it is 4:00 new york. it is not every day that a former president of the united states is in a courthouse. much less as a defendant in the case that threatens to bring down the entire brand that he used to propel himself into office in the first place. today, donald trump was back in court in the $250 million civil fraud trial in new york. before walking in, trump lashed out as he so often does at the judge, the trial, at the new york attorney general who brought the lawsuit. he did not mention judge engoron s clerk, who has been a frequent target of his, he remains under a gag order that prohibits him from talking about court staff. inside the courtroom, accounting expert eli bartov took the stand and testified that in his expert opinion the attorney general s claims of a years long pattern of fraud, manipulating the values of trump s real estate assets were baseless. there is no evidence whatsoever for any accounting fraud, he said. dold trump was reportedly visibly pleased.