by not handing over or failing to retain information.
"The more they shine a light on Donald Trump's enterprise, the more fraud comes out," Gallina said.
"I think it's going to be really hard for Donald to wiggle out of this case. I think the damages will be severe, and I think that this day and the fact that documents still have not been fairly produced, I think just really strengthens James' case."
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